I've been in Kmer for a week already, and each day I've tried to jot down thoughts, reflections, and experiences which I elaborate later on in an essay/journal form. One of my great mentors in the US suggested i keep a journal, and share a weekly newsletter about my experiences here. Since I don't have the time to write a journal entry every night, I have jotted down these ideas as they come daily... So here's my open Journal, as of July 7th - July 16th
• Home is home. Home is peaceful. Home is stress-free. Home is love. Home is Belonging. Home is Home.
• Let me say this first before I continue. Wherever I was, because of my faith in God, because I know I’m his cherished, beloved and blessed daughter, I have always been stress-free, peaceful and trusting in His almighty power. And I have seen, I have seen his glory. I have witnessed and testified his amazing presence in my life. Really, with God on my side, I have nothing to worry about. As I often like quoting, “I walk by faith, not by sight." But here, at home, I am walking by Faith AND by sight. So it definitely feels wonderful to walk in those shoes. It feels wonderful to not have to worry about grocery-shopping, cooking, laundry, ironing cloths, washing dishes, cleaning the house …you know those basic things that shape your daily activities; those basic things that should be second-nature to everyone, and are essential skills for everyone to know… but they get tedious at times man. For real, after 4 years of doing all that, it feels so great to not have to worry about it.
• Let me say this first before I continue. Wherever I was, because of my faith in God, because I know I’m his cherished, beloved and blessed daughter, I have always been stress-free, peaceful and trusting in His almighty power. And I have seen, I have seen his glory. I have witnessed and testified his amazing presence in my life. Really, with God on my side, I have nothing to worry about. As I often like quoting, “I walk by faith, not by sight." But here, at home, I am walking by Faith AND by sight. So it definitely feels wonderful to walk in those shoes. It feels wonderful to not have to worry about grocery-shopping, cooking, laundry, ironing cloths, washing dishes, cleaning the house …you know those basic things that shape your daily activities; those basic things that should be second-nature to everyone, and are essential skills for everyone to know… but they get tedious at times man. For real, after 4 years of doing all that, it feels so great to not have to worry about it.
• It feels great to know you have a support-system around you, and despite whatever challenge you might be going through, there is always a way. As we often say in Kmer “Impossible n’est pas cameroonais”/Impossible is not Cameroonian. Cameroon is a land of infinite opportunities where all is possible.
• Mom is Mommilicous. Dad is Exceptional. Brothers are precious. Sisters are lovely. Cousin is Hilarious!
• People seem to be obsessed with anger here man. People seem to be on their last nerves. They get hot-tempered in one second. Lol. I think it’s the excess of heat that heats up everyone.
• Dad is spoiling me. But I can’t be spoiled ‘cause my momma brought me up the right way.
• Yaounde is much cleaner. The delegate of state is building parks, cleaning up the streets, planting flowers everyone. There are lots of improvements.
• Amadou is depleting all my resources…
• Too much ego-tripping man... My theory is this: 90% of the times we get mad, frustrated, deceived, jealous, it’s because our ego has been scratched by someone, a word; a circumstance, etc... Ego-tripping.
• In any given situation, I refuse to be the victim of my circumstances. Even when I’ve been victimized, I refuse to take that position, ‘cause I know in every given moment I have the power to decide who I want to be at that moment. I have the power to make the best of each circumstance. I have the power to transcend any setback and move on. I choose to be an active subject in this world, I refuse to be a passive subject of the world. And that’s because I am convince that as long as I’m the Master of my will and a Slave to my conscience; things will work out right.
• Too much finger-pointing. People always try to find the scape-goat, the oppressor, the villain. I don’t like finger-pointing. The person must feel guilty enough as it is. Finger-pointing wouldn’t mitigate the situation. I prefer to deal with finding solutions to problems rather than dwell on the culprit.
• In Cameroon, and I guess in most African countries, you have to arm yourself with Understanding if not you will be frustrated all day long. Understanding has become my best friend.
• What do you do to entertain 6 kids, ranging from 4yrs old – to - 11 years old? My cousins are bringing so much energy and life to the house. It’s a crazy exciting atmosphere. I love dem kids.
• Gloria, my 4-year old cousin, aka FM-Baham, is more than A-DOR-ABLE!
