February 5, 2011

February 5, 2011 – Saturday

--Today started quite pleasantly.  We shared breakfast with a rest house guest from Canada - Sam is here in Bamenda for a month as a volunteer community services accountant and business development consultant.  We visited with a Cameroonian woman who moved to Virginia 7 years ago – she is here now to bury a sister who died of AIDS.  I’m wearing one of my new African dresses today – it feels so-o good.

--We visited Cameroon Alternative Technology (CAT) where we saw and learned about some fascinating demonstration models made from found materials:  equipment for solar cooking, water heating, environmentally-friendly outdoor toilets for urban dwellers with no indoor plumbing, recycled vegetation for fertilizer production, etc.  I think Joe is ready to convert our house, and say good-bye to the grid!

Center for Appropriate Technology Headquarters

Solar Cooker Made from a Satellite Dish

Solar Cooker, Outdoor Odorless Toilet, Solar Food Dehydrator, Solar Water

Learning About Alternative Energy Products and Projects - Barbara is holding her new "grandchildren"

 --In this building I peeked in a doorway with a sign, “Women Income Generating Solution” and lo! a small doll-making project.  I talked at length with the director, admired the dolls, and could not resist buying two African children dressed in Cameroonian costumes.  I hope to keep contact here and arrange to offer some for sale at the annual Christmas gift sale at Our Saviour.  The proceeds are divided in 1/3s among the women who make the dolls, support to sustain the project, supplies for doll-making, and 10% is saved toward program growth and/or emergency loans to the participating women.  The director’s passion is AIDS orphans – I’m putting her and Ruth in touch with each other.

Amazing Handmade African Dolls Inside!

--Then we went to Njoke’s office in downtown Bamenda.  With his colleague, we talked at length about their work as conservationists in Cameroon and efforts to promote and develop tourism.

Street Entrance to Njoke's Downstairs Office

Njoke at his desk in the Nature Concerns Office

The tourism concept isn’t well understood and does not yet have strong governmental support.  The hotel and souvenir industries seem to have a better grasp of the potential benefits for the country from tourism.  Nonetheless, word of Cameroon’s beauty and charms is spreading, and increasingly more people want to see and learn more about it.  Our tour has an ecological conservation theme, thus our focus to see the natural world and seeing human life and activity is a splendid bonus that ties our impressions together well.

--Remember the chicken that the Fon gave me a few days ago? Njoke’s wife Aggie prepared a magnificent feast for us – fufu, njama-njama, and the chicken.  Njoke brought Aggie, his youngest daughter, and his colleague.  They, Npho, Joe and I enjoyed this meal  – Aggie cooks very well, and we were all full and quite content.  We spent an hour talking, and everyone helped to name the dolls.

On the porch at our rest house enjoying the Fon's Chicken, Njama-njama, and fufu with Njoke's Family

Niassa holding Fatima Precious, Barbara, Aggie  holding Ali Haj Moosh

February 4, 2011

February 4, 2011 - Friday
--By the time this day had ended, I was on sensory overload - oh my gosh! what we saw and did! this was an amazing day.
--We left early heading for Babungo to see the Fon’s palace – today’s road is mostly paved with only a short piece of VBDR. There are avocados left from yesterday, and we stopped in Ndop for breakfast of locally grown black beans and rice, spiced with hot sauce and the avocado which all together made magic.
--The Fon’s palace at Babungo was truly interesting.  Fon is a hereditary title that is used for the highly revered, respected and influential village and regional traditional leaders/rulers. The Babungo Fon’s lineage has been documented back to the 1400s.  All of the Fons in this lineage have been gifted carvers, and over time the people have managed to preserve much of their works which include masks, stools, beds, statuary, and ornamentation on walls, doorways, windows, and posts that support porch roofs, etc.
--We paid 2000 CFA ($4.00) each for admission, and another 5000 CFA ($10.00) for permission to use our cameras.  The Fon and his docent were not at home, but a very pregnant wife toured us through the Fon’s Dynasty Museum and then through the outer chambers of the Fon’s Palace – the inner chambers which include sleeping and food preparation areas and are never opened to the public.

