#7 - Mini-Road Trip of Kmer: East, Adamawa and North Region, Discovering (Part ONE)

Kmer 09 - Thoughts, Reflections, Experiences - Speciale: East, Adamawa, North Regions (Part One) Saturday, October 3, 2009 at 4:48pm

Thursday, October 1st, 2009:

• This trip comes at a great period, a period when I was yearning to do a road trip of Cameroon. Since God works in miraculous ways, that is exactly what I will be doing: A trip to the East-Adamawa and North regions, not by air, not by train, but by road; just like I’d wished.

• I might have been to Bertoua when I was like 3 years old. I have a very vague and distant memory of going there by train, and coming back by plane. I’ll double check that with my mom....

- We arrived in Bertoua at 12:30pm. They had to wake me up cause I slept for the last 3 hours of the trip. Don’t blame me; I only had a 4hrs night-sleep. At a certain point on the trip we reached an untarred road, and the bumps and zigzags couldn’t take me out of my sweet slumber…

- I tell u, sleep is the sweetest thing created in this world. Even a chocolate chips - cookie dough – cake battered mix- ice cream from Coldstone, ain’t nothing compared to a deep good sleep.

- We had lunch at some “restaurant” in some only-thoz-who-know-know neighbourhood. Lol. The drivers took us there. It’s at a woman’s home who cooks for workers/visitors etc. I ordered plantains and ndole (vegetables). And I prayed the Lord to sanctify that food. And I ate. Trying not to think about the conditions in which it was cooked, nor the texture of what I was eating. I ate with faith. For real. Lol. Aight aight. Let me stop here. I can’t afford to be picky now!

- U gots to go with the flow…

- The town of Bertoua, is kind of like a Yaounde and Baffoussam fusion. It has the urban-rural aspect of Baffoussam, but with less mud, and it also has the growing industrial aspect of Yaounde; actually of some of Yaounde’s neighborhoods, like Mvogada, Etoudi or Emia. You would see, for example, quincailleries, furniture makers, etc. on the side of the road.

- Apparently people from the East eat “couscous de manioc”/cassava flour 365days/365. That’s one of the major factors of their malnutrition. They don’t diversify their meals. Too much carbs. (They should get on the Atkins Diet. lol)

- I notice most houses here, I mean on the road, not in the town, are brick-layered, with straw roofs. Little huts designed exactly like the huts that are usually shown in the National Geography books to symbolize Africa.

- The police-persons on this road (from Yaounde to Bertoua) misuse children. They take children as young as 4 years old, to help them remove the road blockers, after cars pay their tolls, at the road checks. This is very particular on this road in the East region. Elsewhere you don’t see children being misused in this way. Mind you, not only are these police agents paid to do that job, but in addition to their salary, they collect bribe money from all the illegal/unequipped truck drivers who pass thru that road. Yet, instead of attempting to do their job, they continue overexploiting little kids.

- On the road, you see lots of refugee camps on the side. They are in majority refugees from Central African Republic coming to find a peaceful place in their neighboring country, Cameroon. As the co-driver, Tanko, was explaining to me, these people are not poor. When they were in their country, they were wealthy. They had cows, they had farms, and they had homes; but with the civil unrest in their country, the atmosphere became too dangerous for them to stay. One of the things I’m proud about Cameroonians in this region, is that they have warmly welcomed refugees in their communities.

- I remember GWA Mia Farrow during her press conference saying she visited a village of 3,000 people in the Eastern region of Cameroon, and they had welcomed 1,000 refuges. I think that’s wonderful news. Especially in this world where Xenophobia has reached it premium and tribalism still seems to be a huge problem. I’m proud of my Cameroonian brothers.

- People dry their cassava on the ground. When I say “on the ground’ I mean On.The.Ground, i.e. nothing between the ground and the cassava. i.e. no mat, no paper cloth, no tissue to put the cassava on it. And the cassava is on the ground, just like that, on the side of the road. So you can imagine the toxins and germs that settle on it: first the ground on the floor, then the cars driving carrying polluted gas, and u can imagine all the other dirt/germs exposure… Once the grounded cassava dries, they sweep it up, filter the cassava from the dirt, and eat it.

