First impressions of Cameroon

I am for four weeks in Cameroon now and it is very hard for me to write a nice blog about it. I have had so many impressions, so many ideas, so many changes. I think it is impossible to summarize it. But, let’s give it a try!

Differences between Ilorin and Kumbo

Kumbo

When I arrived in Nigeria, I had a culture shock. Now, arriving in Kumbo, I have a culture shock again. I do still find it difficult to point the differences between Nigeria and its neighbouring countries. But somehow you can feel it. I have the impression that Nigerians in general don’t trust strangers. This makes your life hard, if you always have to wonder if that person wants to do something bad, you have to be aware all the time. Here the feeling is different.
When I went to the market in Ilorin, people were really grabbing my arm and pulling me into their shop; BUY FABRIC! No, I want to buy tomatoes! And then a discussion was following. When I go to the market here, people ask me; Hello ma’ how are you? Do you want to buy fabric? And if I say no, tomatoes, they will point me to someone who sells tomatoes and wish me a nice day.
When we were looking for a house in Ilorin, everybody was telling me we could only arrange that through people we know, otherwise it would be too dangerous. Here I was looking for a house and all my colleagues encouraged me to ask strangers as well. In the end I found a house through the landlord of our office, but the approach is very different.
At the downside of Kumbo are definitely the roads. The rainy season has started and every morning there is less road left between my house and the office. There are only two paved roads and all others become extremely slippery when it rains as it all becomes red mud. It is very hilly here so it is quite dangerous.
Another thing I miss from Nigeria is the spice in the food. Yoruba people eat a lot of ‘pepe’ but here in many dishes there is no spice at all. In Nigeria they sell chili peppers in huge quantities, here it is only ‘small small’.
And last but not least, I miss the internet connection from Nigeria. I thought the MTN fast link (cruel joke!) was the slowest ever. I now know that is not true…

Knowledge for Children

Donating books to a school

I will soon write an entire blog post about my new job. But for now, I really like working here. The staff is very committed and motivated. The projects are great and there are a lot of ideas to make it even better.
What I like is that we are not a NGO who goes to bring some boxes of books. We only donate books if the community (parents) also buy books. They buy them through our office and after they did, we will also donate our part. Over three years, they buy 30% of the books. In this way, they are really involved.

Health club member teaching how to wash your hands

Another interesting program is the health program. In several schools we have health clubs. These clubs consist of about 30-40 pupils. They are trained on health issues like HIV and aids, malaria and hygiene. They also learn how to share their knowledge with their classmates and parents. I have seen some nice sketches performed by the health club members to sensitise their parents on hand washing.

As I said, I will soon write more about Knowledge for Children. For now, check out our Facebook page. And if you like to contribute, you can either donate straight to the bank account NL37 INGB 000 (BIC/SWIFT code: INGBNL2A) or use the tool at the right!