OBAMARAMA, or, the 2008 US Presidential Election Through Cameroonian Eyes

I will never forget that in no other country on Earth is my story even possible. - Barack Obama

If you thought I was out of touch with US politics, rest assured that’s not the case. Even if I had no internet access and no desire to follow politics, I would still be hearing about the election from all my Cameroonian friends (and some passing acquaintances and occasionally even strangers). Cameroonians have plenty of access to international news on the TV and radio. Via satellite or cable many households even have CNN, MSNBC, and Fox, not to mention the BBC, Al Jazeera, French news programs, etc.

Much to my surprise when I got here, Cameroonians love American politics. If anything, Cameroonians sometimes seem to follow American politics more closely than politics in their own country. Many also seem to follow American politics more closely than a lot of Americans I’m sad to say. I’m not sure exactly why the fascination. Maybe because the US is still perceived as the world’s only superpower and the President as the world’s most powerful leader? Maybe because they know that when the US acts in the world it can affect them in one way or another? Maybe because the prevalence of American popular culture around the world makes people interested in what’s going on in the US? Maybe because there aren’t too many surprises in their own political system, so American politics are more suspenseful?

Whatever the reason, many people here love to talk about it and ask questions when they meet Americans. I’m usually happy to do so – gives me a chance to help fulfill Peace Corps’ goal of promoting understanding of Americans abroad. It also gives me a chance to occasionally clear up misconceptions – they follow American politics but sometimes don’t always understand the mechanics (such as the difference between a primary and general election, federalism, the electoral college, etc.)

They also love Barack Obama. Lots of Cameroonians are borderline obsessed with him and his candidacy. The head of the NGO I work for talks about the latest election news daily – every twist and turn and jump or dip in the polls is discussed. The owner of the bar where I eat lunch stops to talk to me about Obama on a regular basis. The carpenters I paid to make some book shelves for my apartment had me hanging out in their shop for half an hour after we’d finished our business so they could talk about Obama. A random teenager I met who’s a friend of a friend invited me out for drinks just so he could ask me about the election. I see people walking around wearing Obama t-shirts and hats. (No buttons though – in Cameroon a button with someone’s picture is a way of memorializing the dead – if you wore an Obama button people might think he had died.)

Part of it is obviously because Obama is black. Africans often forget that not all Americans are white, so to suddenly see a black man in a position to become President astounds some of them. Even more so for the fact that his father was African. Amusingly, many Cameroonians think Obama is Cameroonian because the name “Obama” is a common family name among the Ewondo (one of Cameroon’s 250 different tribes.)

However, I think it’s also about what Obama’s candidacy tells them about America. It tells them that son of an African student can rise to become leader of one of the largest and most powerful nations on earth. It reinforces the idea that somewhere in the world is a place where people can rise above the limitations imposed on them by others and make something of their lives. More than one Cameroonian has told me “This would never happen in Europe or Asia – the son of an African would never become President of France or Italy.” They see America as special and Obama’s candidacy only confirms that.

I’ve met two or three McCain fans, but that’s about it. Mostly they say they’d rather see McCain win because Obama’s too young, and in a society where age is respected that carries some weight. But in contrast to the Obama supporters they don’t seem too inspired by McCain.

In general most Cameroonians I talk to about America have a positive view of us. They generally see us as “the good guys” in the world and are impressed by our society’s dynamism, prosperity, and democracy. And whatever our faults and limitations in all these areas they can’t help but look at their own society and wish politics here were a bit more like politics in America.

Two weeks ago I was invited to a panel that discussed the elections at the University of Buea, and one panelist presented American elections, warts and all, as models African nations should strive to follow. So cheer up, my fellow Americans depressed by politics, it’s better than you think.

That said, in recent years America has tarnished its image around the world and that is felt here as well. But here it seems like people almost feel confused by the events of the Bush years. Over the last two years I have heard lots of comments like “America is such a great country, why are you doing these horrible things around the world right now?” or “How could such a great country with so many smart people pick someone like George Bush to lead them?” I usually don’t have a very satisfying answer for these questions, other than that Americans are human and just as flawed and likely to make mistakes as anyone else on the planet.

I think this sentiment among Cameroonians that America is a great nation that somehow lost its way may also help explain the appeal of Obama. Simply by the fact of who he is and how high he has risen, he is telling Cameroonians (if not the rest of the world as well) that the America they admired is on its way back. If Obama were to lose the election tomorrow I suspect lots of people outside America will despair and wonder if we’ve lost our way for good. In America we often tend to forget that the rest of the world exists during our elections, but as I’ve learned here in Cameroon, this isn’t just OUR election.

