Attempted Robbery

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

I was woken in the early hours of the morning by some noise at my front door.  I’m used to waking up to noises here – weather can make a lot of sound with a tin roof and metal door.  Then I looked towards the door and saw a light that I thought was lightning.  After a few seconds I realized that it wasn’t a normal noise and it wasn’t lightning.  Then I thought it was a meflo-dream (a side effect of my malaria meds is weird dreams and it was the night of the week I usually have them), but quickly realized it wasn’t that either.  I yelled out ‘what the f***’ and started to get out of my mosquito net.  By the time I got to my window, the guy that had been trying to break into my house was running away.  I yelled out in what I felt was a loud and scary voice, ‘hey!’ but he was pretty much gone by that point. 

The rest of my night was a waste.  I got up and made sure my kitchen door was locked (it’s detached from the house) and that my door wasn’t broken or anything.   It was also the middle of the night and I wasn’t thinking clearly, so I looked to make sure my expensive stuff was still there, even though the door was still closed.  I couldn’t really get back to sleep.  Every time I got close I thought I would hear something and jump up again.  It’s not my safety that I’m worried about; it’s the safety of my laptop, camera, and even my gas bottle (that cost me more than $80).  Just a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine in Garoua got home from being gone for a while and her gas bottle and stove had been stolen. 

The next morning when I finally got up, I went to get beans and beignets for breakfast and texted my post mate about it while I was eating.  He told me to call our logistician about it.  I hadn’t called yet because I’m worried that any incident up here will get us closed, but that is probably just me being paranoid.  I called Bouba and he was really helpful.  He called up the police, gendarmes, and the chief of my quarter.  He wanted all of them to go to my house so people in the community could see them there – maybe that would scare anyone who wanted to rob me in the future. 

The police and chief of my quarter showed up first and in force.  There were probably six cops in their full uniforms who looked around my place, asked me questions about what happened, and talked to my neighbors.  I’m glad they did too.  I tried to tell my neighbor, Habiba, what happened, but she doesn’t understand a lot of French, and based on the smile she had, she didn’t get what I was saying.  My Fulfuldé is nowhere near good enough to tell her what happened.  The police commissioner, who I’ve met before on several occasions, pointed out that it looks like they tried to pry the door open with a crowbar or something; it was pretty bent. 

He had a couple of suggestions for what to do to increase my security.  There were some walls from old buildings in my front yard that he said someone could hid behind with a knife that he wanted demolished.  He also said I should put a couple more loops on my door so I could padlock the top and the bottom.  He then called my landlord and told him what happened and to fix those things.    

I don’t know why, but my French was horrible when I was talking to the police.  I just got nervous and couldn’t think of how to say what I wanted to.  It kind of sucks that after being here so long I can still get tripped up that easily.  I’ll just have to practice more. 

A couple of gendarmes showed up not long after and asked why I hadn’t called them when it happened.  I said that I forgot, but that I would next time.  They left pretty quickly.  I have to say, this incident just reassured me how much the community cares about our safety.  Within minutes of calling them there were almost ten people from different parts of the community there to help, or at least show a presence. 

Salle, the guy who is the repairman for my landlord, also came over very quickly.  It took him less than an hour to put the loops on the door and knock down the walls.  The walls were just old mud brick with some plaster, so all they had to do was push.  Which leads me to another positive to come out of this: now I have a place that I might actually be able to put a garden, and the mud brick just became a pile of dirt! 

I sent Ruth, our Peace Corps security person, an email about it.  She called me within a couple of hours to get the details of what happened and make her own suggestions for how to increase my security. 

We think the guy took a can of paint and a bar of soap I used to wash dishes that I had on my porch, but other than that, nothing was stolen or broken.  All in all, things turned out pretty well, and all I really lost was a night of sleep.  

Peace Corps Security Update

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The Peace Corps Country Director for Cameroon just sent us a security update that she got from the U.S. Embassy.  I thought it was actually a great analysis of the situation in the North and the Far North, so I thought I would share it here.  Apparently they are actually looking for sites to place people in the North from the September stage, so that’s good news.  Anyways, here is the report that she sent in its entirety.  Just as a point of reference, Maroua, the regional capital of the Far North, is about a 2-hour drive from my post, Guider.   

