The Final Days

Our last week in Cameroon was awesome. We visited 4 villages and finished up two projects. We traveled to Teke for the 4th time but this time went the night before to enjoy a night in the village with members of the water committee. We had a blast and did some dancing at a "bush night club."

In the morning we did some final measurements and talked with the committee on where they want tap stands and other details. Upon leaving the village we were able to provide a full report, cost estimate, and drawing for their project.

We also finished a project at one other village. This was the third time we had been to this village and we were going to go survey a different water source since the first one we looked at wasnt going to work. We passed 2 nights in the village and completed a design from start to finish. The project was looking to be very good. We had a really good conversation with the chief about the future of the project and how to motivate the villagers to support the project. It was really good to end the trip on such a positive experience.

We also visited a village where ETHOS had worked in a previous summer. It was awesome to see how excited the village was to see Mark again. We walked up to the stream catchment and learned a lot about how the project took place. It provided a neat comparison between the past summer experiences while staying in a village and ours where we stayed in the town. I feel each is a unique experience and both amazing.

The last few days we spent saying goodbye to people, having farewell dinners, and of course having fun. It felt so surreal that we were preparing to leave. The 10 weeks had flown past and despite missing home I did not want to leave the culture I had fallen in love with. The challenge now is how can I take the aspects of their culture that I loved and the things I learned about myself and apply them to my life here.

The trip home all in all lasted about 40 hours. It was tough but was well worth it.

In closing, the summer provided me with the experience of a lifetime. I learned how fun it is to be fully immersed in a different culture. I learned a different set of cultural values. I was welcomed into peoples country, town, and homes with the most welcoming smiles everyday. I was exposed to a true passion for life. Furthermore I was exposed to true faith in God. I learned that its not what physical goods you have that matter but rather your family and your meaningful relationships that provide true happiness. And during all of this, I was able to challenge and apply my engineering education while improving the lives of others.

Pictures from our travels!

Above:

-Sabina, the immersion group coordinator, Geoff and I

-Me getting a haircut on the roadside in Yaounde

-Yaounde, the capital of Cameroon

The Final Stretch

Our trip with the immersion students went really well. In the nation's capital, Yaounde, we visited the US Peace Corps office and learned that Cameroon has the longest continuously running peace corps program in the world. They currently have about 130 volunteers here and plan on doubling that number for next year. We also visited the Brasseries (breweries). We got to tour the brewing plant that produces 33 Export and many other beers found here in Cameroon. It was incredible to see how industrialized and developed the plant was. Cameroon drinks A LOT of beer. The company is mainly French owned with the Cameroonian government owning part of it as well.

We also visited the US embassy and got to meet with the ambassador. The security was incredible. Our names had be submitted in advance for background checks, they caught a couple people taking pictures of the building while we were still on the bus and called them out and made them delete them, all the doors were explosion proof, and many other things. I learned a lot during the talk about the role of embassies in countries and the fine line between being there to make changes and impose our way of things and being there to promote relations. There is corruption in all levels of government here so that is one of the main things they focus on changing. They make public announcements about their disapproval of things the President does and are always sure conduct business in a fair manner.

In total we spent about 20 hours driving throughout the country. It was awesome to get to see all of the landscapes. In the north there were lots of mountains. We also got to see all of the agriculture throughout the country: Bananas, plantains, mangoes, papaya, rubber trees, corn and many more. Cameroon has an amazing amount of resources. They help feed many of the countries in West Africa. That is one of the major things that has helped Cameroon become so developed. And it is something that could allow them to continue to develop and become quite powerful in Africa.

We have about 10 days left in Cameroon and are going to be SUPER busy. We have trips planned to 4 villages during this time to finish up designs and do some final survey work. It should be a lot of fun.

I will post pictures of our travels soon!

Hitting the Road!