Men Preparing for a Dance

Front Entrance to Fon's Palace

 

Carvings Made by Many Generations of Fons

Photo of the Current Fon

Secret Society House, Behind is the Secret Forest

--My heart sings! we visited a long term residential and outpatient psychiatric treatment center near Babungo – I can’t begin to say how very impressed I am with their philosophy and work.  Their treatment philosphy is holistic – traditional medicines are used together with western medications to treat the whole person.  Patients have 1:1 attendants 24/7 which assures that they don’t wander away, have unobserved seizures, or other crises necessitating someone to help. The staff are well-trained, mostly kind local people who donate their time.  That they really like their patients is obvious – they work, eat, rest and visit together in pairs and small groups.  Staff present culturally sensitive education programs with the patients, families and the surrounding communities and schools about the causes, symptoms and treatments for psychiatric illnesses, living with AIDS, AIDS prevention and treatment, environmental and personal sanitation and hygiene, etc.

The Setting of Babungo Integrated Health Center

Walking Toward the Patients' Quarters

--There are only two psychiatrists who live and work in all of Cameroon; one of them makes monthly visits here to consult with patients and assist with staff training.

--This center also provides medical care for the psychiatric patients “because they never have just one thing.” They are developing an outpatient health center to serve the neighboring villages. There is no onsite doctor, the nurses have learned through their years of experience and they are the primary healthcare providers.  I gave them the last of the medicaments that I brought to Cameroon.
--The buildings were built using village workers labor and Habitat for Humanity volunteers, and the building materials were bought with loan money which the center struggles to repay.  A Dutch psychiatric nurse has been a volunteer here for the past 8 years. A Swiss health aid group helps the center to get pharmaceuticals and medical supplies, but cannot meet the need. The center raises chickens and pigs which they eat and sell, they grow much of their own vegetables and medicinal herbs, they operate some wonderful guest houses, and the residents make and sell handcrafts.   All this, and the setting is beautiful.

--Next we drove to a crafts and pottery manufacturing center in Bamessing.  It is supported by the Presbyterian Church which facilitates export and international sales to international vendors including Ten Thousand Villages.  Ultimately the proceeds go to the potters and craftsmen.  The manager took us for a start-to-finish tour. The clay comes from an adjacent site, all hand dug. It is partially dried a few days, then wrapped in plastic and stored underground in a controlled environment till its needed. When needed, the clay is dried completely, then pounded by hand with a big stick of wood to a fine powder, then mixed with water, slacked for a time, and drained. Then it is ready to be shaped. Our guide was very knowledgeable about the soil chemistry and chemical changes that transpire during firing and glazing. With a foot-driven potter’s wheel he demonstrated he is an accomplished potter. Next we pots loading in the wood-fired kiln for firing, last how glaze is applies and fired. Finally we went to the sales room where we were dazzled with the array of pottery and other crafts. It was hard, but we chose 2 mugs which will help to make Peggi and Robert's morning coffee very special.

Pottery Plant Manager Throwing a Pot

Selecting Mugs for Peggi and Robert

--We returned to Bamenda where we were expected at a small Christian-based support center for Cameroonian prison inmates and social re-entry support for released prisoners and their families.  Again, we were startled with the welcome. Two gracious older gentlemen dressed in traditional Northern Cameroon garb talked about their 9-year-old program’s work.  Then we were introduced to a man who talked about having been incarcerated 3 times for a total 9 years, outside for a total of 5 months during that time. When he met the two older men, he realized he was wasting his life and hurting his 5 children and all his family. He found his faith, completed his sentence, and has not engaged in criminal activity for the past 5 years.  For the first time in his life he has recognition – he is the president of this organization that works to salvage prisoners and ex-convicts. Another guest and member of this movement was the Assistant Director of Cameroon Prisons. We talked about our respective US and Cameroon experiences with prisons and prisoners, and we agreed to do what we can to support this group and its work. After grace, we shared a meal of fufu and greens with Export 33. We took advantage of their showroom and bought several things made by prisoners who are learning trades that are expected will help them not to return to prison after their sentences are completed. A delightful unexpected and welcome surprise was seeing Juliette from the Traditional Healers’ Group – she donates traditional medicine to prisoners who are sick, and she was there on an errand.

Traditional Northwest Cameroon Men's Attire

Assistant Director of Cameroon Prisons

Founder of the Prisoners Reform Group

Rehabilitated Former Prisoner

President of Prison Reform Group and Joe - this man made Joe's hat

Founder, Joe, Barbara, President and Reformed Convict, Assistant Prisons Director, Traditional Man

--About suppertime Elizabeth arrived at the rest house with my dresses. House rules here do not allow anyone to come inside who is not a registered guest – we used the visiting area past our building as a dressing and fitting room.  It was tricky learning how to tie my new headgear and skirt, but Elizabeth is a patient teacher and I think I’ve got it.  I know that I’ll enjoy wearing my new finery.