Summary:

Between July 15 and 19, U.S. Embassy staff travelled to Cameroon’s Far North Region to assess and discuss the influx of Nigerian refugees with local and traditional leaders. They met with approximately 250 refugees fleeing violence in Nigeria and interested in moving to a refugee camp. Government of the Republic of Cameroon (GRC) actions to secure the border, coupled with efforts from traditional rulers to control extremist rhetoric appear to be a bulwark against instability spreading from Nigeria into Cameroon. However, a devastated cross-border economy, mounting food prices, and the likelihood of ever more refugees entering Cameroon point to dim prospects for the region’s future. The Resident Representatives of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and UN High Commission for Refugees are concerned about food supplies and the potential for epidemics of yellow fever and cholera. Absent peace across the border in Nigeria, increased GRC investment in the region, or an economic miracle, the best the Far North can hope for is a managed decline that preserves the fragile stability of the status quo.

Tens of Thousands of Refugees

The office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHRC) had pre-registered 3,323 refugees

as of July 18. 830 of them are located at the new camp at Minawao (roughly 70km from the border with Nigeria).The Cameroonian Government reports that it has identified 8,128 refugees, and local authorities from the GRC and traditional power structures have been ordered to perform another census.  However, based on anecdotal information and vaccination records from the Mayo Tsanaga area, we estimate that there are at least 20,000 Nigerians in Cameroon’s Far North, with new arrivals daily.

Embassy staff met with three groups of Nigerian refugees totaling roughly 250 individuals in the cities of Kolofata and Mora. Most of the refugees said they were fleeing violence in the Nigerian town of Bama (35km from the border with Cameroon) and were forced to leave immediately, fearing for their lives.  Refugees came from all walks of life, from former government workers to farmers to merchants. All said they felt safe in Cameroon, had no desire to return to Nigeria until the violence ceased, and were interested in relocation to a refugee camp. Most said that dwindling food supplies were their main concern, and many did not differentiate between Boko Haram and the Nigerian military when asked who they feared most in Nigeria.

The majority of Nigerian refugees in Cameroon are staying with host families, often of the same ethnic background, although some have rented lodging in Cameroon, while others sleep outdoors. Although the host family phenomenon is emblematic of Cameroonian hospitality, the refugees are clearly taxing the resources of local families to the limit. This is particularly acute because Cameroon is in its “hunger season,” when granaries are empty and staple crops cannot yet be harvested.

Food Prices Rise

According to various sources, food prices in the Far North are rising rapidly in response to instability in Nigeria and the influx of Nigerians into Cameroon. In Maroua, the price of a sack of rice increased from $40 to $80. In Kolofata, the price rose from $24 to $40. Food security had previously been undermined by the devastating floods that struck the region in the September and October 2012, which international aid groups previously estimated would reduce crop yields by 8% in 2013 (Ref B). 15% of households in the Far North were classified as malnourished by international aid organization in 2012.

Cross-Border Commerce Devastated

The Sultan of Mora commented that the border city of Limani was previously the second most lucrative border crossing for the Cameroonian customs agency (after the Port of Douala), but since the escalation of violence in Nigeria in late May, commerce has virtually ceased in Limani. Regional Urban Council Delegate Robert Bakari added that violence in Nigeria had essentially closed markets there to Cameroonian merchants, emptying market stalls in Cameroon of Nigerian manufactured goods, and forcing merchants in the Far North to import goods via the land route from Douala, significantly increasing transportation prices due to mismanagement at the Port of Douala and poor road conditions in the northern regions.  Cameroonian merchants selling goods in Nigeria, primarily foodstuffs, have similarly been unable to cross the border into Nigeria and are being forced to sell their goods at lower prices in Cameroon. Despite the dangers in Nigeria, smugglers were still observed ferrying gasoline across the border on motorcycles in Kolofata. However, we believe that smuggled Nigerian gasoline is less available and that has also contributed to inflation since official gasoline prices in

Cameroon are roughly 100 percent higher.

A Postcard from the Edge

Having spent 23 years working 15km from the Nigerian border at the Kolofata District Hospital, few know the Far North better than American Dr. Ellen Marie Einterz. She described a local population as uninterested in religious fanaticism as it is distrustful of any and all governments. Nights are punctuated by the sounds of distant gunfire and explosions, while days see ever growing numbers of patients with bullet and knife wounds arriving at the hospital which serves a population ranging from 120,000 to 200,000 (about half of which come from Nigeria). The market is shut down; prices are up; housing is becoming scarce; and the local people are torn between their desire to host their neighbors in need and the growing sense that the community simply cannot afford to be so hospitable. Dr. Einterz’s response to practicing medicine in now heavily guarded hospital with a government-mandated 24-7 personal security escort? “We’re not leaving. This is home.”