This past week was spent relaxing around the house, reading, and a lot of sleeping. I can thankfully say I have recovered from malaria. Thank you everyone who was thinking and praying for me. I was able to finish East of Eden by John Steinbeck this week and am close to finishing a Time to Kill by Grisham. The lazy days reading were something I have not enjoyed for quite some time and were happily welcomed.

I spent more time with the immersion students on Friday and Saturday. We got to meet with the head chief of Kumba. He is the top person in Kumba in the traditional part of the government. The government has both elected officials and then traditional member who are usually members of royal family. He said that the government is approaching a critical decision between the traditional way of things and the western influenced way of government. Really interesting stuff. We also visited an orphanage run by a widow. It was home to 19 kids and was very emotional. Very inspiring. Her faith was incredible. The group brought big boxes full of clothes, toys, and supplies for the house.

Tomorrow morning Geoff and I are leaving with the immersion students on a week long trip through Cameroon. Will will visit the coast, the capital and then a city in the north that supposedly is very scenic. We will return next Sunday. I am quite excited!

Spain or Netherlands?? Should be a great match!

Minor Setback

The past week has been quite eventful. We have been doing some more traveling to villages and had some interesting discussions with them. We have had to tell some villages that the water sources they originally showed us were not going to work for gravity water systems. One village was able to locate a different source that is actually much better hydraulically and has a way larger volume. We will go survey this source during the last two weeks we are here.

We have been mingling with the immersion students. This past Thursday we had 5 of them over to our house along with the directors of the immersion program and Karine and her twin sister. There were 11 people total. We cooked 2 African dishes for the students to try. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it.

Unfortunately, Friday i got sick and Saturday I spent all day at the public doctor with Karine and then some of the immersion leaders and Dr Amin. I had to get blood work done and was diagnosed with malaria. I was given the best of medications tho and have spent the last couple days resting. I am already feeling much better!! The malaria pills are only 6 tablets but are VERY powerful drugs.

The whole thing has opened my eyes to how common malaria is here. Everyone i know here has had malaria multiple times. It is just what happens. Where people get into trouble is if they do not have the funds to purchase all of the medication. A lot of times people will space out the treatments as the money comes in. I was very blessed to be able to purchase everything I needed right away to ensure a speedy recovery.

Next week we will be travelling to 3 different cities with the immersion students and will be gone the entire week. I am quite excited to go site seeing!

Engi-nerding

Above: The director of RUDEC's family, kids and I in the village, the ETHOS group, our co-worker Gabriel, and members of the village after a survey.

The past week or so we have been working hard in the office on reports for the villages we have surveyed. We have finished 3 and have sent them back to the villages for them to look at. We are now planning to go back and discuss with the water committees the options we laid out. There have been some interesting things from an engineering standpoint. We have been forced to do some research on the feritilizers the village farmers use on their cocoa trees and their infiltration into the water table. We have looked at the effectiveness of biosand filters to treat this. We have also designed a system that requires a pump. We did much investigating of water pumps and previous systems which required a pump. It has been very interesting and taught me a lot. Very fun enginerding.

We have enjoyed many meals with families in Kumba. Everyone insists on either taking us out for dinner or having us over. They take a lot of pride in their hospitality. It is incredible how welcome people make you feel. It is especially overwhelming when people who do not have much take such pride in their small compounds and offer up a wonderful meal. We have eaten at the director of RUDEC's house twice and both have been very nice. It is fun trying all of the different versions of each African dish.

The UD immersion group arrived yesterday in Kumba. This is a group of 18 students who stay in cameroon for 1 month and do lots of travelling. Dr Amin (the chair of the history department at UD) is from Kumba and brings the group every year and leads them. We went to the reception for them and helped serve their meal. It was fun to share the things we have learned about Cameroon so far. We will interact with them throughout the month and do some travelling.

"Would you like a ball to play with?"

Above: Shots of the Capital, the journey there, the National Football Stadium, a typical bar with people cooking food on the corner, and a picture of a very nice house that you see here and there.

