Two Weeks in Yaoundé

We finally wrapped TDW (Training Design Workshop) on Wednesday. After going through training once on the other side, it was interesting to see all the work that goes into preparing for it. Volunteers and Peace Corps staff all worked very hard to get the training program ready. In July and August I will be spending about five weeks helping with training in the village of Bangante, in the West province. This should be interesting since I have not spent much time in the West and the climate, geography, and culture there are all very different from my village. It will also be interesting to meet the new volunteers. We spent most of our days in conference rooms hashing out schedules, working out problems, and preparing and practicing the training sessions we will present.

In the evenings however, we had about fifteen volunteers all staying in the Case de Passage (Transit House) - sort of like a hostel for volunteers attached to the Peace Corps office. I hadn't seen many of the people who came since our own training last year, so it was good to catch up. The best part of having so many volunteers together at once was that we were able to pool our resources and throw several huge dinner parties, all of which were a blast and a nice change from the regular Cameroonian fare we're now accustomed to eating. Here are a few highlights:

Mexican Night

Soul Food Night

Calzone Night

Birthday Night

Of course, where Peace Corps volunteers congregate in Cameroon, there will usually be beer:

Which, naturally, leads to some very silly behavior:

As much fun as all of this was, it will be good to get back to Nanga. After almost two weeks cooped up with each other in Yaoundé we're all suffering from a bit of cabin fever at this point. I should be going back today or tomorrow.

The Troubles of African Universities

Spotted a good article in the NY Times today about the problems facing African universities. Although the article focuses on Senegal, most of the same problems apply in Cameroonian universities. I see some of them in microcosm at the University where I teach as well.


Africa’s Storied Colleges, Jammed and Crumbling:

Africa’s best universities, the grand institutions that educated a revolutionary generation of nation builders and statesmen, doctors and engineers, writers and intellectuals, are collapsing. It is partly a self-inflicted crisis of mismanagement and neglect, but it is also a result of international development policies that for decades have favored basic education over higher learning even as a population explosion propels more young people than ever toward the already strained institutions.

The decrepitude is forcing the best and brightest from countries across Africa to seek their education and fortunes abroad and depriving dozens of nations of the homegrown expertise that could lift millions out of poverty.

. . .

The disarray of Africa’s universities did not happen by chance. In the 1960s, universities were seen as the incubator of the vanguard that would drive development in the young nations of newly liberated Africa, and postcolonial governments spent lavishly on campuses, research facilities, scholarships and salaries for academics.

But corruption and mismanagement led to the economic collapses that swept much of Africa in the 1970s, and universities were among the first institutions to suffer. As idealistic postcolonial governments gave way to more cynical and authoritarian ones, universities, with their academic freedoms, democratic tendencies and elitist airs, became a nuisance.

Patching the Apocalypse

Today we wrapped up our training design workshop. We now have a program in place for the new group of trainees who will be arriving in Cameroon on June 9th.

Before coming to Cameroon, each invitee is asked to email Peace corps a resume and an aspiration statement describing what they hope to achieve in Peace Corps and how they will deal with the challenges volunteer life can present. This is so the staff on the ground in Cameroon can familiarize themselves with the new recruits and take their backgrounds into consideration while designing training and consider possible posts.

While helping to design the training program, several of us were able to read the aspiration statements and resumes of some of the new kids. I have to say it was a bit odd. I'm curious to go back and read my own statement and see how much my goals have changed in the past year. I'm probably a bit more jaded than I was at the time - as may be apparent from some of my recent posts on difficulties I've been having lately. On the other hand, I think I've learned and seen far more than I expected to a year ago in many ways. I definitely believe I am a stronger person than when I arrived.

The previous country director told us during training that Peace Corps service is like being on a roller coaster - enormous highs and terrible lows coming hard and fast on top of each other. I'd say that's been true of my own experience. For all its frustrations I've had a great time and have gained a lot from my experiences here. It's definitely not for everyone, but I'd also say it was the right choice for me. I have not regretted my decision at all.

Thinking back on it all brings up the obvious question that I haven't yet answered on this blog: Why did I join the Peace Corps?

