Cameroun ~ A Country of Contrast as told by Mom & Dad!

Cameroun ~ A Country of Contrasts as told by Mom & Dad!

Our title sounds like one taken from a geography book but contrasts is certainly what Cameroun (French spelling) is. From its spectacular scenic beauty to its horrendous slums, from opulent office buildings in its capital to its mud built farm buildings, from its honest and friendly people to the occasional shouted ethnic slur “La Blanche ….” ( means the white …. ), from simple Cameroonian food to American Pizza and milkshakes to name but a few of the contrasts this country holds.

But before we continue we want to say how proud we are of our daughter Kate. She came to this chaotic country, to a new posting, with a loosely defined project and is succeeding. She learned French as well as some of the local language BuLu, impressed those she works with and met, and became a part of an extended family. When we walked with her through the market, the vegetable lady to the police officer stopped and hugged her. Part of her project is to introduce Soy to the Southern Province. Soy not only provides much needed protein for people but also puts nitrates back into the slash & burned soil. Kate is also one tough bargainer (one of the best) when purchasing anything. In this country it is something that always has got to be done, almost the extreme. We are truly proud of our strong and independent daughter!!

But back to Cameroun.

Our first impression was the attractiveness of the people in the South Province. Nearly all people are fit, lots of muscles and few pot bellies, probably from all the walking and exercising in the farming they do. And what great tans they all have!! We were also surprised by the abundance of food in Cameroun. Cameroun has two growing seasons and nearly everyone has a small farm. The markets are full of tomatoes, onions, beans, lettuce, bananas, and plantains to name a few. This is definitely one African Country that feeds itself. A very impressive quality of the people was their honesty. One can leave a package in most places and when you return for it, it will be there. If you need change you can give a larger bill to one of the locals in the market, they’ll disappear and reappear a bit later with the correct change. These people can also balance anything on their heads, I saw one individual in the capital of Yaoundé who had 3, 5 gallon buckets balanced on his head, one on top of the other. Even small children can do this without spilling anything from the large plate they are balancing. Speaking of children, they are everywhere. Cameroon is a very young country full of kids. Even the smallest are self-reliant and often cared for by another child not that much older than themselves. The ones in Kate’s village really enjoyed the candy we brought to give them.

Another impression was the beauty of the rainforest that is the South Province, a forest so dense that one cannot walk through it. Wildflowers and birds were abundant, but because of the denseness of the forest few animals can be seen. Many of the house plants we grow are found in this forest. African Grey Parrots flew overhead while black & white crows cawed at you The temperatures were stifling for us a times, but rain did not interfere with any of ours plans as it was the dry season. We found it funny that this is considered their winter & we saw people with coats on and babies bundled in northern winter clothing even with temperatures nearing 90 degrees. I was usually the only man with shorts on as long pants were far too hot for me, but not for them.

But one thing that concerned me (dad) was the transportation. Moto Taxis (motor cycles) are everywhere. You pay a small fee, get on the back and hold on. Sometimes up to 4 people can be seen riding on them. I haven’t been on a motorcycle since I was a teenager and the speed concerned me as well as the weaving in and out of traffic that occurs. Yellow Toyota Taxis are also everywhere, no drivers training exists in Cameroon and it shows. Again 4 to 5 people can be squeezed in the back seat of these small vehicles with nearly as many in front. Few of them are in good condition, with many having no shock absorbers left and little suspension. Buses are the main transportation between cities. Again 4 people are squeezed in seats designed for 3 and traveling between the cities can take hours. One gets use to sweaty and sometimes smelly individuals. But the children will always sit quietly, which in America would never happen under these conditions. Most bus companies also will not leave until all the seats are sold (time is not a concern here) so you wait until that happens (although we did experience a bus leaving on us when we were in the toilet). Luckily Kate screamed at the bus driver until he stopped. The roads in the south are really nice but in other parts of the country they can be extremely pot holed. Holes big enough to swallow a taxi! Travel in these buses is also extended because of the practice of building speed bumps near every little village or town along the way. Of course this slowing brings out all the people trying to sell food and just about everything else to the passengers they can. I even saw an individual with toilet seats around his neck for sale! Of course toilets are few and far between in this country. Usually just a hole in the concrete, which you are expected to use without falling over. No roadside rest stops in his country. Hotels also vary greatly, but the price is always reasonable, except of course the Hilton in the Capital.