This past week was very very busy as we traveled everyday but Sunday. We made trips to various cities around Kumba and the capital dealing with some issues with our visa. It has been frustrating but I think its going to work out. In the process, however, we have gotten to see much of the countryside via long bus trips, see the capital, and have some good bonding.

We visited one village this week, Teke, but were unfortunately not able to get the surveying equipment. So we went and discussed our plans with the village's water committee, tested the water source's flow rate, and gave them a path to clear for when we come to survey. We will go sometime next week to finish the survey.

We have been working on the designs and reports for the previous villages we visited. The first village we are having issues with the lack of water the source is providing and are researching Biosand filters from wells as another option. For 2nd village, it appears they would need a pump (which a wealthy member of the village says he wants, regardless of the price). So we spent Friday in the office analyzing what kind of pump, size of storage tank, how long the pump would have to run and the effects of the pump in the system. Yes a bunch of nerdy stuff. But it was quite fun and challenging.

Last evening, Mark and I were throwing the frisbee in our compound and our neighbor was outside taking laundry off of the line and asked us if we would like a ball to play with. She had never seen a frisbee before and thought we were using something makeshift. It was quite humorous. She eventually agreed to play with us and caught on pretty fast.

We are heading to the market this morning to go shopping then watching Cameroon play. A must win for them. We watched the US match and then the England match very intensely yesterday. It was a lot of fun, despite that goal being taken back ( soooo sad).

World Cup Fever

Above: The freshwater source after an hour of hiking, Fufu and eru ( you make small balls of the white doughy stuff and dip it in the eru. So Good!), picture of landscape and village)

This week we spent working in the office Monday-Thursday. We worked on preparing a report for the first village we visited. We had two trips planned for the later part of the week, but one got cancelled due to the rain making the roads too bad. This left us with a trip to a village on Friday. Our work has been a lot of fun and has required much brainstorming, calculating, and discussing. We are going to produce many of the reports with recommendations of where to go with the various projects. We hope to then return to the villages before the end of the summer and discuss the reports with them. These could be tense as we are beginning to see some of the struggles with community development and the expectation of money as soon as foreign people become involved. It has been and will continue to be a great learning experience.

This week in Kumba was quite fun. We had another amazing meal with Karine. We used 12 habanero peppers in a pasta dish. It was incredible. We were all sweating hardcore. We also went to the market to get me a "fresh" pair of jeans. This was quite an experience as we had a friend take us to someone she recommended. From there you pick a pair or two from a small shop and then they run around to all the other shops and get pairs that are similar styles and the right size. It is a very timely process. I got a pair tho, and then later in the week went with Karine to get them hemmed. The guy took 2 minutes to fix them. It was great.

The world cup has been fun thus far. The Nigeria match drew a lot of attention. We watched the US match last night with a decent sized crowd. They were all rooting for the US so that was fun. I am anxious to see how things are tomorrow when Cameroon plays their first match!

This week we have to travel to go figure out some things with our Visas and then travel to a village. We are hoping to return home from our travels tomorrow in time for the Cameroon match. I HOPE SO!!

Sunday Funday

Sunday Morning I attended the Presbyterian Church close to our house. It was a very nice church but was a bit boring for my liking. I am going to continue to search for a middle ground between the Full Gospel church and this one.

Later in the afternoon Mark, Geoff and I went to one of our neighbors (a family that Mark lived with his first summer here) for the 1 year anniversary of the father's funeral. At you first you might be thinking that this event would be a quiet event to honor the late father. However, this was a full blown party. There were around 100 people there, tons of food, drinks, music and dancing. It was a blast. We stayed until dark with the two sisters and her friends dancing and having a good time. On a side note, the mother of the house wore the same outfit that she wore to the funeral everyday for the whole year as a sign of her mourning. This and the fact that they had such a large celebration a year later was very cool and proof of how much they celebrate life here.

This morning we worked on turning all of the surveying data we obtained in the village into a designed water system. It has been a lot of fun applying all of the things I have learned in the classroom.

