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September 26, 2005
Hello all!
When I was younger, I always looked forward to
the day before my birthday because the whole day
I could say that tomorrow is my birthday. Well,
I guess I've also been looking forward to this
day because I can finally say tomorrow I'm leaving
for the Peace Corps! I'm leaving for Philadelphia
tomorrow morning for a brief orientation with
other Peace Corps trainees here in the states.
Friday morning we all go get our shots and then
take a bus down to JFK airport. That evening we
fly to Paris, have a short layover and then fly
to Yaoude, Cameroon. We should get there Saturday
evening. I'll be in Yaounde from Oct. 1-Dec 1
doing job and language (French) training. During
that time I'll be living with a host family. My
service with the Peace Corps officialy begins
Dec 1 and ends Dec. 2 2007. During the first two
months in Yaounde I'll be with other Peace Corps
trainees, but when I actually start my service
Iit will just be me and the community I'm serving.
My job title is Public Health Coordinator and
I'll be specifically working with HIV/Aids education
and prevention programs.
Coram Deo,
Kate
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| Friday, 16 December
( I can go back to writing the date in English since
I’m in Anglophone province now)
What a week! After two years of waiting filled
with doctor’s appointments, paperwork, essays,
phone calls, questioning, doubting, and 10 weeks
of intense training, I can finally introduce myself
as a Peace Corps Volunteer. 26 Americans were
sworn in this past Wednesday by the US Ambassador
as the newest Health and Agroforestry Volunteers.
I think another trainee described it best when
she said that in the past 10 weeks we grew up
all over again. We learned a new language and
how to respect ‘our parents.’ We learned
how to cook, eat, drink, bathe, wash clothes,
and use the toilet…I mean the latrine. Now,
I am on my own, living by myself in a new community
and learning how to survive. I arrived in Bafut
today and all I have to say is that Africa is
an amazing place. The move went really smooth,
in fact out of the 7 moves I have done in the
last 5 years, this was probably the easiest. I
rarely had to lift anything heavy (people will
do anything here for money). Unfortunately I didn’t
get any pictures of the bush taxis with all of
our stuff, buy try to imagine an old, creaky old
minivan going done the road with 2 medal trunks,
a sofa, a propane bottle, 3 suitcases, and a bike
tied to the top with rubber tubing and the inside
filled with 6 people, 10 lbs, of rice, 2 cases
of canned milk, a bucket, a broom, a squeegee,
two laptop computers, more suitcases and that
was just the trip from Bamenda to Bafut! There
are 10 other volunteers in the Northwest Province
so we chartered a bush taxi from Badjoun to Bamenda,
stayed the night in a hotel (hot water, and CNN!)
did some shopping at the white man’s store,
(liquid soap is probably one of the best inventions
yet) and then this morning another volunteer and
I continued on our way to Bafut. I was so relieved
to have made it unscathed! Now, I get to play
interior designer and decorate my house, African
style. I actually don’t have that much to
do, I am quite lucky in comparison to other volunteers.
The guest room is already set up (hint, hint).
I hope that you all are doing well and enjoying
the advent season. Thanks for all of your prayers
during what I hope should be the last transition
in my life for 2 years!!
Go to the People,
Live with them,
Learn from them...
Start with what they know,
Build with what they have.
But of the best leaders
When the work is done
The task accomplished
The people will say,
"We have done this ourselves."
Lao-Tzu (Chinese Poem, 700 B.C.)
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