I have been tarred (as in tarred and feathered), but I promise there were no feathers involved. At the end of a volunteers service there generally is a party held for you in your community as a thanks for your time and effort, you will be missed sort of thing. Courtney, the volunteer in Bamenda, is leaving this week and had her going away a couple of weekends ago. The road that her apartment is on was being paved – not something we thought too much about. When we were heading to her party the rain was pouring and had started to make the tar run all over the place, by the time we reached the party there was tar everywhere (feet, legs, and clothes)! We then progressed to trailing it into the party with all of the Cameroonians staring as we completely ruined the floor. It took a while but with some kerosene, soap and water we returned to a somewhat normal state. I have a tiny bit left on one toe and when I get the first opportunity I will purchase some kerosene to get it finally gone!
I spent my Fourth of July this year at the United States Embassy eating hamburgers, potato salad and ice cream. We had to pay for the food but the beer was free, so I am sure you can imagine how the volunteers were all trying to think of reasons to come into Yaoundé. Lucky for me I had to be there for Peer Support Network and Regional Representative Meetings. We had a great time during the day and then a few of us stayed to hang out at the Marine’s house. It was nice to meet new people and refreshing to have some new conversations. The best part about the night was that I met a girl from Greenville that attended Bob Jones University and knew Chris Dunlap. The world is so small sometimes it makes me feel like I am not that far from home.
The summer is flying by and it is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of my 14th month of service. I have so much that I want accomplish and are starting to get nervous that I won’t have time to get it all done! I finished my business class and will be beginning a new one in September. My list keeps growing and includes completing two World Map Projects at Bali Primary School, starting an Environmental Club at Adolice Primary School, assisting one PLWHA group with income generating activities and another with implementing their goals and action plans. There also is monitoring the girls who received the A2Empowerment Scholarship and helping plan the ceremony for the girls receiving scholarships through the Bali Education Women’s Group. Amongst my work I have planned a trip to Egypt in September and am now planning on going home to the states for Christmas. I am starting to realize that if I don’t plan ahead for the rest of the year I will not get to climb Mount Cameroon or visit the North. So as you can see – there is so much to do and just not enough time to do it in.
Before signing off (Kristin and I are running up the road to get omelets), I just wanted to once again thank everyone for their constant thoughts and prayers. It is so reassuring to know that I am thought about and prayed for on a daily basis and I wanted to make sure that you know how grateful I am.