Today we went to the barber. It was an awesome experience. The guys name is 'Spirit' and he preached at us for like 10 minutes and htne prayed with us before the hair cut. Next time we go I will bring my camera. Also, I told him to do whatever he wanted so of course he took everything real close except my mustache. So yes, right now I am rocking a mustache. Another side note, this was my first time ever sitting in a barber's chair getting my hair cut by someone else. Funny that it was in Africa.

We have plans to return to the bush on Wednesday, Friday, and potentially another village on Saturday to complete land surveys of each.

More pictures of bush travels

Above: Pictures of the trip there, surveying in the bush, and measuring the waterflow from the source

Our travels to the bush!

Above: Pictures of the village, our taxi cab, and a rainbow on the way home.

The trip to Metoko Bakundu was a 4 hour journey in a `87 Toyota Corolla packed full with 8 people total. Yes you read that correctly, 8. Four in the back seat, one in passenger, one on the shifter area, one next to the driver in his seat and then the driver. The road was very very muddy and there were many traffic jams from people being stuck, including ourselves. In each village we passed through there were many young guys who would help push the cars through would then expect money from the taxi driver. The drive was very beautiful. Many scenic outlooks.

In the village, we met at the chief's house and met the elders of the village. We then hiked up the mountain/hill to find their water source and began surveying. As night fell we hiked back to the village for dinner at the chiefs place. There was much food, drinks, and talking. Shooting the poop with the elders of the village under lantern light over beers was an experience I cannot put into words. It was amazing. They asked many questions about the potential water project, ourselves, Americans, and life in America. They also brought out the whiskey that they brew in the village as a sign of respect to us. Every time they served something they had the oldest man in the village test it and then when he approved they would go to all of the guests and then in rank of seniority amongst themselves. It was very interesting to see how much respect there was in the village. After the evening with the elders we went back to our rooms to put our things down and then followed the sounds of a speaker system to go socialize. There was no electricity in the village but they had a generator to play music and some lights. We had a very good time and danced much.

The next morning we woke to the cries of a goat right outside our window and got up very early. We surveyed for about 5 more hours and then finished. During the surveying, we had a group of like 12 young village guys with us who were there to chop any of the forest we needed down. They were a lot of fun to be around and made the work very fun. They would also help carry things and began catching on to what we were doing and helped. We ate once more and then traveled back to Kumba. This journey was once more very crazy and exciting. Never a dull moment. We had a flat tire, saw 2 rainbows, and got stopped by the military guys asking for our papers. We arrived home at 6 and then went to eat some goat meat and pepper soup. So good! I was exhausted and was asleep by 9.

Saturday I woke at 7:00 AM and then spent the morning with Mark and Karine at the market getting our food for our big meal today and then eating roasted fish again. Very good. We worked on preparing food from 1-5 and then had a nice dinner with cocoa yams, dried fish, dried crawfish, beef, greens, grounded peanuts that make a sauce, onions, and of course lots of spices. It was very good! Preparing food here is a very long process as all things are made from scratch and there is very much care taken in each step.

Tomorrow I am trying the Presbyterian church by our house. Also, Mark and I are going to the barber. I have not shaved since I left the states. I look horrid. And we need to clean!!

Going Bush Diving

Above: Roasted Fish, The Market, The traffic rock at a main junction (the closest thing to stoplight here), and a side road

Things at work have picked up as we have analyzed two proposed water systems. One of them looked good and the other had some issues. We put together a mini-presentation and met with the designer. After an hour of talking it was determined that another survey should be done to check for errors in the drawing. Additionally, we have located surveying equipment and will begin surveying tomorrow morning at 6 AM in a village outside of Kumba (they refer to the villages and the jungle as 'the bush'). There are about 5 or 6 villages that are waiting for us to come survey.

Also at RUDEC we have been educated on the cassava production process. RUDEC helps empower women groups in the villages by giving them tools and machines to more efficiently production. We are going to look at many steps in the process and see where we can improve the efficiency.