One irritant in this country is the near constant police stops to check IDs. I’m not sure what they are looking for. When we handed them our passports few officers checked the visas page we had, but seemed more interested in the other places we had visited as they paged through our passports skipping over the visa section. On another negative side we did have an officer propose marriage to Kate even with us in the car. This seems to happen to Kate a lot. I can understand why she feels this behavior offensive. We were glad she gave this officer a smart retort. I asked her supervisors “do all Cameroonian men propose to a woman the first time they meet her”? He replied she would be a status symbol, well our daughter won’t be a status symbol for any lowly police officer.

Television in this country is unique, especially the occasional English language station as most are French stations. In the north there was even subtitles in English on an English speaking station. The only reason I could conclude was because the local people spoke Pidgin English and maybe needed help understanding common English.

We were hosted for meals by Kate’s supervisor’s family, her host family and a local village. The food was Cameroonian food, which although good can be a bit bland. We balanced this with meals at Italian, Chinese and American restaurants. While we ate at the Chinese Restaurant we heard the constant sound of someone pounding metal. The waiter told us it was a bird whose name was spelled B A T. These bats were the large fruit eating variety known here as “Flying Foxes”. Their flight is quite impressive in the air.

One of the people we met was Kate’s friend Billy. He lives in Kate’s compound with his wife and family. He farms as well grows nursery plants. He presented us with the most magnificent arrangement of tropical flowers we’ve ever seen. Billy also assured us that Kate is safe where she lives and even brought the local police officers to introduce them. We’re glad of his concern for Kate as well as his quiet friendship with her. We also met many of Kate’s fellow Peace Corp Volunteers, who were all interesting and dedicated.

We traveled to the north and the west provinces and spend three relaxing days at the Atlantic Ocean Beach in Limbe. These beaches are made of black sand from nearby volcanoes. Being nearly on the equator the water is warm, unpolluted, does not smell fishy like other ocean water and seems less salty. I don’t usually like swimming in the ocean but this place was an exception. Earlier we traveled to the southern border of Cameroon, touched the border of Equatorial Guinea and had a drink in Gabon.

On the way back to the USA we were upgraded to Business Class from Economy Class on the first flight, from Yaoundé to Zurich on the Swiss Airline. Having never flown in this class we were surprised by the drinks and food offered as well as the concern for our comfort and the large reclining seats, of course all good things must end and on our last flight we were assigned to the middle of the airplane between two individuals. Somehow our window seats were changed to these seats. But the man who sat next to me proved interesting. He happened to be a young priest from Switzerland studying in Chicago for a year. You know me and my attitude about priests but I was cordial. During our conversation he mentioned that he had been in LA two years ago and a mutual friend had him meet Ashton Kutcher. Evidently Ashton took him around to his 4 clubs, a few parties and he stayed in his apartment. To return the favor he invited Ashton to his monastery near Zurich. Ashton spent two days in the monastery where few of the monks had ever heard of him. The priest told me Ashton had trouble with the silence & lack of recognition. While Ashton was at the monastery, Demi Moore (his wife) had a bit of plastic surgery in Austria, one of many according to the monk.

It was hard to say “Good-Bye” again to Kate for another year and we thank her for being able to cope with two parents who at times were infant like in their ability to communicate with the locals. We feel much better about her in Cameroon after meeting her friends and co-workers and experiencing Cameroon for ourselves. We are now considered part of her Cameroonian family. We fully support her in her role as a Peace Corp Volunteer and know it isn’t always easy. We also want to remind her that even small changes can have a lasting impact in many ways for years to come, some unknown at this time. Ahh Kates we are proud of you!!

Mom & Dad Legner