Christmas celebration

Here's some dancing outside the church of Mafa Kilda, on Christmas day afternoon, early evening. kicked up a lot of dust!!!

Putting out the beehive

Recently the beekeeping group put out their beehive in a nearby eucalyptus field. They baited it with bilbil millet dregs, lemongrass, and rabbit manure...mmm. They will be checking on it in the next few weeks, to see if bees have found it and inhabited it! Here are some photos.

Rokona Paul working on the stand
The group (Pascal, Warda Jean, Metsina Michel, Dakoza Anonias, Rokona Paul) with some kids and Kelly

Long Absense from Blogger

I realize it has been a long time since I have written on here! What with site visit of my replacement, followed by my parents visit, followed by my replacement's arrival and my moving out, followed by the holidays, and wrapping up last minute things in village, I have not written at all! My apologies. But, along the way I bookmarked different times when I wanted to write, so now I am filling them in. Please look back a few posts for new ones! I believe there are 4 or 5.

Baby bunnies

So the other day, Kelly told me that one of the rabbits had babies! Three. They are so cute! I think they were actually born around the same time as the five that died (when my parents were here). I believe because the mother was stressed with the heat, she aborted five, but then in the next few days had the others, but had dug a burrow so they were hidden. It's only in the past week that the three of them emerged, softball sized and completely furry. They are adorable, and I'm so happy I got to see them before I left. They have a nice shelter over their area for the heat now, and I am optimistic that they will reproduce and be a good project for many people in village. Already many people have expressed not only interest but incredible enthousiasm for raising rabbits, seeing them and saying "I want that!" I think it is a good alternative for households, when weighed against chickens, as the rabbits can be kept in an enclosed area. Home chickens wander around, passing diseases amongst other village chickens, and also being prone to theft. Recently, a bird sickness swept through Sanguere Ngal and killed everyone's chickens and ducks. I know someone who lost 20, and just before Christmas! I'm hoping that rabbits will be added to the small livestock collection of many villagers in Mafa Kilda and Sanguere Ngal.

*Photo courtesy of Kelly! :)

Mount Tingaling hike

I went for a beautiful hike in the chain of mountains that run east and north of Garoua, from around Pitoa to Gaschiga. The day was gorgeous, very clear, fairly cool, no harmattan. We aimed to hike up at one point, walk along the flat tops, and come down to go to Gaschiga. We made it up, walked along the top, could see Gaschiga, started to head down when it started getting dark, and somehow ended up getting turned around, heading down on the same path up. Unfortunately it wasn't until we were a good bit down we recognized it. So all the way back the way we came. After clammering through fields and gulleys for hours in the dark between the foot of the mountain and the nearest little village, we finally found the village. We went to the nearest house to ask for water, and as I was sitting in the dark, a woman came out and said "Elizabeth?" It turned out to be one of Jessie's homestay moms. How she recognized me in the dark I don't know, except perhaps that there's not an excess of white people around, especially not ones who would be wandering around en brousse in the dark. It was her nieces wedding, so she took me to see her, and we ate some good rice and sauce, before limping to the road to head back to Garoua. That serendipedous encounter made up slightly for the sadness of not getting to Gaschiga, but we'll attempt it again another day.

agroforestry library completion

Some of you may remember the project to renovate a room to house different resources for agriculture and agroforestry? With funding from the Commune of Garoua 3, the project is now complete. There are posters, books, and pamphlets housed here, as well other group project materials (i.e. a beehive, while waiting to be placed outside). We have been using the area outside to hold courses on beekeeeping, and it will be a good spot for any future classes. The room can also serve as a sort of "office" for the peace corps volunteer to hold "office hours" if anyone wants to meet and talk about farming or questions.

this seasons colors

The crops are all reaching the end of their lifespans, corn stalks turning brown, golden heads on rice, yellow soy and peanut leaves, millet stalks golden with red tops. Yet the rains have not quite stopped yet, (although we might have gotten the last drizzle last week), so the grass, and general vegetation is still green here. This makes for a beautiful contrast and palette of bright greens and dark greens and golden yellows, and sorghum red. What a lovely time of year. Soon though, with the end of all the rains, the grass and trees and other plants will catch up with the crops, all turning yellow and brown, except for a few trees and watered things. I prefer it right now, and have been appreciating the variety of color.