Last night we watched the Cameroon vs. Portugal at a bar in our neighborhood with many guys our age. It was very fun and spirited.

I have had my first two real African dishes. The first was Fufu ( a byproduct of cassava) and okara soup. This was like nothing we have in the States. THe fufo was worm dough that you made into balls and dipped into the suuuuuuper slimpy soup with your hand. You try to scoop as much of it in your mouth as possible. It is very messy. The crazy thing is that when the Cameroonians scoop it into their mouths they just swallow. They do not chew it at all. I could not even come close to this. I had to chew it a couple of times. The other was roasted fish ( in the picture above). You are given a bowl of water to rinse your hand and then you use your hand to eat the meat off of the fish. This was the best fish I have ever had. The sauce was unreal and the meat was sooo good. Amazing. The grain you see on the plate is another byproduct of cassava but i forget the name. It was very very good as well.

The next 4 or 5 days could be very busy as we might survey many villages in a row. It will be tough work and is going to truly test my manhood. I will write as soon I can to share how it went.

Peppe

Above: One of the main roads, RUDEC office, habaneros on the grinding stone, another main road, and then Karine and I at her church

Sunday morning I woke and traveled to Full Gospel Mission in Fiango ( a "suburb" of Kumba) with Mark to meet Karine for church. I was in for quite a surprise. Church in Cameroon is far from any church service I have attended in the States. It was nearly 3 hours long and was full of much singing, dancing, crowd participation, individual praying out loud (like speaking in tongues), and lots of passionate people. It was a very neat experience. The verse Mark 10:24 hit me with full meaning. People here are so comfortable and passionate about their faith. For most, it is all they have to focus on. In the states we are so stiff about our faith and distracted with many other things.

Sunday in Cameroon is a very quiet and peaceful day. We spent the day at the house working on laundry (by hand with 2 buckets. As Geoff said it very well as he was rinsing marks underwear "this is true community"). This took us about 2 hours and resulted with the laundry in the house because it started to rain! I am sure our neighbors got a good laugh at this.

Monday morning I woke for the first time all trip wishing I had a blanket as it was quite cold. It had rained hard all night and continued for most of the morning. In cameroon during the rainy season, a rainy morning is similar to a snowy morning back at Liberty-Benton: a 2 to 3 hour delay or perhaps even cancellation. We worked at the house until noon and then traveled to work. Most of the roads in Kumba are dirt and become very muddy when it rains. It becomes very unsafe.

After work we went to the market before it closed and purchased a rag to clean the floors, a broom, flip-flops for mark and I, beans, green beans and carrots. When we got home we began to cook our first meal completely on our own. We prepared a sauce with tomatoes, carrots, green beans, onions, and I prepared spices on the grinding stone which included habanero peppers, ginger root, garlic, and celery leaves. We added this to spaghetti noodles and some bread. The dish was very very good. About a 7 on the spicy scale. We were all sweating very much.

At the evening, we went to a shop in the neighborhood for snacks and on the way home, at about 9:30 PM there were 4 men in front of the compound where our house is. The men had a rope pulled across the street and were stopping every bike taxi and car that passed. We stopped and talked to them and learned that they were the neighborhood police force. Between the hours of 9pm until 4am they moved all throughout the neighborhood to monitor if there were any bandits in the area. It was very surprising to Mark and consequently to Geoff and I. Mark said he had never seen something like this in any of the neighborhoods. We got their numbers and saved them as the Alaska Street Police. They were very nice.

More interesting things to note:

Chickens run around Kumba like squirrels do in the states. The chickens run wild during the day but then come back to the coops at night for food. The roosters crow right outside our window starting at 6AM and continue throughout the whole day. It is quite amusing. Geoff has become very frustrated with them.

In the market, there are many many small shops that sell one specific theme of things. For instance, there is small district of maybe 6 shops that sell baby clothes. Then another that sells luggage and another that sells towels. There are very random locations tho, like the fresh veggies right beside the car mechanics and the bread bakery amongst the lumber yard. It is amazing. I love the market so much. It is how my ideal on how to shop. I will work at getting pictures.

