c'est fini!

im finished with ISP! i have an end of semester language proficiency in one hour, and then i have a presentation for my project tomorrow. i'm back in yaounde for a week, at least. im hoping to be in dschang with my family for Noel.

ForB

im almost into the 3rd week of independent study in Dschang. i was initially the only one of us who would be here til my amazing friend anna switched her project to study coffee here. since ive been here, ive met with deans of various faculties (there are 5), spoken with profs and students and have attended Formation Bilingue (ForB) classes, where english is taught to francophones and french taught to anglophones. as an anglophone university student, im dealing with the same challenges that many students also face, though im relating a lot to both francophones and anglophones. i dont really know how to summarize anything here, but i can say that i will have many many copies of my final research composition.
everything has been going well here. i love my family, though my sister dorvale has been in Douala the whole time that  ive been here. I help with washing and cooking, and we go to church on sunday...i played french scrabble the other day with my cameroonian friends at Alliance Franco-Camerounaise, a language learning center/promoter of french culture (funny how assimilation is still alive and well...)
i have a few more weeks here and then i leave for Yaounde to present and finish with the program.
Question: does Athena have herpes?? emily enlightened me the other day, but really?

happy thanksgiving tout le monde

North.

I have been in Ngaoundere for the past two weeks. It took us 27 hours by bus to get here, as the train has had 5+ derailments in less than 1 1/2 months and the directrice didnt want to take any chances. The North has been heavily influenced by the Fulbes and their language, Fulfulde. The Fulbe (or Fulanyi) people were Muslims from the Nigeria region who conquered traditional inhabitants of villages in the northern part of modern Cameroon. Today, most people in the north speak fulfulde. My homestay family is Fulbe, therefore we only communicate in Fulfulde, though Mamou and Fatimatu (my parents) speak french sometimes. I wake up every morning around 5:15 to the sound of the Imams beginning their prayers, which are broadcasted from the mosques. Here, it seems there is a mosque on every corner. I live not too far from the grand mosque. Women here cover their heads, arms, and legs with pagnes(colorful cloth) or veils. Im seeing the influence of Islam everywhere - Fatimatu doesnt leave the house without her husband, and she has Bobo (our male domestique, who is about 15 yrs old) sell juice pockets for her at the markets. I live in a compound, and beyond one of our walls, children learn the Koran. Correction, girls learn the Koran here, while the boys learn in schools on the street. My 14yr old cousine does not attend school anymore and is waiting to be married, which is a common age here for girls to become engaged. I walk everywhere, and it's about a 45 min walk to class in the mornings.
Last night, we returned from a 4 day voyage to Waza Parc, which is a wildlife preserve in the "Extreme North." We drove 12 hours to get to Waza, after stopping along the road in two cities - Maroua and Garoua. At each of these places, we exchanged our B.I.R guards for new ones. These BIR soldiers specialize in road bandits, and because the road is often stopped by "coupeurs de route" SIT felt we needed to travel with these guys. The road is especially dangerous at night, and though we didnt have any problems, there were several times when the road was blocked by huge trucks and crowds of men. Our BIRs were pretty cool - they traveled with huge semi-autos and wore camo and desert googles - though it was hot as hell. The ones who travelled to Waza with us even took their guns on safari with us. We took a few trucks into the parc to animal-search. We saw giraffes and ostriches with pink legs and gazelles. About 15 of us went out again at night to look for lions, but we only found tracks :(
Tomorrow, we're leaving for Yaounde again and then the next morning I'm taking public transit to Dschang for my ISP. That bus ride is about 7-8 hours with a switch in btwn. Once I'm in Dschang, i'll be staying with my previous host family!! I'm planning to study the current system of bilingual education at the university, one of the 2 officially bilingual public universities in the country. I have about 3 weeks to conduct interviews with students, faculty, administrations - transcribe these interviews (french ones take the longest), attend Formation Bilingue classes (the classes which essentially teach english to francophones and french to anglophones), participate in student groups, and hold focus discussions. THEN i get to consolidate my information into a 40 page paper that hopefully will provide the university with some knowledge on how the system is efficient or not. My paper will be given to my advisor, who is the Head of the Division of Cooperation and works with the rector of the university and academic affairs. The university library will also receive a copy. I'll write more about this later.

pictures

Random pictures.

Bamileke.

I've been learning trop much the past month that I feel I need to write a few things about everything. Wednesday, I visited a microfinance organization and talked about women and their role in the informal sector and how that relates to microlending. That afternoon we met with an employee of MUFFA - Mutuelle Financiere des Femmes Africaines - another microfinance that was founded by women to serve women and fund small projects. Ironically, the employee we spoke with was the only male employee, and he is the branch manager in Yaounde. Thursday (yesterday), we met with Dan of the World Bank. Dan was an SIT student himself in Botswana and later became SIT Academic Director of the Botswana and Uganda programs. I learned beaucoup la bas, mais mostly that the WB has many programs and PROBLEMS in Cameroon, and Dan was not afraid to mention that to us. Oh, did I mention he's American, one of the few americans we've spoken with in Cam. After WB was the Peace Corps where we heard from 3 agro/health volunteers who are leaving in a month after 2 years of projects in various parts of the country. Schedule for next week: Monday - Caisse Nationale de Prevoyance Sociale (CNPS)/Ministry of Environment; Tuesday - Center for Environment and Development (CED)/US Embassy; Wed - Ministry of Finance.......I am ever amazed that we have such opportunities to meet with head officials/important actors in Cameroon and I am getting sooo many different perspectives on development and social problems. In what other program would I be able to pose as many questions as I can think of and then later share a meal with the only/main opposition leader to one of the 2 presidents in Cameroon's history (more to come on John Fru Ndi).