When I first told friends and family the reactions were mixed, although supportive overall. My mother thought it was a great idea and felt it fit my personality and values well. My father was a little upset at first but came around. My sister and most of my other relatives didn't say too much one way or the other. Some of my friends were excited for me, while others shared the sentiments of my friend Adam, who said something like: "The Peace Corps? Is he nuts?" My coworkers were sad to see me leave, but when I explained what I was doing and why they basically said they couldn't be angry about it.

Although everyone back home has been very supportive, most from time to time say things like "What you're doing is great but I could never do it." My students and most Cameroonians I meet in general don't understand why I would want to leave a good job and relatively comfortable life in the US to come live in a dusty little town in the African bush for two years. Many of them are eager to find a way to get OUT of Cameroon and can't figure out why I would want to go the other direction.

So, what do I tell them? Why am I here? Why am I dealing with mosquitoes and mud and dust and heat and unreliable utilities when I have plenty of other options back home? There were many reasons. After giving it a lot of thought, I decided Peace Corps was something that might help me fulfill many of my goals all at once.

First, I was bored. I'd been working at the same job and living in the same town for over six years and needed a change - and just a move to another cubicle.

Second, I wanted to live abroad and experience another culture in ways that come from living there as opposed to being a tourist. I enjoy learning about other countries and studying other languages, and the cultural immersion you get from Peace Corps service is certainly fulfilling this goal.

Third, I wanted to help others. A simple idea really. I thought this would be a way I could do that.

Fourth, I wanted to serve my country. I've always believed that all Americans should give something back to their country and decided that I should put my money where my mouth was. One reason I chose Peace Corps instead of an NGO was because it's an explicitly American agency. In helping others I also wanted to do something that would hopefully reflect well on my own country. America has enough enemies in the world. From what I've seen I'd say Peace Corps actually does a pretty good job of making us some new friends now and then.

Fifth, Peace Corps provides benefits that volunteering for an NGO rarely does. Very often, if you want to volunteer overseas you have to pay to do so. Peace Corps provides you with a free plane ticket, a living allowance in country, and a readjustment allowance at the end of your service. They provide intensive language, cultural, and technical training (also free). They also provide health coverage and have medics on staff who take care of us if we get sick or injured. They find you housing and a job. After service, if you're interested in working for the Federal government you receive preferential treatment in applying for many government jobs. they also have deals with a number of Universities that provide educational opportunities for returning volunteers. All of this amounts to a level of institutional support not available to those who come to volunteer on their own.

Finally, I guess I hoped to make some small contribution towards making a better world. Some people have ribbed me about naively wanting to "save the world." Hardly.

For better or worse I have pessimistic streak in me and I don't have a particularly optimistic view of human nature. The world has always been a screwed up place and for all the good that many individuals do, as a species we seem to be unable to get our collective act together and move beyond slaughtering and robbing each other because we live under the wrong flag or pray to the wrong god. Thus it has always been and thus it shall always be with us humans I suppose. So far we've been lucky I suppose, but in the back of my mind I often wonder how long it will be before we either blow ourselves to bits, or, so ravage the environment that the earth will no longer be able to support human life. No, I doubt very much that the world can be "saved."

But, sometimes you have to do things not because you are going to succeed, but because they are the right thing to do. As screwed up as we all are, there is some good rattling around in the human soul. Even if I can't do anything to solve the world's problems, at least I can try to make some small improvement in some small corner of the planet somewhere worse off than where I came from. I can't control what others do - only what I do. So, I might as well do something positive, even if it is a bit like rearranging the deck chairs on a sinking ship.

In his (alternately scary and hilarious) travel guide The World's Most dangerous Places, Robert Young Pelton calls the work done by groups like Peace Corps "patching the apocalypse."

"Patching the apocalypse." I like the sound of that. Yeah, I'd say that about covers what I'm doing. What the hell? Somebody's got to do it.

So that's why I'm here.

TDW / TOT

Like most government agencies, Peace Corps has an affinity for acronyms. So, I am in Yaounde this week for "TDW" (Training Design Workshop) and "TOT" (Training Of Trainers) next week.

I've been reunited with many of the volunteers I trained with last year, which has been fun. Along with Peace Corps staff we are preparing for the next group of Trainees (known as "Stagaires") who will arrive in country next month. After school ends I will probably be spending some time in the village of Bangante in the West province helping out with their training. Should be a good time.