- How are you going to start speaking to these ppls about fork/knife? Let’s even say this is too Western of a concept to promote. How are you going to start speaking to these people about washing their hands before eating? Or preserving a certain nutritious hygiene? Hmm…

- I’m witnessing, seeing for myself the wide gap between policies/recommendations and practices in the Development World. There’s a huge divide between what development organizations try to promote for the health, nutrition, safety and education of children and the everyday practices in these kids life. I feel like, as unpractical as it may be, there need to be health agents who would be 24/7 with these communities – listening to them, discussing with them and coaching them. ‘cause in my opinion, one-time Health Campaigns, might help the situation to some extent, but the challenge would be like the “Bafia Dance.” (The Bafia Dance, as my mom explained to me last week, is the dance the Bafia ethnic group of Cameroun performs. They dance one step forward, then one step back, one step forward, then one step back...and so on.)Now you understand the metaphor right? Because the cultural divide is so huge, NGOs move forward in some aspects, but in others they fall back.

- You can’t help but feel, to a certain degree, helpless in front of this vast amount of destituteness. You ask yourself: What do I do? What Can I do? Where’s the limit between their opinion and mine? Between their “culture” and mine? To what extent am I trying to impose a biased view on this community? At the same time, how do you change your thinking when you are told anecdotes like the following Tanko told me:

- One of the heads of department of UNICEF, Denis, came to the Eastern region a year or two ago. He spoke to women here about practices to help their kids grow healthier. The women complained that UNICEF always comes and speak about their children; they never care about the mothers. So Denis goes back to Yaounde, orders packages and packages of pads (sanitary towels for women during their menstruation). They come to the Eastern province with it. Distribute three-three packages to the women. The next day they see a middle-aged man trekking to the mosque with his white attire. As the man sees them, he takes out a pad from his upper left pocket and brings it to his forehead, to wipe the sweat. Denis asks the man, “Where did you get that from?” The man says “My wife gave it to me since I always trek to the mosque and I get really sweaty. Do you want one?” Denis asked the man to bring him to his wife. He asked the wife how she does during her period. She said since she got married, she had never worn an underwear. How can she even use those pads without underwear?

…. U see this? Where do u even start addressing such issues? Do you give panties to all the women in the village? How many? For how long? Every month ? do u give them a budget for that (although they can use that dough for other stuff ?). Do you accept it as “A mode of life?” “ A way of life”, as “their culture”?

- The pygmies are another example of cultural groups/ethnic groups that stick to their traditions/modes of life, they refuse to integrate the modern world, or even the national community. It’s understandable though, that they don’t want to see their traditions disappear in a too big, uncontrollable globalized world. But I still think there are some practices that are too retrograded, and with each tradition and culture, there must be space for amelioration. A tradition is not meant to be static. That’s an erroneous view of tradition. Traditions are supposed to be ways of life of a community that also changes with time, with different contexts… ‘cause people/cultures must be enlightened as they grow old.

FYI:

o Pygmies don’t have sex in their homes. They go to the forest to “copulate”, and come back home, with the mother pregnant already.

o When they say you love sex like a goat, that means you are practically a nympho. - Can you imagine, someone lives in a tiny hut no bigger than your average bathroom, i.e. abt 2.5meters by 2.5 meters, and 1.8 meters high.

- It’s reassuring to see the wells The UNHCR has built in some of the communities. The first thing when people live somewhere is to have access to water. As my friends of EWB constantly repeat the slogan, “Water is life.”

o UNICEF = Nutrition, Health, Education, Child Protection.

- The wise man/woman will make the drivers in his company/organization his best friend. They are the eyes and the ears of the company. They see all, hear all, know all. Once you are their confident, you too will see all, hear all, know all. U wud gain knowledge that will give u not only a boarder perspective, but a sharper one too. Whenever you join a company/organization/or even at home… always make the driver(s) your best friend(s).

- For the past 24hours I have been out of my comfort zone. But that’s ok. It’s good to get out of your comfort zone, and experience different aspects of living.