The Vacation Challenge

Sunday, July 21, 2013

So there were a few things that I forgot to mention in my last couple of posts.  During the camp in Ngaounderé, we had some extra time while we were waiting for the lady to arrive with lunch.  I should probably mention that the Boy Scouts are in Cameroon too, just usually only in the larger cities and more developed areas.  One of the kids was a Boy Scout, probably middle school age, and lead what turned out to be the Cameroonian version of Mafia.  Instead of people being killed by the mafia, they were killed by sorcery, and instead of the town having people hanged they thought were guilty, the village sacrificed people.  The kid was really dynamic and energetic; everyone there, facilitators and PCVs included, was laughing and having a great time.  It’s pretty hard to make people forget that lunch is late, but this kid did it. 

Another thing is that, I assume because of Ramadan, ¾ of the bean and beignet mamas are gone in the morning.  I mean, I guess it makes sense.  Most people are eating breakfast before the sun comes up, so why would they stay open as late as usual (about 8 AM) or even bother opening?  Unfortunately, it also means that I have to go to the far bean and beignet mama and even a few days ago when I showed up before 7:30, she was already out of beignets.  There used to be four within a five-minute walk, now there is one. 

Yesterday we went to the ‘Vacation Challenge’ they have set up for some of the kids at the Center for Women and Families.  This year was a clash of the titans between two dance teams, Tourbillon (whirlwind) de Sangueré and King of Dance de Snec (alright, you caught me, King of Dance got the crap kicked out of them).  It wasn’t just a dance competition though.  There were trivia challenges, races like who can eat a package of cookies the fastest and who can blow up five balloons until they explode, comedy competition, karaoke, spelling bee, then of course a bunch of dance competitions in everything from salsa to hip-hop to break dancing.  It was supposed to start at two, but we are on African time, so my post mate and I didn’t show up until three.  The Vacation Challenge didn’t actually start until about four though, which makes sense.   

Like I said, Tourbillon de Sangueré handily beat King of Dance de Snec, but that’s not to say that the King of Dance team couldn’t dance – they were all far better than I ever have been or will be.  It’s amazing how quick they can move their legs.  My post mate and I were having a conversation about how in some ways Cameroonian kids are much braver than American kids.  They are always willing to get up and sing or dance or do something silly in front of the class.  Granted, classes are 3-5 times larger than American classes, so there are bound to be a higher concentration of outgoing students in each class, but it is still something cool to see. 

After it was finished, we went over to the house of a guy who sells plants – one of the few in the department (county).  We walked around his garden area and saw all of the different plants and trees, everything from manioc to oranges to dates.  After that we went into his house and watched the news – in English!  It was my first time seeing TV in months.  His family is Muslim, so after the sun set we broke their fast with them.  It was a pretty good meal – cucumbers, manioc, bouille (a hot, sweetened corn drink), rice beignets, white bean beignets, hardboiled eggs, and even milk!  It was my first time having real milk in country; I guess he gets it from a guy that has cows in the area.  We had it sweetened with rice in it.  It tasted almost exactly like rice pudding and was a great way to finish the meal.  Of course, we only ate with the men of the family, the women were outside or something, I’m not really sure. 

After dinner the guy showed us maps that he personally made of the Guider Township and the Mayo-Louti Department (that Guider is in).  The one of Guider took him three solid months and the one of the department took him a few years.  He literally made them by measuring his footsteps, using the odometer on his moto, and using a tape measure.  They looked like real, legit maps that were professionally done.  They also looked incredibly accurate – my post mate and I decided that if you took Google Maps or satellite photos, they would not be much different.  He is basically an old-school cartographer, and I’m pretty jealous of that – it’s always been something that I want to do. 

This is also a guy who never made it past primary school.  With almost no education he has taught himself cartography, architecture (I forgot to mention, he was working on designs for a house he is having built in Figuil, a town close by, they looked really good), and horticulture.  He has become pretty well off for the area and is going to be able to send at least some of his kids to University.  I was pretty impressed by the time we left. 

Now we are trying to figure out ways to get our hands on copies of those maps.  Hopefully one day we can gain his trust enough to borrow the maps and bring them to Garoua to make copies. 

The pictures, drawings, and post cards on my wall, most mailed to me with a couple taken here.

My fridge covered in stickers sent by my parents.  Yes, the brand is an Okay God.