However, if he’s elected, I believe America will instantly get a “do over” from much of the world. Especially here in Africa, it will be as if the last eight years had never happened, for a little while at least. Eventually the honeymoon will end and then it’s up to us, of course. But I guess that’s supposed to be the point of democracy isn’t it?

And We're Back...

Hello out there to any readers who haven't given up on me and still check the blog in spite of my long absence. As I noted in a previous post, I went back to the US for a monthlong break and returned to Cameroon late last month. Since then I haven't really felt in the swing of things as far as blogging goes, so I've been lazy and not posted anything. So, I decided it was finally time for an update.

Home leave was good. It was great to see friends and family again, to be back in the States, and to eat loads of unhealthy junk food. I gained a few pounds actually. I didn't have too many problms with reverse culture shock, except for bizarrely begin really uncomfortable being around white people for my first two days back. Odd... And of course I spent a lot of time telling people things that started with "In Cameroon..." over and over. All in all though, it was a badly needed change of scenery and I returned to Cameroon feeling recharged.

I've settled back into Buea easily. I've been putting in a fair amount of time working with my host institution, a local NGO called LINK-UP, that tries to help impoverished children and orphans in several communities in Cameroon's Southwest province. My work with LINK-UP has so far revolved around two main areas.

The first is a new micro-credit program they have recently started in collaboration with an outside group called Drombaya. This is a program to provide small loans to families the organization has been helping to start or expand their own small income generating activities. Generally, these are small scale projects like making and selling or reselling food items and small artisanal work. Before going back to the US I helped them craft some of their loan policies and design the paperwork and process. The program started up in my absence and seems to be off and running fairly smoothly. For the moment I'm not doing much in this area but I'll be revisiting it to see how the pogram is working once it's been operational for a few months.

My second project with LINK-UP is basically management consulting. The organization started small and has always been run by its founder and President. When it started he could do this out of his head and mostly by himself. However, as the organization has grown and been successful, they've passed the point where an ad hoc management style works effectively. So, I've been working with the President and the staff to develop and write down their internal rules and procedures in an effort to help them better manage their activities and make the organization more professional.

Outside LINK-UP, I've made contact with another local Cameroonian development organization called Nkong Hilltop, which mostly works in he agricultural domain, running micro-credit programs and building skills among farmers. I recently did a computer security workshop with some of their staff where I provided training in how to protect their computers against viruses (a huge problem in Cameroon) and use the internet safely. In the future we are planning more computer related training sessions in order to help them start trcking some of their projects and better manage their finances using computers.

Besides work, I've started taking a French class at the local Linguistic Center, a government sponsored language training center aimed at promoting bilingualism in Cameroon and offering French and English courses. Although my French is still pretty strong, now that I'm not using it daily any more I can feel it slipping a bit, so the five hour a week course is perfect practice to ensure I don't lose too much of it while I'm here.

Aside from that, I've just been hanging out with friends here in Buea and sneaking off for an occasional day trip to the beach.

So, that's what I'm up to these days.

A Video Tour of Buea

I just recalled that a while ago Bill posted this Youtube video someone made giving viewers a video tour of Buea, my new post. It's pretty good. So, to keep you entertained while I'm airborne, have a look. Enjoy!

Home Leave!

After two long years in Cameroon, I'm finally heading back to the good old US of A tonight for a badly needed month of home leave. I will do some posting while I'm home. See you on the other side of the Atlantic gang!

Secret Cults in Cameroonian Schools

As I was saying, magic is real here. Don't mess with magic. From one of Buea's hometown newspapers, The Post (their office is not far from mine - many of their reporters post stories from the cyber cafe I use), comes this "can't make this stuff up" story:

Students tangle with the occult because most of them are always finding shortcuts to success.The ideals of hard work, discipline and selfless dedication to God as the path to profound success that pastors, priests and teachers profess, is often ignored by wayward students in search of material gains. Children of this calibre are easy prey for the devil.

Awesome.

"What was left was tiny"

Saw this story a while ago and saved the link but forgot to post it until now.

Ah, Africa... where magic is no joke.

The Village of Waiting

I just finished reading the Peace Corps memoir The Village of Waiting by journalist George Packer a few days ago. So far it's both the best book about the experience of being a Peace Corps volunteer I've read and an incredibly insightful look at West African culture. Packer is an excellent writer and the book is an engrossing read. He served in Togo, but most of what he wrote about Togo could just as easily apply to Cameroon. While reading this book I constantly found myself saying "Yep... been there, done that." In the future I'll probably find myself liberally quoting from this book when I want to explain either something about Africa or about what it feels like to be a (white) Peace Corps volunteer in Africa. If anyone out there has the inclination to, I can't recommend this book highly enough.