For now though, we're spending hours locked together in conference rooms arguing incessantly over semantics. ("Should we say 'help acquire' or 'facilitate the acquisition of' in this section?) Later this afternoon we have to reconcile all of our competing scheduling demands and create a master schedule for training. Hopefully we can keep it clean: no scratching, biting, or hitting below the belt.

As you can imagine, this is all very very exciting. Stay tuned for some hopefully more interesting posts over the next few days.

A Quick Update

Things have been coming along slowly since I got back from Yaoundé three weeks ago. Here's the rundown on what I've been up to (or not up to) since then:

• Power has continued to be unstable although it's a little better than it was. SONEL has stopped shutting the lights off for weeks at a time at least. Now the power only goes out when it rains. And since we are now in the rainy season that's about every day. Generally it rains sometime between late afternoon and early morning, so often the power goes sometime in the evening or is out when we get up in the morning. They usually get it back on within 24 hours or less at this point, so some days we actually get to do some work if they get the lights on by the afternoon.
• We resolved our problems with our internet service provider, so we're back online for now. When we have power. And when I can find an open computer.
  
• After getting back from Yaoundé I found that my Dean had left the country without programming any classes for me. So, in his absence I've had no classes to teach. Since the power is out so often, this means I end up spending a lot of time sitting around. I've been working on the English class I'm supposed to start teaching before the end of the year - writing all my notes, assignments, etc by hand so I can work without power if need be. The rest of the time I've mostly been reading, doing crossword puzzles, taking long walks around campus in the late afternoon when it's cool, and visiting friends. I taught a few students and locals how to play chess so that's also passed a few afternoons.
• On May 1st I marched in an International Labor Day parade here in town. In Cameroon each company or institution (like the university) makes its employees wear matching shirts and march in a big parade after listening to lots of boring speeches by local politicians. First time I've ever been in a parade. Pictures and description of festivities will be presented in a future post.
  
• When we have had power, I've been trying to get the computers donated by Peace Corps I mentioned in a previous post up and running. Working with my colleague Souaibou, we've managed to fix several and have set them up in the offices for staff that did not have working machines, so they can now enter student data on their machines and then be unable to retrieve it when the power goes out.
• I have also been trying to help rid the PCs in the office of computer viruses, which are rampant here. Somebody picks one up on their USB thum drive in a cyber cafe or someplace, then spreads it to all the machines at school. Been using AVG Free to clean up. That usually gets the job done.
  
• Right now I'm trying to get two or three machines working using various parts laying around and cannibalizing non-working machines. When I get them running I am going to set them up in the library and start teaching my own independent classes. Not sure if it will be individual tutoring, small group classes, or some mix of both. I plan to offer time to interested students since they got cheated out of my Informatique (french for comp sci) class. I also plan to offer evening and weekend classes to people in the community and to other teachers here. I finally decided that since the University has not been giving me classes, I needed to grab the bull by the horns and try to do some work on my own. Onward and upward ... against all odds ... no retreat, no surrender ... sticking it to the man ... you get the idea.
• Next week I'm going back to Yaoundé to help Peace Corps prepare for the next incoming group oif volunteers, who will be arriving next month. I and several other volunteers will help design classes, prepare training materials, and prepare training sessions that we will give to the newbies over the summer ... I mean, over the course of the rainy season.
  

One last thing. After my previous posts explaining that many of my problems were due to the fact that we only have one computer lab here, several people wrote offering to look for used machines or parts to ship here and even offering to start some kind of hardware charity drive. The sentiment is greatly appreciated. The problem though, is that shipping anything to Cameroon from the USA is extremely expensive. The cost of shipping a computer here would probably be more than the cost of the computer itself.

Of course, if someone wants to spend the money and has the parts laying around, we'd be happy to take them, and you can email me if you are interested - maybe sending small things like RAM or video cards wouldn't be so bad. However, I am in the process of developing a grant proposal to upgrade our computer lab that people back home can donate to through the Peace Corps. If and when the proposal is approved I will post a notice on this blog for how to contribute. I suggest that if you want to help, take the money you would have spent on postage and donate it through Peace Corps and I will buy the materials with it locally. Much more cost effective that way. Anyway, I will keep everyone posted if the proposal is approved.

Ok, I hear thunder outside. That means the power could go at any moment. Until the lights come back on dear readers ...