All my peanuts have been harvested, and this year, the rain was pretty poor, so everyone's peanut harvests are bad. Soy is also ready to harvest, so I might be doing some of that in the next week.

birthday hike

I had a lovely birthday today. A few volunteers spent the night at my post the night before, and the morning we met up with two Cameroonian friends, Cheik Abdul and Alpha Barry, to hike a mountain. It is a mountain I have seen for the past two years and wanted to hike, and finally this year said, I will climb it on my birthday. It was Cheik's first time climbing a mountain! We set out at around 8 am I think, and probably got to the top around 10 or 10:30. The view from the top was beautiful, views of Garoua, the mountains of Adoumri/Bibemi, Lagdo, the Benoue from Lagdo to Garoua. You could see all the tiny villages, including mine, along the road from Sanguere Paul to Mafa Kilda. The colors were stunning, even though it was slightly hazy. A flock of European beeeaters circled the top as soon as we got up there. I brought my watercolors and Alpha brought his garaya and at the top we ate bananas, painted, played/listened to music and looked and looked. At the top there is a little crest, which was completely covered in grass, which had turned golden. So that when you walked over that ridge, all you saw was golden waist high grass, a few scraggly trees, and blue sky everywhere. Very surreal. I wanted to build a little hut up there to spend the night in. Finally, as the sun broke the cloud cover and started to heat things up, we headed back down. Slipping and sliding down the steep slopes. We also got a sighting of two monkeys from a distance, in the fields.

The afternoon, we sat in my courtyard, and Alpha played and lured in children with his songs, so that my mat was overflowing with people. After, we visited my local market, sampled some bilbil, and then headed into Garoua for dinner at a restuarant and dancing. It was a perfect day.

Thursday September 30th

September is ending! We are moving into October! That is so hard to believe. I just got back from teaching my last agroforestry class at the refugee camp. We finished up the lessons and did a review of some of the material, and I was really impressed by some of the things they retained from early on. I was really impressed in general actually. In the middle of October, the students, all 70 or so of them, will take the Trees for the Future exam, and then probably in December we will celebrate with a party and handing out of certificates. Part of me is very happy that this class is finishing up. I have been teaching it since March, roughly weekly, and it is a long way out there. It will be nice not to have that responsibility now, and the need to prepare and go out there every week. At the same time, that class has been one of the highlights of my work here, and I will miss seeing and interacting with the students so often. I'll have to just go visit the camp from time to time and hang out.

I am moving into a transition time. Our replacements are already in country, doing there training outside Yaounde. I think they are in week three and will be assigned posts at the end of week four. They will come up for site visit at the end of October. So I am trying to wrap things up and focus on the transition. Now that the refugee camp class teaching is over, I will just be teaching my beekeeping class weekly, working on protecting the trees in my demonstration field, and writing up reports and my postbook for my replacement. I think I need to start tackling the getting rid of stuff aspect of moving out as well, to make the actual moving out when it comes time, a lot easier. It is tempting to keep working a lot, but I think what will be better is focusing on closing up, and taking the time to do it well, as well as enjoying my last moments here.

I had originally asked for a three month extension overlapping with my replacement for those three months, continuing a few projects and teaching classes as they moved in, learned language, adjusted to the area and culture, and could jump into work. I think the overlap could be very valuable in terms of ease of transition and sustainablility of projects. I was granted 1.5 months of extension in my village, after which I will spend the last 1.5 months in Garoua doing more office/research/site visit type work for the program, and then COSing (close of service) the first week of March. I am excited about all of these things...about having a little bit more time in village, about getting to meet and know and work with my replacement, about having a bit of time in Garoua at the end.

And the most exciting thing on the horizon is a visit from my parents in the month of November! I am so excited about it, and showing them everything. I am excited about them seeing my village before I leave it, as well as getting to visit some of the fun spots in the country.

a few more photos on the world map day

World Map Finished

I finally finished the world map I have been working on at the Primary School for the past 10 months or so. Again, this project is the World Map Project created by a former Peace Corps Volunteer. A book has instructions on how to complete it, as well as a grid and then possible lessons or activities you can do with it afterwards. It is a fantastic project. While most maps are color coded according to countries, I decided to do mine geographically, as I always loved looking at the geographical features, of deserts, mountains, jungle areas. Perhaps it would be easier for students to grasp if each country were a different color, or perhaps it will be good as it is, showing the geographical/ecological similarities between different parts of the world. Maybe my replacement volunteer will want to do another one and do it according to countries. Below are some photos. School will pick up again in the next few weeks, as students slowly trickle back in according to how much field work there is. Parents right now are trying to find money for application as well as tuition fees. There is a new technical school that just opened in the neighboring village and some people are excited to send their children there, although the cost just to apply is a bit high.

This photo is for scale, so you can see how big it is.

Here's the group of kids who happened to be congregating around the school while I finished. My favorite is the fat baby.