February 3, 2011

Thursday – Today we decided not to go for another LBDR ride, and instead to have a day off to rest, catch up laundry, do a little shopping, go to the ATM, and generally catch up to ourselves. The last 4 days of pictures have been downloaded, and we’re looking forward to catching up e-mail, blog, etc.
--Njoke didn’t object at all - he has things he needs to tend to, but late in the morning he arrived with Elizabeth, his family’s seamstress for the past 20 years. She brought dresses with her for examples of styles and some fabrics to stimulate my thinking – she’s a gracious person, and knowledgeable. One of the dresses fit perfectly and I bought it right then. Another took my heart and will be perfect with a small alteration which she’ll do. She left with orders for 2 more which she has promised will be ready by Saturday!
--At 4:30 we drove away with Njoke and Npho to get supper. We went to a roadside place and chose pieces of pork from a large boiling kettle on a bed of coals beside the grill. They went on the grill to crisp and brown. We waited in the bar, listening to American western music and watching a couple of teen girls practice jitterbugging and two-stepping, sometimes with a very cute toddler dressed in an African dress. The meat came off the grill and was wrapped it in the brown paper that covered it on the grill to help smoke it. On down the road to another place selling grilled plantains which we bought off the grill, too hot to handle, and wrapped in similar brown paper. Another stop for a big bag of huge avocados.
--Then to a roadside drinking/socializing place with outdoor tables and chairs facing the fascinating street, Joe sat facing a sign "No urination here" and occasionally a man got up and went out behind the buildings. The beer waitress brought large bowls of water and soap to wash our hands before and after eating. Our meals are all similar - very fun, usually really good, always interesting, and we look forward to each new surprise. The handwashing routine surprised us the first time, but we find it everywhere - it’s a nicety that I'll not forget for a long time. We relished every bite which went right down with cold beer – we want this meal again soon and often.
--Back at the rest house, we shared pictures of our home in Lakeside and our 2009 Cameroon trip with Njoke and Npho.

--Carol, Ruth and Raphael let me know they’re worried because we don’t have a phone to contact them in case we have a problem. We feel we’re very safe in Njoke’s care, and I sent the following to them and his contact information. Please be reassured, everyone.
--“Please reassure Ruth and Raphael that we feel very safe and secure, and we doubt there's any problem phoning them if we should need help. Njoke is committed to doing his part to develop tourism in Cameroon, he doesn't want to disappoint his customers and he does want us to be able to give a stellar account of our tour and his services. We weren't sure what to expect, we hoped for a very African experience, and that's precisely what we're having. We like him - he's bright and pleasant, sticking to the trip plan pretty well, and he's given absolutely no reason for us to question his integrity. He’s very kind.
--“We're learning a few phrases of Pidgin - "My belly no flop" means "I'm full." "Me head no day" means "I'm spacey." "Slow, slow" means "slow down" and "small, small" means "not so much," "only a little." "Thankee" is self-evident. Its really fun to hear. And yesterday at the hilltop military guardhouse above Lake Nyos the guard checked our passports and then wanted antibiotics and/or pain medicine - I gave him 10 Ibuprofen from my backpack and remembered how to instruct him in French because he doesn't speak English! He was very happy to learn he can get more at a pharmacy.
--“We're staying in local hotels that Njoke knows from his vast experiences around Cameroon doing years of environmental conservation and ecology work - none are fancy, all have been clean with minimal niceties but adequate for creature comforts.
--“Our driver Npho is incredible - like Francis seemed to be one with the 2009 bus, Npho is one with the truck and has an uncanny sense of everything going on around us all the time, and he has an uncanny spatial sense. This truck is a 1999 4-passenger diesel 4-wheel drive Toyota. Its really strong, takes the very worst roads without damage, comfortable for passengers, good economy. Npho is quiet, pleasant, very bright, curious, thoughtful, and perfect for his job of driving, carrying luggage, doing laundry, etc., etc., etc. And we think he knows everyone in Cameroon - he's greeted by friends on every corner.
--“Next time we come, we need to explore Sim cards for our phones - Njoke said there's a way to get them to use with our US phones at very little cost. He said we definitely did the right thing not to buy phones when we arrived because there's no need.”

