One Year Anniversary

Well, it has been difficult to keep my blog going while living in village with no electricity, but I am currently in the city and enjoying electricity, internet, hot showers, and sleeping in. I just picked up 6 packages from the post office and had one little package waiting for me already at the PC house. Wow, I have some great family and friends. Just enjoyed some M&M’s and Top Ramen soup; my fellow PCV’s appreciate the M&M’s as well. They are going fast!

Life is good here. I have been homesick and missing all you great people back home, but I do enjoy village and the people there, as well. I am continuing to “work” at the Health Center in village and going out on Polio Vaccinations every so often. I do a lot of observing and stepping out of rooms as to keep from puking or passing out at the Health Center. I am learning a lot about health care in the village, and just how strong people are. There were two births the other day, and the only screaming and crying was from the newborn baby. Women are crazy strong here. The same week, I showed up to the Health Center around 9 am and there was a woman who had given birth that morning before I got there. She was packing up her things and getting on a moto with her newborn child wrapped up in her arms to go back to her nearby village. I often tell my coworkers at the Health Center how amazing women are here.

There was a some recent cases of Polio found among the Central African Republic refugee’s here in Cameroon. Since we, in the Adamawa, are one of the regions that border CAR, we are one of two regions who have to do three rounds of vaccinations within a month, for all kiddos aged 0-10 years (it used to be 0-5 years). It has been a little tiring, but I always enjoy getting to see the houses, people, and different villages “en brousse” (in the bush). It is rainy season, so it can be a little scary and slippery when we take the moto out to the small bush villages. But I wear my helmet, jeans, keens, and long sleeve flannel despite being told I look like a man when I go en brousse. And, they think it is hilarious when “nasara” falls in the mud, on the moto, which can get annoying, but no burns or injuries, so I try to laugh it off when we do fall.

While out on vaccinations this past week, Ebola was the hot topic. It has been concerning with it creeping closer. People out in the middle of the bush know about it, were worried, and were asking for the vaccine. My Cameroonian friend/counterpart/neighbor explained there is none and we are only giving the vaccine against Polio right now. From what I could understand in Fulfulde, she explained there is no treatment and no vaccine and it is not in Cameroon, yet. I’ve been doing my fair share of reading and research on the virus and have been pushing for a short little session on how to protect oneself, but it hasn’t been accepted or put on anyone’s priority list as of now. There is a one new small poster in the health clinic about symptoms, who to call if you suspect Ebola, and how to protect yourself. But, it is small, it is only one, and it is in French. For a village of people who speak Fulfulde and has an estimated literacy rate of 40%, that is not sufficient.

Reading the news and the problems with Ebola in nearby countries, I can imagine how impossible it is to control. Seeing how people deal with illness here in village, in the bush, and at the health center is extremely disheartening to imagine the ability to control something like Ebola. Traditional remedies are almost always tried before going to the health center, if they have the money to go to the health center. I try to share the information I have, but it is limited and we can talk all we want but it’s going to require some serious dedicated behaviors to deal with it. People are told to protect themselves from any loved ones who have symptoms, but when you sleep in the same bed, eat from the same plate, how realistic is that? Can you imagine not having the protective equipment needed to take care of your sick loved ones and therefore not touching them, helping clean them up, prepare their bodies for burial? I can only imagine the suffering of those in these other W. African countries affected by Ebola.

It is easy to forget about things when we live in the good ol’ USA. It is easy to distance ourselves from things going on around the world when we live in a developed country. Sometimes I look at the world news here and I wonder is the news always like this? Does it affect me more now, here in Cameroon, because I can empathize with these stories on these struggling developing countries? Or, is this what growing up feels like?

It is humbling to live here. It is not always easy. Sometimes I think about coming home. But, also, it’s not always difficult and I wonder what it would be like to live here forever, not to have a year left until I go back to my country. Yes, if Ebola becomes a concern here in Cameroon, I can go home to Montana. But, what about my friends and my Cameroonian “family”? Those in Tourningal and Mayo-Darle can’t pack up their things and leave the country. They will be fighting for their lives as those in multiple West African countries are struggling to do.

Peace Corps has definitely showed me that you truly cannot take anything for granted. We should appreciate the development in our country, the access to health care, the support from the government in disasters, and just the basic security we have in our country. Of course, we have our fair share of problems in the States, and people even asked before I left for Cameroon, “why not stay here and work on our own problems?” It is a fair question and I don’t have a good response. I just know this is truly a life changing experience and makes me realize how much I have taken for granted all my life.

There are people here who don’t understand why an American would leave the US to come suffer in Africa (their words). It is also difficult to explain and sometimes I think, “yeah, what am I doing?!?” But there are amazing things here amongst the suffering. People are genuine here. They are welcoming. And they love to laugh.

It has been a wild ride, but I’ve made it one year here in Cameroon. I can’t believe it has already been one year. Looking back, it has gone fast, but I don’t have much to show for my time here. I am half way done; I have one year left to work. And, about three months until I will spend Christmas with my loved ones. On the hard days, that is what keeps me going.

Here’s to another year of more “firsts”, learning new things everyday, and realizing the more I learn, the less sure I am of what I know.