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.