Ramadan and Rainy Season

Friday, July 17, 2013

So a while ago when I was in Ngaounderé staying at the case (transit house) we were watching The Lion King.  It’s amazing how often we end up watching cartoons or Pitch Perfect whenever we’re in any case.  Anyways, it’s at that part near the end where Simba beats Scar and the whole area turns from brown and dead to green and beautiful.  Someone I was watching it with joked, “this whole movie happened during one dry season.”  It’s probably funnier if you’re here, but it’s amazing how true that could be; I don’t really know how long it takes for lions to mature… but the North now looks like Simba came back to power. 

It’s started raining almost every day now, and the place is just getting more and more green.  I honestly thought I was living in a place that would look like Arizona, Nevada, or West Texas for the next two years.  I know rainy season doesn’t last long, but it’s great… and terrible.  While it used to take an hour for clothes to dry, max, now it takes all day, with some things still damp.  Yesterday it was pouring and some of the roads were flooded, including the one in front of my house.  I thought those gutters looked too clogged to work. 

It’s interesting the things that are in season at different times.  The price of tomatoes and lettuce has gone way up, while all of a sudden now there is grapefruit.  I’ve been having grapefruit for breakfast almost everyday.  I’ve also started buying dates; they are a great snack, and something that I can just readily eat without having to cook.  Apparently the ‘hungry season’ is starting.  It lasts about 6 weeks and it is when everything is growing, so people don’t have anything to sell and therefore no money to buy food.  It’s times like that when this job can be really frustrating – there’s not really anything I can do. 

Speaking of hungry, Ramadan has been going on for a week or so.  For those of you who don’t know, Ramadan is a Muslim holiday where you fast during the daylight hours.  As someone who is at best agnostic, and has no plans to participate in the fast, my observations are completely as a selfish outsider.  For me, Ramadan has half been awesome and half sucked.  There isn’t any food during the day, but there are white-bean beignets and other things for sale at night.  Now if I don’t want to cook, there are actually options.  By the way, white-bean beignets taste like chicken nuggets – just without the chicken.  That with the hot sauce I have is awesome.  And beer of course. 

There just isn’t anything available for lunch, or at least it is a lot harder to find.  The market is still open of course, but I mean ready-made things that I’m used to, like tofu and brochettes (sticks of meat).  I usually eat lunch at home, but still.  Guider actually has an unusual amount of tofu for the North and Cameroon in general, I wonder if maybe some previous volunteer introduced it.  I eat it way more than I ever did in America, though I’m not really sure how healthy it is for me.  It’s usually covered in palm oil. 

The town is also strangely empty during the day.  There are not near as many people walking on the streets as there usually is.  While the daytime is quieter, the night and early morning are not.  I’ve been woken up at 3 or 4 AM every night since being back by the first call to prayer.  They don’t just do it when it’s time to pray, but when it’s time to get up or get ready to pray too.  Everyone needs to get most things done before the sun rises because they won’t get to eat again and most Cameroonian food is fairly labor-intensive. 

I’ve actually been pretty proud of myself – for the last four days in a row I have been practicing French using Rosetta Stone and been working out using Insanity (a really intense set of exercise videos.  I don’t know if I’ll have the discipline to keep it up, but I hope I will.  I’m going to at least try.  Other than walking and some hiking, I haven’t been doing much exercise since I’ve been in country, it’s startling how much weaker my legs are then when I was playing hockey.  Other than that I’ve mostly been working on stuff for the 2014 National Girls’ Forum and September’s Pre-Service Training.  There’s not much to do when it’s summer vacation and Ramadan.  Plus I haven’t been here for a month so I haven’t had time to plan anything in Guider. 

These pictures are from a while ago:

There is an ad for... something... not really sure honestly, named Ringo that is everywhere in Yaounde, so we decided to take some pictures

Another Ringo who just got a new hand

At the bar across the the street from the hotel, all from my sector, go YD!

Sometimes when we're bored we try stuff like this - seeing if Jam-Jam (the dog) can be carried in a scarf like a mama carries a baby in pange fabric. 

My Month Away from Guider

Sunday, July 14, 2013 (Bastille Day)

I’m finally back at my post after almost an entire month away.  It started with a VAC meeting in Garoua on June 15.  That is basically where we discuss problems that we are having as a region and go over rule clarifications and mandates from Peace Corps Administration in Yaoundé.  We had a lot to say as a region – we had basically had no contact from Administration with security updates in months, and none of us had any idea what was going on.  Since then, we have been told that we will start receiving periodic emails updating the situation, having received one so far. 