• I witnessed Corruption for the first time, LIVE yesterday. I sadly even contributed to it :-(. lol. It really shouldn’t be funny! So here’s what happened. My couz, yannick, my gurl, Gina, my friend and I are driving back home. A policeman stops us on the road. Asks for the car-documents, we give him everything. One of the front-lights of the car wasn’t working, he said that’s why he stopped us. This man didn’t want to let us go, even after we showed him the two front-light actually work. He said we will wait there till he ends his shift, and once he gets tired he will tow the car! Hummm…. My cousin is like “yo, we have to give him something, that’s what he wants.” So we all contribute one one dollar (500FCFA). Yannick goes back the policeman with the dough, the cop signals him the amount is not right enough. Yannick comes back to the car, collects another 1,000Frs (2 dollars), Total: 3000frs ($6). The deal was made. The policeman let us go.
•
Driving here Is like a jungle man. There’s no code. Taxi-cabs stop anywhere. There’s so much inconsistencies, unpredictability, aggressiveness. It’s crazy man… I dunno if I can drive here man. I dunno.
• Waow. All the partners I met last year, have welcomed me back home so warmly. I was kinda apprehending some their reactions. You know when you are promoting something, it’s sometimes hard to detect those who are truly, genuinely interested, and others who are just being polite, or even others who might have a different agenda. But with the positive reception I’ve had thus far, I’m at ease. Thank the Lord.
• I need to secure that Platinum Sponsor man…
• At first I didn’t want to use my dad to open gates and have access to strategic people. You know, in the professional/business world, you don’t want to be seen as a “daddy’s girl”, you want to build your own name, and showcase your own qualities. And I’ve managed to do that for the past years. But with the timeline I have, and the size of the project I am implementing, I need to expedite the process… thus, I turn to my ultimate number one network connection. Plus, after long reflections and after speaking with some wise and savvy Cameroonian professionals, they told me “such is Cameroon. You gotta milk your network. ” Alright then… I’m going to be the milk-expert by the end of my stay here. Hehehee.
• TV is so entertaining here. Or shall I say, so much more edifying and instructive. There are intellectual talk shows on 50% of the TV channels. Most of them are following the trend of making TV interactive, by showcasing the ordinary person’s life. One show that sticks to my mind is the 5-minute “What’s Your favorite Song.” They go in the streets of yaounde/Douala and randomly asks an ordinary citizen to sing their favorite song. It’s really great. It allows some people to express themselves. It allows others to relate to the songs. It fosters a community of united Cameroonians.
• I just saw a Pig being slaughtered LIVE on TV. I dunno if I can eat pork again. Urgh. I’m too disgusted.
• The Ex-factor … hmmm…. What can I say? Forwards Ever, Backwards never.
• Finally, I got over my fear of running in the streets of Yaounde. I was too scared of people’s unapologetic lengthy stares that for a week I refused to do my daily running. Today, Yannick ceased me out of bed at 6:30 am. Yes, 6:30 am. I actually wasn’t sleeping. Had a sleepless night. I put on my shirt, sweatpants and tennis shoes…turned my swag on… and off we went. 3Kilometers. That’s about 2 miles. I was terribly exhausted. But it’s a necessary pain. I’m psychologically ready for tomorrow morning.
• Latest update as of today (July 16, 2009 at 3:31pm Kmer time): It took a 30mins one-on-one conversation with my dad. I had to tell him I want those 30 mins in his schedule to solely present him my Harambe-Cameroon project. He got Harambified!!! All the doors got opened…. they were all one phone call away. ONE Phone call away man. And all this time, all this time, I was taking the long road, trying to do it all by myself. I need to slap myself man, for real. See, now all I have to do is focus on my pitch, polish my documents, and Harambify them all! I am elated! I’m telling you, by the end of next week I’m declaring the verdict will be positive, Incha’Allah.
Peace and Love.
Olivia
• Mom is Mommilicous. Dad is Exceptional. Brothers are precious. Sisters are lovely. Cousin is Hilarious!
• People seem to be obsessed with anger here man. People seem to be on their last nerves. They get hot-tempered in one second. Lol. I think it’s the excess of heat that heats up everyone.
• Dad is spoiling me. But I can’t be spoiled ‘cause my momma brought me up the right way.
• Yaounde is much cleaner. The delegate of state is building parks, cleaning up the streets, planting flowers everyone. There are lots of improvements.
• Amadou is depleting all my resources…
• Too much ego-tripping man... My theory is this: 90% of the times we get mad, frustrated, deceived, jealous, it’s because our ego has been scratched by someone, a word; a circumstance, etc... Ego-tripping.
• In any given situation, I refuse to be the victim of my circumstances. Even when I’ve been victimized, I refuse to take that position, ‘cause I know in every given moment I have the power to decide who I want to be at that moment. I have the power to make the best of each circumstance. I have the power to transcend any setback and move on. I choose to be an active subject in this world, I refuse to be a passive subject of the world. And that’s because I am convince that as long as I’m the Master of my will and a Slave to my conscience; things will work out right.
