Back in Duala

Back in Duala to hand in my final report amnd await my 11:45pm flight to Paris. Dave, a volunteer from Red Deer and I rented a taxi for the afternoon and toured around the city. This is a a view of the fishing boats on the banks of the Wouri River. Now we are not in the Mayor's car we are subject to being stopped by the soldiers. We were pulled over by a group with sub-machine guns; but they left us alone when I gave them some money for beer.

Saying Goodbye to Bafut

It took a while to get going in the morning; but we were on the road by noon. Luckily the power came on by late morning so I was able to get cash from a bank machine in Bamenda. As we were in the Mayor's car (a 1990 Toyota Corolla)we didn't have to stop at the road blocks like this old bus. The roads seemed in better condition than when I travelled them just three weeks ago. I guess I am aclimatized to African conditions.

Traditional costume

On Sunday the Mayor, Deputies and senior staff held a goodbye dinner for me. They presented me with a hand-made traditional costume. It is magnificent; I was overwhelmed by their generosity.

A feather in my cap

The Fon or his Chiefs can recognise heroic acts or significant contributions by honouring people with a red feather. The deputy mayor recommended that my contribution to Bafut be recognised, and I was awarded a red feather on Saturday. I was given the

Goodbye to staff

Last day of work was Friday and everyone wanted their photo taken with me. These are the clerical staff.

Man with Machette

Tomorrow will be my last day working here. People have started inviting me to their homes and giving me gifts. I went to the home of the Secretary General today and we met a man with a machette on the path. It turned out to be his father who had been out cutting palm nuts.

I can't say "no" to some faces

The children here are wonderful! I have made it a rule for myself not to give out any money but I try to have a few baloons or pencils to give children like this one, who tear at my heart strings.

The Elementary School

Today I managed to visit a school in the area. It had been difficult before as I usually work during school hours. The floors were dirt and the supplies very limited; but the children were wonderful. I handed over the school supplies that some of you had given me and the principal was delighted.

The Chief at Mankwe.

This chief has a palace (or compound ) for his 8 wives, 4 of who were “inherited” from his father. He is shown here with some of his 40 children. Lots more stories about my adventures with him later.

Bamenda Main Market

Monday was a public holiday so I went to Bamenda to the market with another VA who is working at a small town 80km away and happned to be in the area. WE had great fun trying on African clothes.

Scenery in Cameroon

When you get out of the cities, this place is beautiful.

Rice growing

Few people realise that rice is grown in Cameroon, particularly in the mountains. However the lower Bafut valley, down towards the Nigerian border is ideal rice growing country and produces a very high quality long grain rice. The mayor is trying to get funding for a husking machine so the secondaary processing can be done in the valley. We met with some rice farmers on Saturday morning.

Food in Africa

In the small places they do not have restaurants. They have bars that sell beer and then food vendors who set up outside who sell bushmeat, fish soup or whatever. Mostly they eat achu which is a very spicy soup containing whatever meat or fish that they have around. It’s served with a dough like paste and you are required to eat it with your fingers. This lady whose stall was outside the council offices was determined that I eat her achu.

White man!! White man!!

When I go into the more remote areas the children run after the car and cry White man!! Here is a small group that I met on Saturday near the rice farms.

The Bafut Market

This market is held every 8 days and is the biggest in the area. Thousands of farmer attend to sell everthing from plantain to pigs

The Health clinic

Steve Woollcombe pu me in touch with Celine who works in a health centre at the end of some terrible roads. She showed me around the sparsely stocked pharmacy. People here are remarkably healthy given the conditions, but several people are missing works with flare ups of malaria.

The seminar

The reason that I am here is to train Council staff. So after initial research and interviews, I designed a one day seminar on work planning that would be suitable for all levels of staff from the Secretary General to the yard man. I delivered it today to 35 people in the Traditional court house with no electricity, no flip charts and no handouts. The people were great, it worked well and the final evaluations were excellent. I will do one more large seminar next week and split the rest of my time between small group and individual training.

Roads in Bafut

This is a picture of the main highway that runs through Bafut. The rural roads are in worse shape and often impassable to cars. That means the farmers have to carry their produce to market on their heads - often walking 5 - 10 miles. Their income is limited by how much they can carry. Food goes to waste because they can't get it to market. The sick cannot get to health centres, children have to walk miles to school.

Working with the Council

The term Council here means the same as "Municipality" in Canada. Councils were created by the Decentralization Act of 2004, although there were other forms of local governments before that. The elected council has 35 members, but they are a “deliberative” body, which only meet four times a year and their main function seems to be to appoint the mayor and four deputy mayors who are the executive. The mayor has all the power, counterbalanced somewhat by two central government appointees; the Secretary General who keeps things straight administratively and the Municipal Treasurer, who receives all revenues and must approve all disbursements.