What I really wanted to talk about was the Bamileke culture, since it has such a huge presence in this part of Cameroon, namely in the west of the country. So, it’s difficult to talk about Dschang without talking about Bamileke culture. Bamileke is an ethnicity, which actually comprises around 20% of the actual population of Cameroon and is a group that is pretty controversial. Bamilekes are viewed as a versatile group that inhabits all regions of the country but are concentrated in the West. The name Bamileke is a deformation of Mba Lekeo by a german colonist. The name Bamileke is a broad generalization of smaller cultures within the ethnicity; every group is classified by a langue locale and identifies with a specific village. For example, my famille in Dschang is Bafang, meaning they are from Bafang and speak Bafang but are still Bamileke. If that makes sense...

           There's so much that I want to say about Bamilekes. They are a culture very much still attached to their traditions. Each Bamileke that I have encountered, like my grandmother in Yaounde who has lived here for most of her life, identifies strongly with a village and has a strong sense of village pride. Social organization in villages in based on a strict hierarchy. At the top is the chief, his mother, and ministers. 

Bamilekes are somewhat negatively stereotyped, as they have a long history of economic power and political activism. In fact, a frenchman stated "Le Cameroun va a l'independence avec un caillou dans la chaussure. Le caillou c'est les Bamilekes." Other groups view Bamilekes as stingy, greedy, materialistic, and individualist. Interestingly, there is not a Bamileke in a real position of power in the political system.

So, we visited the chefferie of Batufoum, a village a few hours from Dschang. After waiting for several hours outside, we viewed the chef's house and then met him in a sacred place outside for a meal. Then, we walked through the compound with the chef. We met some of his wives and children (chefs have many wives and tens/100s of children - the chef himself is the 90th child out of maybe 200)

fml.

after 2 weeks in Dschang and 4 days in Bamenda, im back in yaounde. not quite excited about it. hopefully i'll have time to update what has happened in the past 3 weeks. today is a holiday for the teachers, and ashleys mother is being recognized/receiving a medal for her work as an honorary teacher. After the ceremony (which was at 10am), theyre having a huge party at her house. I met all the relatives from the village last night and will be partying it up with them later tonight. i have beaucoup de devoirs though. im contemplating extending my stay in cameroon for at least 2 weeks, climbing mt cameroon, visiting the beach, random travel. ill post more about that thought later.
a plus tard.

Dschang

I have been in Dschang, the capital of L'Ouest since last Friday afternoon. On saturday, we were dropped off at our host familys. I feel like I could live here forever. I share a room with my sister, Dorvale. She is 25 and attends the University of Dschang. We share a huge bed and batheroom, and she really is awesome. Shes pretty chic and likes all the same music that i do. i have yet another brother named Yanick ici. Yanick is also a student at the university.He is 22 and in the third year, studying economics and international affairs...i think?! Anyway, he loves to dance and play the tamtam = the djembe. he is part of a club dance group at the university and does traditional dances. He LOVES to laugh, oh and he does theatre. I have 2 other brothers: Yvan, 18, and Louic, 15. Crystelle also lives with us, and shes my 16 yr old cousine. Maman works all day at a money exchange similar to western union, and papa is a retired teacher of history and geography. The children prepare all of the cuisine and well pretty much everything else. Favorite hang out place= the kitchen while we're all making food or dorvales bed. we only speak in french, though they all know some english. Unlike Yaounde, i am definitely not the first student theyve had. Yesterday, my fam told me that i speak french much better than other students in the past :) since maman works and papa is off doing other things, i only see the parents at night when the three of us eat dinner in the dark in front of the television. The other kids eat in the kitchen. its in the kitchen with my siblings where i have conversations about bilingual education system - cameroon is the only african country with english and french as official languages and consequently 2 education systems. weve also talked about polygamy and the deuxieme bureau, a maitresse, and things like that. Im learning so much while doing choses like cutting vegetables or washing dishes. we only have water in the morning, as we live on the top of a hill and water is scarcer based on location.
Agriculture dominates the economy of Dschang, and as I walk to school on the red muddy streets, I can see farms of mixed crops everywhere. Women are the primary cultivators, the traditional cultivators of the land. I also pass by a lake on the way to school. Hopefully I can upload pics soon.
I attend classes in a room at the university. Im learning about traditional versus modern gender roles and perseptions and also about the Bamilekes, the ethnic group of this area. More to come later about that.
Im thinking of doing my ISP in Dschang, as i have no desire to leave.
A plus tard,
audrey (from now on, my name is o-dray/the french pronunciation)