• Too much finger-pointing. People always try to find the scape-goat, the oppressor, the villain. I don’t like finger-pointing. The person must feel guilty enough as it is. Finger-pointing wouldn’t mitigate the situation. I prefer to deal with finding solutions to problems rather than dwell on the culprit.
• In Cameroon, and I guess in most African countries, you have to arm yourself with Understanding if not you will be frustrated all day long. Understanding has become my best friend.
• What do you do to entertain 6 kids, ranging from 4yrs old – to - 11 years old? My cousins are bringing so much energy and life to the house. It’s a crazy exciting atmosphere. I love dem kids.
• Gloria, my 4-year old cousin, aka FM-Baham, is more than A-DOR-ABLE!
• I witnessed Corruption for the first time, LIVE yesterday. I sadly even contributed to it :-(. lol. It really shouldn’t be funny! So here’s what happened. My couz, yannick, my gurl, Gina, my friend and I are driving back home. A policeman stops us on the road. Asks for the car-documents, we give him everything. One of the front-lights of the car wasn’t working, he said that’s why he stopped us. This man didn’t want to let us go, even after we showed him the two front-light actually work. He said we will wait there till he ends his shift, and once he gets tired he will tow the car! Hummm…. My cousin is like “yo, we have to give him something, that’s what he wants.” So we all contribute one one dollar (500FCFA). Yannick goes back the policeman with the dough, the cop signals him the amount is not right enough. Yannick comes back to the car, collects another 1,000Frs (2 dollars), Total: 3000frs ($6). The deal was made. The policeman let us go.
•
Driving here Is like a jungle man. There’s no code. Taxi-cabs stop anywhere. There’s so much inconsistencies, unpredictability, aggressiveness. It’s crazy man… I dunno if I can drive here man. I dunno. • Waow. All the partners I met last year, have welcomed me back home so warmly. I was kinda apprehending some their reactions. You know when you are promoting something, it’s sometimes hard to detect those who are truly, genuinely interested, and others who are just being polite, or even others who might have a different agenda. But with the positive reception I’ve had thus far, I’m at ease. Thank the Lord.
• I need to secure that Platinum Sponsor man…
• At first I didn’t want to use my dad to open gates and have access to strategic people. You know, in the professional/business world, you don’t want to be seen as a “daddy’s girl”, you want to build your own name, and showcase your own qualities. And I’ve managed to do that for the past years. But with the timeline I have, and the size of the project I am implementing, I need to expedite the process… thus, I turn to my ultimate number one network connection. Plus, after long reflections and after speaking with some wise and savvy Cameroonian professionals, they told me “such is Cameroon. You gotta milk your network. ” Alright then… I’m going to be the milk-expert by the end of my stay here. Hehehee.
• TV is so entertaining here. Or shall I say, so much more edifying and instructive. There are intellectual talk shows on 50% of the TV channels. Most of them are following the trend of making TV interactive, by showcasing the ordinary person’s life. One show that sticks to my mind is the 5-minute “What’s Your favorite Song.” They go in the streets of yaounde/Douala and randomly asks an ordinary citizen to sing their favorite song. It’s really great. It allows some people to express themselves. It allows others to relate to the songs. It fosters a community of united Cameroonians.
• I just saw a Pig being slaughtered LIVE on TV. I dunno if I can eat pork again. Urgh. I’m too disgusted.
• The Ex-factor … hmmm…. What can I say? Forwards Ever, Backwards never.
• Finally, I got over my fear of running in the streets of Yaounde. I was too scared of people’s unapologetic lengthy stares that for a week I refused to do my daily running. Today, Yannick ceased me out of bed at 6:30 am. Yes, 6:30 am. I actually wasn’t sleeping. Had a sleepless night. I put on my shirt, sweatpants and tennis shoes…turned my swag on… and off we went. 3Kilometers. That’s about 2 miles. I was terribly exhausted. But it’s a necessary pain. I’m psychologically ready for tomorrow morning.
• Latest update as of today (July 16, 2009 at 3:31pm Kmer time): It took a 30mins one-on-one conversation with my dad. I had to tell him I want those 30 mins in his schedule to solely present him my Harambe-Cameroon project. He got Harambified!!! All the doors got opened…. they were all one phone call away. ONE Phone call away man. And all this time, all this time, I was taking the long road, trying to do it all by myself. I need to slap myself man, for real. See, now all I have to do is focus on my pitch, polish my documents, and Harambify them all! I am elated! I’m telling you, by the end of next week I’m declaring the verdict will be positive, Incha’Allah.
Peace and Love.
Olivia
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