From South Carolina to Cameroon (Cameroun).

Twenty-nine people left Philadelphia on June 4 to embark on a journey to an unknown land (at least to most of them) called Cameroon. Journey is the operative word in this sentence. These people have put their lives on hold for twenty-seven months to join the Peace Corps. A lot sold homes, apartments and cars to make this possible. Others quit jobs, left loved ones or boarded a plane for the first time.
The group of people that I am writing about (that I am lucky enough to be a part of) ranges from recent college graduates, one in particular only a week out of the University of California Berkley, to a retired gentleman in his mid sixties. The group not only has a wide variety of ages but an extremely diverse ethinic background. For the most part the group is extremely well traveled, more than half living for extended periods of time in other countries such as Italy, Ghana, Thailand, Vietnam and so on. It is amazing how many countries this group has visited cumulatively. This group of individuals shares a couple things in common. To put it simply they all have: a love of travel and experiencing different cultures; a want, if not a need, to share what American’s are truly like to other countries; a compelling need to serve others; and no problem accepting living conditions that the general population of America would be aghast to live in.
Over the next three months I will share what the group goes through during training and then onto my two years of service (if God so sees fit). Please be patient with me because I never know when I will have access to internet!
After a combined 13 hours on two planes, we, the Cameroon trainees, arrived in Yaoundé. Yaoundé is an extremely large city and not at all what I was expecting. There are buildings everywhere in the city (most not reaching over 4 or 5 levels high). The driving is absolutely crazy! The only rule that we can see (and have now been told) is that the bigger car wins. I really think it is wise that we are not allowed to drive here. I think there would be serious issues and my road rage would be out of control (go ahead and laugh girls).
We arrived on Friday with a big soccer match (au football) against Morocco looming on the horizon (that Sunday). The town was in high spirits and ready for the game, because of this we were not allowed to leave our hotel. We visited the Peace Corps Case but had to immediately return instead of exploring the city. The game came and went on Sunday with a draw. Both Cameroon and Morocco will go on to play other teams to fight for an opportunity to play in the World Cup in 2010 in South Africa. As the days continued we were introduced to Peace Corps staff, trainers and volunteers. We received multiple shots (typhoid, Hepatitis A &B, rabies, yellow fever, etc.) that seemed to never end. At this point – I have two more shots in the rabies series and then I should be done – thank goodness!!!
Our time in Yaoundé came and went extremely quickly. I admit that I was hesitant to leave our nice hotel with air conditioning, warm water and a bar! The other part of me was jumping up and down to get going to B-town (Peace Corps requires we not disclose our location) to begin learning (language, technical and culture training)! It is hard to explain the emotions that you feel when you are in a country that you can’t speak the language and are about to meet a family that you are going to live with for 2 and half months. I was actually not as nervous as I thought I would be. I have managed to develop this, it’s in God’s hands, attitude. I believe that I can only alter certain things in this journey I am on. The things that I have control over are how I apply myself to the language and technical training; keeping an open mind about the culture and people of Cameroon; and not making dumb decisions. James Ham charged us with the last one. He is the country director – also a native South Carolinian – from Darlington. It really is amazing how small the world is!
On my first night with my home stay family we had a power outage, which is really common for B-town. The funny part of this, was that I was standing in the shower (which really isn’t a shower, it’s a shower head that just sprays into the middle of the bathroom). Luckily, my home stay sister brought me a candle and I was able to get dressed and back to my room. When it went out the second time I had my head lamp within reach. One thing I can say about myself, I do learn some things quickly!