First Weeks in Buea

The last few weeks have been pretty busy. Here's the rundown:

• Trying to get your power or water turned on in Cameroon is an ordeal that might be described as both Sysiphean and Kafkaesque at the same time. Wait around all day at the office to be told there are no meters available, or that there are meters but no technicians to come install them today, or that you are missing some document or stamp or didn't dot an i on the application form, or that you didn't pay for the technician's "transport" (i.e. the bribe necessary to get underpaid utility company emplyees to come to your house and do the job they're supposed to be doing). Fortunately it only took me a week to get the lights turned on so I could move in after that. Unfortunately, I've had worse luck with water. It's been a whole month now and I still have no running water. I've been going to the water company several times a week but there's always a different story for why there are no meters available today. Trying to get my water hooked up has turned out to be almost a full time job by itself. The supervisor for my buidling has been carrying jugs of water for me periodically. My neighbors have also helped me out and let me fill some containers. So, I'm getting enough water to wash (albeit not as often as I'd like) and flush the toilet but that's about it. Sigh...
• Since I switched my focus from teaching to working in a business development role, I spent a week in training with the newest group of volunteers in the village of Bangangté getting brought up to speed on some of the technical aspects of the Peace Corps' Small Enterprise Development program. I spent some quality time with Peace Corps trainers and volunteers getting oriented and had a good time getting to know the new kids on the block. Fun week, but the trips there and back were long and tiring.
• Been hanging out with Bill and my new post-mate Jessamyn (another volunteer in town) a bit, meeting their friends and colleagues and getting to know Buea, which so far has mostly meant getting to know where the best stores, restaurants, and bars are located.
• In between all that I've started doing some work with Linkup, my host institution in Buea. They are a rapidly growing NGO in the process of reorganizing. The first phase of this involved the physical overhaul of their office and their cybercafe.(They own a cyber cafe which provides the revenue to keep the lights on and fund their charitable activities.) Bill and I helped out for several days of manual labor, painting, running power and network cables, holding stuff, cleaning and repairing PCs, and finally helping to get all the machines back online so the place could reopen. I've started working on revamping the group's internal procedures and putting in place a better system of accounting and financial management. I'm also working with them and some would-be microfinance rainmakers to start a microcredit program the NGO can use to give loans to poor members of the community in order to help them start or expand income generating activities.

So, that's what I've been up to the last few weeks. Busy busy. Lack of water aside, all is well.

Happy Birthday America

Hope everyone back home is having a good Independence Day. In between cheeseburgers try to remember what it's all about. Have a fun and safe holiday.

Moved

Well, once again I've been delinquent in posting, partly because of a bad connection in Nanga, partly because I've been busy and mobile, and maybe due to a little blog fatigue. At any rate, I've finally left Nanga Eboko and moved to my new post, Buea, in the Southwest Province.

My last few weeks in Nanga were busy:

• I continued tutoring students using the donated computers I got last year. I actually managed to get a fair amount of teaching done before leaving. Mission accomplished.
  
• I finished up all of my grading, corrections, make up exams, and other paperwork for the semester. Tedious but necessary.
  
• One of Peace Corps' technical trainers is a Cameroonian computer teacher. He's been writing a series of basic computer textbooks for use in Cameroonian high schools. Since the country is bilingual, he needed someone to provide an English translation of one of his books for use in schools in the English speaking part of the country. I'd been working on it off and on for months, but finally wrapped it up and gave it to him a few weeks ago.
• I spent a lot of time with friends and saying goodbye to people. I was given a nice going away party by my colleagues at the University. Two women I know in town tried to convince me to take a porcupine with me as a gift for my father when I go back to the states. Uh, yeah. (An aside: porcupine is popular bush meat in southern Cameroon. It's actually pretty tasty - tastes kind of like pork but a bit stronger.)
  

While I was a little sad to leave my friends and students, I was also ready to leave Nanga and move on to something better. After spending a week in Yaoundé for medical examinations (they tell me I'm healthy) and a lot of paperwork, I finally moved to Buea a few days ago. I am gradually getting to know the town better and have already started to discuss my work for the next year with Roland, my new boss at the local NGO, Linkup, where I will be working.

I have a nice apartment already rented and am just waiting for the landlady to finish a bit of work and hook up the utilities before I move in. I'll post pictures after I've moved in. For the moment I'm staying with Bill and living out of suitcases. Next week I will go to the village of Bangangté (where the latest group of volunteers are in training) for a week of training in Peace Corps' Small Enterprise Development program.

So, for the moment, everything is in flux and I'm feeling a bit homeless: out of Nanga but not yet settled in Buea. But, I suppose that's normal. So far so good for year three.