After that I had to take the train in just a few days, so there was not much reason to take the bus all the way back to post.  I hung out in Garoua for a couple of days, and then headed down to Ngaounderé to take the train.  I had to get down to Yaoundé to finish up final preparations for the National Girls’ Forum (NGF).  Though we tried to give ourselves more time to work together and finalize all of the documents, Administration refused to let us go down early, hence why I just hung out in Garoua and Ngaounderé – I wasn’t allowed in Yaoundé yet.  I still don’t see the logic in that micro-management. 

Due to last-minute editions from the presenters and formatting issues, especially making the transition from our computers to the ones we could print on, we worked for more than 12 hours straight at times, one committee member even having to stay up until almost 4 AM to do printing.  We went a day early to Kribi to set up, and had to get up quite early then to finish all of the printing and get the Welcome Books bound. 

I thought that it was really going to be great to have the NGF in Kribi, and it was, but I really didn’t get to enjoy it as much as I would have liked.  I was usually setting up by 7:30 every morning and didn’t finish wrapping up and entering survey data until around 6 every evening.  After that, I was usually so exhausted that I had dinner and went to bed fairly early.  Of course, I still made an effort to enjoy it.  Kribi has amazing food that I spent a lot of money to appreciate, including some delicious seafood.  I would have liked to go to the beach more though. 

After Kribi I went back to Yaoundé where I had to hang out for another couple of days until our Steering Committee meeting started.  It was a really successful meeting.  We created the basic training schedule, including adding at least five new sessions – backwards planning and lesson design; community needs assessment; money management and savings; working with people living with HIV/AIDS; work zones and collaboration; and more room for best practices.  We chose who we would like as trainers, pending the approval of the Training Director.  We also were able to find a new Editor-in-Chief for the YD Newsletter and a new Keeper of the YD Toolkit from my stage to replace those who will be COSing (leaving) in the next few months. 

I stayed down in Yaoundé for another couple of days where we had a BBQ at the Case (transit house) for the 4^th of July.  It was a lot of fun with about a dozen PCVs and a family that was visiting from America – just grilling and beers.  The next day we went to the Embassy for a party there, which was pretty terrible.  They were charging 2000 cfa for a beer (we usually pay 500 cfa at bars) and the marines there we incredibly rude.  A friend of mine who is one of the calmest and most mature people I know even almost got provoked into a fight.  Needless to say, we thought it would be a good idea if we left early.  It’s amazing how much better our party that was planned and orchestrated the day of was than the embassy party, which had been planned for weeks. 

I got back up to Ngaounderé and stayed a couple of days to help out with an extremely successful camp put on by some friends of mine from that region; the fourth such camp that they’ve held in the Adamaoua.  In the three days I was there, they covered everything that YD should – the bridge model; decision-making; leadership skills; gender; HIV/AIDS; and a host of other issues.  The kids were all incredibly engaged and there were some exceedingly competent facilitators from the University that the PCV in Ngaounderé had been training.  It was really great to watch how successful a camp can be, and something to aspire too.  If the camps we are hoping to have this fall are half as successful, I’ll be happy. 

Finally I went up to Garoua to see the PCMO (medical officer) about my back and knees.  Due to a combination of the terrible mattresses and travel in this country, both have been killing me.  In reality since I got here but more so over the past few weeks.  Looks like I’ll need to wait until I go to Yaoundé next to get a couple of x-rays – until then just ibuprofen and some exercises that will hopefully help. 

And so I am finally back in Guider with Ramadan just beginning.  I’ve got a lot of work to do on my national projects (training, steering, NGF), but I am not sure how I will start new projects here between Ramadan and school still being out, not to mention the fact that I will have to leave in less then a month for another Steering Committee Meeting in Yaoundé, followed just a couple of weeks later by TOT/TDW (Training of Trainers and Training Design Workshop).  I’m glad I at least have this month at post. 

Opening remarks by the Country Director at the 2013 National Girls' Forum

She swears she saw something bury itself in the sand, we spent the next while digging a hole trying to find it.  We didn't.  

The chaos of people COSing (leaving).  Trying to get bags down to weight limit, organize, say goodbye.  Congrats guys! 

Out for beers in Kribi after the NGF ended.  They show a '33' in the opening scene of Apocalypse Now.  I feel cool every time I drink one.