Flowers at my house

Suddenly, all the "disappeared" rain we didn't get in July and August came in the last week. Lots and lots of rain, so that I came home to walls and houses collapsed! My latrine actually is also starting to collapse, as the ground on the side of it is washing away and gave way under my foot last night. Not something I'm thrilled about and hope we'll be able to fix it. But there is a lot of growth in vegetation (including weeds in the fields). Everything seems to be blooming at my house, as it has been the past few months, so I wanted to take some photos of the individual flowers.

FLOWERS FOR FLOWERS

FLOWERS FOR FOOD

Melon

Squash

Tomato

Okra

A little news

I just got back from Yaounde yesterday afternoon, and am preparing for a month full of activities before heading down there again to help with training the incoming volunteers, those who will replace us. So I will be checking out and counting tree plantations, teaching some courses, working on my demonstration field. At the refugee camp, we are nearing the end of our agroforestry class, which has spanned 6 months so far. Maybe a month to go, and then they will take their exams. I have really loved teaching this class, it has been a highlight of my work here. I've been going through looking at absences in order to determine when people will take their tests, and I'm surprised how many people have had no absences, or only 1 or 2. It is many more than I was expected, and is a great thing, really makes me feel good, although it makes assigning test dates more difficult than I had expected! I am also working on editing the Technical Manual which will be used by the incoming trainees. Our whole steering committee as well as many other volunteers have been working on it, submitting articles, editting, etc. It is a big task because this year will be the first year where the two programs (Sahel, Humid Highlands) will be combined. Training will be in one place, and volunteers will be sent all over the country. Up until now, each year flip flopped, sending agro volunteers to the North and Extreme North, and then to the other regions. So it has been a challenge putting information together from all over the country, as you know by now that Cameroon is an incredibly varied country in terms of climate, ecology, and thus agriculture. In addition, this year we will be having a group nearly double the size of ours. With the new Peace Corps push in America, Cameroon is a "target country" (because of its long, stable program) and is doubling its numbers of volunteers. Daunting to say the least, and I'm glad I'm not in administration right now! However, I look forward to going down and spending time with the new volunteers, helping out where possible, even if it means time away from post. I am still waiting to hear the result of my three month extension request, and will likely find out in the next week. If I get it, I will be coming home in February, and if not, then earlier than I had planned! Probably in December.

Mefou National Reserve

there's primates up there in the tall trees!

walking the paths between enclosures

gorillas

our group before the tour

In Yaounde

I am in Yaounde, just arrived on the train this morning, for Agroforestry Steering Committee meeting and then the Close of Service Conference. I can't believe it is already that time of our service! I am looking forward to seeing everyone in my group, for the first time, maybe since March 2009?

Thankfully, it rained the day before I left post. It had drizzled on and off for the past month, but we actually hadn't gotten a real farming rain for over a month and a half, July 8th being the last one. So that was very bad, especially for the middle of rainy season, and people were watching corn and peanuts and millet start to dry up in the fields. But it did finally rain, and average rain, and so hopefully saving most of the crops. I hope it rains a lot in my village while I'm down here, for crops and for trees planted.

Birding

Right now I'm reading the book "To see every bird on earth," and really loving it. It's a biography of the author's father, who is one of the big "listers," a birder who lists all the species he has seen in what becomes more than a competitive hobby, and who particularly has reached over 7000 species (there are about 400 in the US). I love reading this and thinking of all the memories of birdwatching with my dad, who loves birdwatching. I remember Christmas bird counts, and the hawk watch at the top of Afton mountain, other bird club meetings, and so many times driving in the car with dad pointing out birds from the window; my first bird field guides (to go along with reptile and insect and fish field guides). Basically if you take all the good aspects of this book, and the man's life, and remove all the bad parts (i.e. the obsessiveness of the listing, emotional distance between father and son) that is the memories I have with my dad and birds. One thing that I want to be sure we do, if he can come visit while I'm here in Cameroon, is go on a bird watching walk/hike through the mountain valleys together.

At the beginning of my service, my parents sent me one field guide to Birds of Central and Western Africa (*), and my coworkers from the Outer Banks Wildlife Education Center sent me Birds of Western Africa (Nik Borrow and Ron Demey--great illustrations) so I have been well equipped in identifying some of the species I see around my village and trips. Occasionally I write down the species I have seen, when I'm able to identify them. Sometimes, when I dream about building a house somewhere here in the country, having an agroforestry demonstration farm, I think about offering on the side birdwatching tours, training a few Cameroonians as guides, and boosting tourist/birding opportunities. It would be a good program--if Cameroon were more tourist friendly.