Everyone we meet asks us if we go to church and invites us to their church. It is amazing how open and forward they are with their faith.

Small children look at us as if we are from Mars. Most of them have not seen white men before and are surprised by us.

Beginnings

Friday morning we went to RUDEC for our first day of work. We worked with them to figure out a plan of what we will be doing all summer. There are a couple of villages around Kumba that we are going to do hydraulic analyses and design pipelines to get them pipe-borne water. Additionally, we came up with some other topics that we can help them research such as rocket stoves, latrines, solar dryers, and biosand filters. The people at RUDEC are very friendly. Friday night Mark and I went to a place with live music and met with his friends and relaxed. We came in early before the group went to the nightclubs. Have to start things slow.

Saturday morning we were woken at 7 AM by our good friend Karine. She visited with us for a while and then went to the market to get food for our dinner. During the day we went to the RUDEC office to pick up a drawing and then relaxed at a restaurant with Mark's good friend Teke from the village where the water project was last year. We all went back home and I helped Karine cook dinner. I am learning a lot about cooking in Africa and have asked Karine to teach me as much as she can. I have loved helping her in the kitchen. The food has been amazing.

After dinner we went into town and got dessert until the sun went down. On the way there we took a very scenic walk where I took some pictures. They are posted alongside pictures of the main roads and some food.

Tomorrow I am going to church with Karine. I am very excited. I will not understand much because it will all be in pigeon but the music and the atmosphere should be very enjoyable.

More random things to note:

Today was hot. The sun was out more than usual and we felt it. All three of us during our walk at midday had sweat through our shirts and pants. At nights tho it cools down some.

Beers are all 23 ounces for $1. Once again, this is awesome.

All prices are negotiable. For everything.

There are tons of churches in Kumba and of all types. Methodist, Presbyterian, Baptist, Gospel, Catholic, Etc. They are everywhere. People are very vocal and active with their faith.

A lot of people speak of climate change and how much it is negatively impacting farming.

Anticipation for World Cup is very high.

To Kill a Mocking Bird is a very good book.

Our Arrival

The trip to Cameroon was quite uneventful, which is always good. We found ourselves greeted in Douala, Cameroon by one of Mark’s good friends and a member of RUDEC (our host organization that we will be interning with). The trip Kumba was a three hour bus trip on a nicely paved road which passed many mountains and villages. Once in Kumba we had a nice reception with the members of the RUDEC office and then began getting settled into our home. The next day was spent at the market with Mark’s good friend. She is a wonderful cook and will be helping us with food during our stay. She took us all through the market and helped us get the food we will need. The market was an amazing experience. Think of the busiest day at your local farmers market and then multiply the size and craziness by 25. I loved it. We then came back and I helped prepare dinner. The food was awesome. We are going to RUDEC tomorrow to discuss our work plan. They say they have many projects that are ready for us to work on. I have taken a few pictures of the street we live on and our house but more are surely to come. Please comment any questions you have and I will try to answer them!

Some random things to note:

Beer is drank at most meals and during random breaks in the day. Needless to say, this is awesome. They have a Guinness export that is very tasty. During our reception which was quite formal, everyone ordered a beer for lunch. Additionally, during the day many people take breaks and stop at one of the many little shops for beer.

You have never heard a rainstorm until you have heard a Cameroon storm on a tin roof.

Our house is very nice. 2 bedrooms, a bathroom, a large living room and a kitchen.

The only peppers they use to cook are habenero peppers and green peppers. I will be eating my fair share of hot food this summer!!

The language in Kumba is pigeon, however most everyone can also speak English.

We are one of 2 or 3 small groups of white people in the city of a couple thousand. The other group works for a human rights organization.

Everyone takes motorcycle taxis or regular cabs everywhere in town. A trip across town costs about 25 cents per person