Here's our guide's contact info – for anyone wanting an African experience while touristing in Africa, I can’t imagine there’s anyone more capable or accommodating.
NJOKE TANGWING Christopher, Director
Heritage Tours Cameroon, Inc.
Email: info@heritagetourscameroon.net
Website: www.heritagetourscameroon.net

February 2, 2011

February 2, 2011 - Wednesday
--We're headquartering in Bamenda for the next 5 days, staying at the Cameroon Baptist Convention-Health Board (CBCHB) rest house.  Its very clean and all our creature comforts will be nicely met here. A special bonus is that people stay here from all over the world.  We were up and off by 8 am to begin meeting the northwest region of Cameroon, we've read and heard how beautiful and interesting it is.
--We drove north on a segment of the Ring Road which quickly changed to VLBDR.  A quick stop in Belo to order a meal for when we return in the afternoon, and we drove away only to discover that we needed petrol for the truck.  A stop at a shop brought a man and several jugs of fuel which he poured into the tank, and off we went again.

The Non-Gas Station Fill-up

--We drove over 4 ranges of very tall, steep and rocky hills that are terrace-farmed by the local Fulani people - it has taken centuries to move the millions of rocks and create the hundreds of garden terraces that cover virtually every steep hillside.  Long, long ago their forebearers migrated south from the Senegal area of northwest Africa.  Here there are fewer and shorter trees, and tall grasses grow on the hillsides. This part of Cameroon is known as the grasslands; this is the region from which the majority of Cameroonian captives were taken and sold to European and US slavers in the 18th and 19th centuries.



The Grasslands of northwest Cameroon

--The visible industries are cattle-raising and subsistence farming.  Neat gardens formed in high rows produce various local varieties of yams, coco yams, manioc, corn, and ebodje, etc.  This region is differently vegetated than farther west.  The villages look like National Geographic photos – houses made of adobe bricks with roofs of grass thatch. The cattle also are from The National Geographic with long horns and humps.

Mud Brick Houses with Thatched Roofs

Community Meeting House

Fulani Cattle - Horns and Humps

Last Year's Garden  - Ready to Burn

Burning Last Year's Stubble in Preparation for Planting

--Its the dry season now.  The hillsides have lost their rich green and the grass is dry and wheat-colored.  The remains of the previous garden are being burned in preparation for the next planting season – plumes of smoke rise up from all the hillsides and valley floors. Bundles of dried grasses and are tied in readiness to re-thatch the roofs. 

Dried Grasses Tied, Ready to Rethatching the Roof

People look as if they work very hard – they are weathered, lean and very, very strong.  Most of the men wear traditional garb:  long flowing tunics over matching pants with a skull cap.  Women wear either various African dress styles or western clothing.  
--Today is market day, so in the early part of the day we passed streams of primarily women carrying their market goods on their heads, and in the late day we passed streams of men, boys, women, and girls on their way home carrying their purchases on their heads – the loads were large and heavy, and the trek home was very long. They chatted and laughed among themselves and waved as we passed them, calling out "You are welcome!" as we've learned that Cameroonians say readily.

Women Going to Market

Women Carrying Wood Home for Cooking Fires

More VLBDR for another 8 km, and suddenly we were at a federal guard shack with a soldier asking for our passports.  Passports were checked, pleasantries exchanged, then we hiked down the hill Lake Nyos.  
 

In 1986 a gas eruption from Lake Nyos sent a huge cloud of CO2 over the valleys in the surrounding area killing 1700 people, their livestock, and all the area’s wildlife and plantlife.  Njoke was working here then, and with his task completed he had left 2 days before this disaster! Today the lake is bright green with algae and there is no evidence of other life.  It partially flushes itself annually from the heavy rain runoff that causes the water to run over the spillway in torrents down the valley below.  A Japanese research institute monitors the water content and quality with instrumentation and periodic sampling.  A local man who had hitched a ride with us early in the day was knowledgeable and provided interesting commentary on the depth of the lake, etc.  After musing about the impact of the explosion, we hiked back - the guard asked me for antibiotics and/or pain medications.  I gave him 10 Ibuprofen tabs from my backpack, taught him how to take it and that he can buy more at any pharmacy, and he was very pleased. 