The celebrations

Many celebrations take place every weekend. I was invited to this one on Saturday to celebrate the passing of a grandmother who passed a year ago. There were many troupes of dancers who perform and then the people give them money as this woman is doing. They dance on the hard red earth and the dust gradually settles on the hundreds of people that are watching.

Meeting the Fon

His Royal Highness the 11th Fon of Bafut is a most gracious gentleman, who has various ceremonial duties. He is well respected by his subjects and when he makes a proclamation they take notice. I was received by him on my third day in Bafut and presented him with a gift of smoked salmon, which you see him holding here. The mayor is in the picture too. This Fon has 7 wives who generate their income from tourists visiting the palace.Apparently his father had about 50 wives.

Palm wine

The people here get the sweet nectar from the palm trees - let it ferment for 24 hours and then drink it as wine. A collector will figure out which tree is ripe, take a calabash up in the morning and bring it down full the next day and sell it. It is about the same potency as beer and much cheaper. It is reputedly good for your eyesight and actually tastes pretty good. One of the local councillors told me that it makes you just as happy as drinking expensive champagne.

First day in Bafut

Bafut is a thriving little place. Much of it looks like the photo, where my guest house is, on the right. It goes on for miles; totalling 450 square km and includes lots of other smaller villages. Most is agricultural, and the roads are full with people walking everywhere. There are two paved roads, which meet at my guesthouse and the rest are dirt. The population is officially 85,000 but probably much higher

Driving Through Cameroon

The mayor’s car is a 1992 Toyota with no AC so he and I sat in the back with the windows down. It’s up hill all the way to the North West Province and the scenery is beautiful as we got into the hills. Everything is green and lush. They grow pineapple, corn, bananas, papayas and lots I didn’t know the names of. We stopped several times to buy things and for me to take photos. The trip took the full 7 hours even though we speeded at 110 whenever the road was good. Everyone walks here. There are always people on the roads even when there are no houses to be seen.

Driving in Douala

Driving in Douala is crazy. For every car, there are two motorcycles and they weave in and out of each other without regard for any noticeable rules. We hired a motorcycle to lead us out to the Wouri River bridge, as the route was so complicated. The picture shows the main highway leading to the bridge – no wonder it takes so long to get around. Business of all kinds, from bakers to coffin makers to cell phone sales lined the road for miles. This is an email posting to my blog which is all I may be able to do from now on.

Day 2 - Raining in Paris

Not as much time in Paris as I thought. By the time I'd checked into my hotel and had a and it was 2pm local time. I took the train down to Chatelet les Halies, close to the Seine. It was cold and pouring rain - the streets were deserted. Paris is still Paris though and I explored the area and took some photos. However I soon realised how tired I was, and am back at the hotel to prepare for tomorrow. This is an email posting to my blog which is all I may be able to do from now on.

Day 1 - I'm off

Well the prepartions are over. I have two suitcases that weigh 50 lbs each full of stuff to give away, plus my backpack containing my laptop and camera and all the stuff I can't afford to lose. Susan and Jordan drove me to Victoria Airport at 8am and I made the short hop to Seattle. Diana Lokken was on the same flight - off to Barcelona and a mediterranean cruise with her family. We hung out at SeaTac Airport for a while. The flight to Paris was packed and I didn't sleep; but checked in to an airport hotel (IBIS) as soon as I arrived and will nap now. Zero degrees in Paris but will try to get out later for sightseeing.

Getting Ready

It has been a hectic month since I found out that I was going to Cameroon. I have had to get all of my shots, medical clearances, visas, make travel arrangements, buy supplies, research Cameoron, talk to other VA’s, create my blog and pack my suitcases. All this at the same that I am doing my GFOA work, keeping up with my other contracts and preparing my family for my time away. I feel like I haven't stopped for weeks; By the time I get on the plane on Saturday I will need a rest.

Where is Bafut?

Bafut is pretty small and not shown on most maps; but is close to Bamenda a city of 400,000 near the Nigerian border, about 220 kms from Douala.

Where is Cameroon?

Those of you whose geography is a little shaky, may need a graphic representation of the location of Cameroon in Africa.

Assignment in the Cameroon

I am excited to have been selected through the Canadian Executive Service Organization to do a volunteer assignment in Cameroon. This involves training staff who work for the local Council in "management of available resourses". I will find out more details in the next few weeks. This is a 21 day asignment and i expect to leave towards the end of November when I have my medicals and visas in place.

All about CESO

I was having coffee at Ottavio's on Oak Bay Avenue with my friend Martin Thomas (the guy who put together most of the downtown revitilization programs in BC). He told me that he had done volunteer consulting assignments in Hungary and Bolivia with Canadian Executive Service Organization (CESO).

It sounded intriguing so I sent them my resume and after a screening process and an interview was accepted as one of CESO 2,800 volunteer advisors. If you want to find out more about CESO, go to http://www.ceso-saco.com