Ngong

11.6.2009


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I’m in Ngong right now, getting ready to head back to Yaounde and then hopefully back to the Western Region by Sunday. I discovered a week ago that my site was going to be Ngong in the Northern Region. Initially, I was incredibly excited. I feel like I would be happy anywhere in this country but the North is an area that fascinated me. It’s super hot, mostly Muslim, and almost a completely different country than the south. After the excitement, though, I realized that I was the only person coming the North. A few people were going to Adamoua (the region just south of the Northern) but most of friends from training are going to be posted in the West and Northwest Regions—a two days journey at best. What I’ve been telling myself, though, is that I came here to do development work, not hang out with friends. I’ll see them when I can, and talk to them when I can, but my main goal should be to integrate into my community and do development projects that way.

Anyway, now that I’m here, I love it. It’s the end of the rainy season so it’s starting to get hot (I’m guessing it’s been topping off in the 100’s) but there’s still some green on the landscape. I won’t be expecting that when I return in December. There’s a very large Muslim population here, and most people’s first language is Fulfulde, a language that is widely spoken across the Sahel.

A few things I’ve done up here: On both Tuesday and Thursday I went with the volunteer who is here now but COSing (close of service-ing) in December out into the bush. He’s teaching at a school for a group of Mboro (sp?) children and the tribe has never, ever had any form of traditional education before. It was a really powerful experience for me but it was also really difficult to try helping out in the teaching. I mean, how do you teach a group of people who have no history or tradition of reading, writing, or education? On Wednesday I also went out into the Bush again, but this time with the other volunteer and the doctor who will be my counterpart when I start in December. We went around to different health centers and checked up on the immunizations going on because that day was a big immunization day. Lastly, people in Ngong have started calling me Ali, because Harley is too difficult to pronounce. In French my name is just pronounced “Arley” so dropping the R isn’t too much of a stretch anyway. I think I might start hearing “Bonjour Ali” in the north as much as I heard “Bonjour Papa” in the west.

In regards to this blog, I’m planning on doing mostly sort of slice of life bits from my experiences here in Cameroon—like my last one about the man I met. Starting in December I should start having internet at least a couple times a month when I go to Garoua and I’ll try to post some blogs that way. I’m kinda scatterbrained right now so I’m going to sign off but I’ll probably post again once I get back to Ngong for good in December. One last thing: if you are going to mail me anything, hold tight for a little bit. It turns out I can get mail at the Peace Corps office in Garoua and I’ll post that address next time.