- I had a sleepless night. Slept around 9pm, while watching “Slumdog Millionaire” in French, with Aminatou, Tanko’s sister. Then woke up at 11:30pm… and couldn’t sleep till wake-up time at 6 am. I spent 6 hours playing The Treasures of MonteZuma. That game is soooooo addictive, gosh. I’ve even been dreaming about breaking those Gems. Lol. I’m at 185 gems, 3 more steps to the end of the game! I’m dreaming of the next chance I’ll have to finish that game. I swear it’s like coke!

- We stayed in a modest 2 bedroom apartment in Garoua-Boulai. Really, I can’t even complain ‘cause after traveling for 4 hours, seeing mud houses and tiny huts with 5+ people living in them, a 1-star residence is like a mini-palace. It’s all in the head.

- At dinner, we went to a little shop/cafetariat/mini-restaurant, lighted with a blue dim light, so you didn’t really get a grasp of where you were. So we ordered dinner. I got some beef-steak, which came with some cold fried plantain. And just like at lunch, I prayed God to sanctify that food man. Cause I was eating with faith, not with sight. Lol. It was ok though.

- Garoua-Boulai is a boundary town, 1km away from the Central African Republic.

- Thank God for this Toshiba, aka Baby-Oli, mini laptop, for its 8 hours battery life. I don’t know how I’d cope without it. My baby. It keeps me grounded. It creates a semblance of home wherever I go. With the music in it, my photos, my movies, wherever I am, I can evade into my little electronic world.

Friday, October 3, 2009

- The Road Garoua-Boulai <-> Ngouandere is so bumpy, it’s painful to type, and I can’t take any good pictures. For 260km, it would take us 5hrs30 mins to reach Ngaoundere. Normally 260km, takes 2.5 to 3hrs (just like the road from Yaounde to Douala); but because of the bad road, the whole ride is really long...

- The new driver, Moussa, is a pro man. The way he works that road, you know he’s in his element. Actually, he’s from this region. His village is in between Garoua-Boulai and Ngaoundere. One we got there, he was greeting everyone, everyone was greeting him, stopping to say hello, he’s really like a chief in his kingdom.

- I’m seeing the smallest huts I’ve ever seen in my life. The huts here have specific kinds of structures and textures. The hut is in mud-brick-layers and straw-thatched roofs. I thought the straw thatched roofs were built with that material because of the heat, but Moussa and Tanko actually told me it’s simply because it’s cheaper than tin/steel roofs.


- It’s after traveling through these bumpy roads that you can truly grasp the value of 4WD. You might never understand what a brilliant invention these cars are unless you get out of the tarred roads in the city and into some rocky and rough land.

- It’s not that I’ve never gone through rough roads. I have. In my village in the Western Region a lot of the roads are untarred. But I’ve never travelled more than 50km on untarred roads. This little trip was 260km of dodging potholes, zigzagging on mud, and jumping up and down in our seats. Hmm… and when I think it’d be the same process heading back after the trip… well, I still got 10days to get psychologically ready for that ride.

- Ngaoundere means “la montagne au nombril”/ The mountain with the belly-button.

- It’s actually not too hot in Ngaoundere, at night you need a scarf. There’s a cool breeze that freshens u up.

- Ngaoundere is also a very clean town. I haven’t dirt lying around in piles like you see in the Yaounde or Douala. The people are also very welcoming and polite. Strangers will tell you “good morning”, “good appetite”, “good bye.” These are normally polite attitudes, that have become abnormal in the city life. I like this town.

- It feels sooo good to have a warm long shower after a long journey. I feel relaxed, especially after eating a delicious roasted fish and crispy fried plantains at dinner.

Saturday, October 4th, 2009

- Saturday we are resting in Ngaoundere. Tomorrow morning, we’re heading to Garoua (3hours away from here)

- I didn’t know I could find a cybercafé where 1hour internet is 1000FCFA($2). Usually that’s the cost of 4 hours on the internet inmost cybers in Yaounde/Douala. But… I haven’t been online for 2 days now, my usb-internet-key isn’t working no more… in short, I need the internet. Not just to publish this T.R.E, but I’m coordinating the inauguration planning of Harambe-Cameroon, from here… thus I constantly need to send my fellows updated docs, guest lists, emails lists, etc.

- In the mean time, let me continue my Kmer exploration. This special T.R.E (East-Adamawa-North Regions) is To Be Continued…