Njoke, Barbara, Joe, Npho at Lake Nyos



 









--We drove back to Bamenda, holding on as we bumped along, filled with confidence in Npho's skill to get us home safely despite the washouts, detours, big rocks, deep ruts, steep hills, sliding gravel, etc.   Supper in Belo was a wonderful treat of Cameroonian style fried chicken, fufu and spicy greens.  Npho saved me from embarrassment by having me wash my face before I went inside to eat - it was black with a thick dusting of the volcanic dust.  My shower was especially welcome before falling into bed.

February 1, 2011

Tuesday. More VLBDR including many miles of detours along the under-construction route of the Trans-Africa Highway. We passed through beautiful forest, villages with houses that have been bisected by the new roadway, we waited for dynamiting, and we saw several Chinese workers and heavy equipment with their brand displayed in Chinese characters. This highway project is heavily funded by the Chinese government.

Forest along the new highway

House cut apart by new highway

Chinese worker and Chinese characters on truck

Blasting area ready to shoot!

--Early in the afternoon we arrived at Batibo, a small village west of Bamenda where we met with a group who practice traditional medicine and are supported by NGOs and a Peace Corps volunteer.  We passed women working in their garden, and they invited me to join them - to their amusement I tried the Cameroonian-style short-handled hoe with a sharply curved neck, and found it works so well that I may adopt one in my own garden! We toured the herb gardens and met several of the healers in the group.  Juliette, a lifelong herbal healer, was our guide through the garden, and later she joined us at the Fon's Palace.  Walking through the forest we came on boys collecting household water from a stream, and then a man who climbed a homemade ladder to the top of a palm tree to gather palm wine.

Barbara and Cameroonian women working in the garden

Traditional Healers, Peace Corps Volunteer, herb gardens

Collecting household water

Man gathering palm wine from top of tree

The Fon's Pharmacy

--Then we met with the Fon who is a traditional healer who specializes in stroke management.  We became partners in healing when I told him I practice medicine in America.  He led me around, holding my hand and telling me about his stroke treatment methods and successes. He explained the herbs he uses, and I saw them applied to paralyzed limbs, etc.  I’m not so sure about making cuts on the patient’s body and inserting pieces of herbs to assure that they are in the body to do their work.  I don’t know the purpose or the material for the black smudges on the woman who looked like she is in end stage kidney failure – he said she has diabetes and hypertension, and I’m sure she does . He introduced me to his patients, showed me the wards in dark adobe rooms, and talked about patients who are a few months post-stroke and recovering very well in about the same timeframe and apparently with about the same success rate as in the US where our treatments are very, very different.

Hospital bed in ward

Fon demonstrating herbal applications for leg paralysis

Fon Discucssing Diabetic Patient with Barbara

Traditional African Drum used in Healing Ceremonies

--Then we went into the Fon's palace where we were seated and taught how to clap correctly to announce ourselves to the Fon.  He entered, gave a welcoming talk, and invited us to take photos with him at his throne.  We were served a traditional Cameroonian meal of beans seasoned with dried fish, coco yams, and rice.  We drank a tea made from the herb garden and sweetened with local honey - yum.The Fon’s pretty queen offered me water for hand-washing, and served me.  Since I was identified as the honored guest, I was instructed to eat first. 
--The Fon talked about the significance of this visit between a traditional African healer and a modern American healer, and he urged that we continue working together.  We exchanged e-mail addresses.  I said how impressed I am with his methods and the parallels that I see between his traditional African healing and my western methods.  I told him  much I value traditional medicine and that I often incorporate nonpharmaceutical interventions in my care.

Gift of Western Medicinals

After dinner I excused myself, and returned with a bag of antibiotic ointment, antifungal creme, bandaids, topical analgesic, and vitamins as our gift to the Fon, his family, and his healers.  They were very interested in learning about the uses of these products - the queen immediately used one of them!





The Fon excused himself and returned with a gift for me - a live chicken in a basket! I was encouraged to take it home to America, but the Fon good-naturedly agreed that the chicken would probably not like the plane ride so I’d better eat it before I leave Cameroon.
--Later Njoke said the chicken was a very important symbol of welcome and approval, he'd never seen this done for a foreign visitor before. The chicken will be dinner soon, and we will remember the Fon very fondly for a very, very long time.

We tied the chicken basket on the back of the truck, on top of all the luggage, and drove away into the darkness toward Bamenda where we'll headquarter for the next 5 days.