For the fellow birdwatchers (a term less intense than "birders", right? I can't say I'm a birder.) here is my Cameroonian list. It's of course very small, as there are so many birds I have seen but have been unable to identify, not having my field guide nearby, or forgetting about it afterwards. Still, some of these birds are pretty amazing, and definitely different from what I have at home in VA and NC.

Senegal Coucal--Centropus senegalensis

Abyssinian Roller--Coracias abyssinicas (my favorite)

Red-Cheeked Cordon-Bleu--Uraeginthus bengalus

Stone Partridge--Ptilopachus petrosus
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill--Bucorvus abyssinicus
?African pied hornbill? (another hornbill species)
Pied Crow--Corvus albus
?Spur winged Goose--Plectropterus gambensis
Red billed Hornbill--Tockus erythrorhynchus
Long-taled Glossy Starling--Lamprotornis caudatus
Red-collared widowbird--Euplectes ardens
PinTailed whydah--Vidua macroura
?(some type of malimbe)--Malimbus
Cliff chat--myrmecocichla cinnamomeiventris
Senegal Parrot--Poicephalus sengalus
African Paradise Flycatcher--Terpsiphone viridis
Common bullbull-Pycnonotus barbatus
Laughing Dove--Streptopelia capicola
Black headed Weaver--Ploceus melanocephalus
some type of bee-eater, although what i saw seemed dark teal, with nothing corresponding in my field guide

Many other birds I see regularly but haven't identified down to genus, such as warblers, brilliant kingfishers, herons and many raptors. It's the striking birds that I see when walking in the country and then can remember later when I look through the field guide.

As the book is inspiring, I'm traveling more with my field guide and binoculars, and hope to take some walks in the mountains with it, so hopefully the list will grow.No intention of listing birds obsessively, however, while I'm in Cameroon, I shouldn't miss this opportunity to see some I may never see again!

I just picked up another book "The Big Year" also about competitive birdwatching in the Ngoundere Peace Corps house, so I think I'll read that one after, and continue the birding inspiration!

small resolutions--hope for the future: community forest update

Two months after the trees of the community forest were cut down in my village, after multiple meetings between the two groups, two parties from the two villages, an agreement was made and an accord was finally signed by everyone involved. I can say that everyone who signed the paper was very happy. And that is something. After the event, the pepinieriste of my village had issued a complaint against the two owners of the field who he believed cut down the trees. Everyone in the two parties was visited and interviewed by police and agents from the ministry of water and forests. And through it, I encouraged both sides to have a meeting together, instead of jumping immediately to the higher authorities, to try to find a mutual solution together. Slowly and surely it happened. After a few meetings, the old proprietor of the field agreed to give back the land for the community forest, in the agreement that the pepinieriste drop his legal claim about the cutting down of the trees. All of this was done with the local leaders. And both sides were happy to say that with this accord, the issue of the field, years old, be finished once and for all.

It could be that things will dissolve again; it could be that when I leave things will change; it could be that leaders or members of groups will do backhanded things again. Though these things would sadden me, I think I am weathered enough to not be surprised. However, for the moment, I am holding hope, that this resolution will not only be a local solution for a land problem, allowing the village of Mafa Kilda to have their community forest and the old field owner to keep farming the field next to it, but also to serve as an example of the possibilities of conflict resolution on a local level. That they might look to this as an example that they can come to a mutual solution together without always having to go to higher authorities, without always avoiding each other. That they need to communicate more between each other, swallow pride, along with a tradition of dislike and disrespect. Perhaps it can play that role. Perhaps. As for now, the community forest group will replant some trees when it rains again, they will go withdraw their legal claim, and the farmer will have the adjacent field that the Sousprefet gave him. If it lasts like this, I am very grateful for such a solution.

Health Center Moringa Paintings

Here are some wall paintings I did as part of Moringa education for the women at my local health center. Months back I gave presentations on the benefits of it, along with one of the local doctors Samual, during the prenatal counseling and infant vaccination days. Now, I painted the various parts of the presenation on the walls so that the women can see the pictures and connect it to the presentation. The actual painting took about 6-7 sessions. I would go on the prenatal counseling day and so the women would be gathered while I worked on it. That gave another audience and I could explain what exactly I was working on, and do the lesson again. My favorite part was that often I would explain it to one or two women and continue on, and then I could hear them teaching the other women as they came up. Also, the doctor who I worked with originally, would come around and give the lesson while the women were gathered. Visual aids are so powerful, and an incredible tool here, incredibly loved by everyone!