Discussing politics

When I lived in Kumbo, I had a good friend. He has the same deficiency as I have; we love to discuss about world news and politics. He moved to Yaoundé last year, but now I am also here so we can have our (pretty much endless) discussions again.

For me, these discussions are very interesting. He is from a completely different background than me. I grew up in a pretty left-orientated and progressive Dutch family, as a woman. He is a Muslim man from a relatively traditional (though educated) background. So the worldviews we got from home are pretty different.

Sometimes I feel kind of sorry. For example, when we talk about terror attacks. These terrorists attack in name of his religion. He is very clear; this is not my Islam. We agree that these terrorists are mainly using the religion to mobilize people. But still, it has consequences for Muslims. Populist politicians blame all Muslims, not distinguishing between these people misusing religion and the normal Muslims who also reject this.

Another ongoing discussion topic is politics. The role of France and other Western countries in the Middle East and Africa, the weapons distributed which are later used against Europeans in other countries etc. As many Cameroonians, he has some sentiments against France (Cameroon used to be mainly a French colony).

What I hear more often from Cameroonians is that they feel that the West (especially France) wants to keep their influence here. They want Cameroon to be like them. That of course leads to the following discussion topic; what is the best government system, democracy or something else? We didn’t really agree yet but so far we came to the conclusion that for a real democracy you need people how are sufficiently educated to make an informed choice, and media that are free enough to provide the information you need for this informed choice.

I believe this is also what went wrong in the UK. The decision to stay or leave the EU is so complicated, you can hardly expect people who are not working in this field every day to really understand the consequences. From here you get, of course, to the next topic; Brexit… And from Brexit you get to all the new female leaders; May, Merkel, Clinton… And from there to the populist men who all seem to have foreign women (Thanks for that insight Andre!) and from there…

As you see, our discussions are just endless. I am already looking forward to the next one!

City life

Not as nice as the view in Kumbo,
but still not bad

Some time ago I wrote about my adventures looking for an apartment in Yaoundé. Since last week I officially live in Yaoundé.

While I travelled to the Netherlands, my landlord finally managed to remove the previous tenant from the house. The landlord told me he disconnected that guys four years ago from water and light because he never paid the bills. Can you imagine living without water for four years? At least, the pipes and taps in my house didn’t really survive that. So plumbers have been working in my house for three days.

Luckily, my colleague moved my belongings while I was in the Netherlands. Most things made it, except for a table and my toothbrush… I borrowed a table from the landlord, so the house is fine now. Only the toothbrush is still missing!

The house is quite nice and until now the water and light have been really reliable. At least once it was fixed! It is quite a delight to just have water whenever you on the tap. Or to feel you can take your laptop off the charger as light will still be there by the time your battery is empty. Of course, you never know for sure but until now it works!

I live in a quite central location, but outside the real expat quarters. I like it, I can go there easily but I still feel like living in Africa. My neighbours already know me, when I came back from Kumbo I got comments that they missed me. I already have ‘my’ sandwich boy, tomato lady, onion lady etc.

After a few days in Yaoundé I had to travel to Kumbo. It was really nice to meet my colleagues and be in the office. But when I saw all the mud and entered the hotel without water, I remembered why I wanted to go to Yaoundé. 

I still need to get to know the city. Mission for next week is to get an office. For now, I have been working from home but that is kind of boring. Hopefully I can find someone who could sponsor Knowledge for Children by giving me a free office space. And, as a real Dutch, I want to get myself a bicycle. So; slowly getting a city life!

 

 

 

 

Councils

Before I came to Cameroon, Knowledge for Children started trying to work with Councils. The idea was that Councils have an interest in the education in the schools in their municipality and they have a budget for education. So they should be able to contribute financially to our programs for schools in their own region.

This has always been a difficult issue. Most mayors are used to NGOs bringing them things, not NGOs asking them to help. Besides that, a mayor is a chosen position. According to some Cameroonians, that means people who are now mayors had to spend a lot of money for campaigns to get to that position. Once chosen, they need to get money back and that means they don’t give it to projects. I don’t know if it is true, but I am afraid in some cases it looks like it!

In the past two years, we tried different strategies to approach councils. We tried to invite Mayors to book donations, we tried to work through the Deputy Mayor in charge of education and more.  In the end, I think the Lord Mayor has to be convinced about the importance of our work. But how to get the Lord Mayor to understand this differs per Council. There are also some Councils where the Mayor is not very welcoming. They forget about appointments or refuse to receive us. We decided to leave them; if people are not ready it is their problem.

Signing with the Lord Mayor (left) and the
Deputy Mayor in charge of education

Last week, we finally signed a partnership agreement with the Nkambe Council. In the next three years, they will support eight schools. They will pay almost € 2300 per school. The community will still contribute their percentage. The support of the Council really helps us to be able to do everything we need to do in the schools.

The Lord Mayor of Nkambe really values education. He told us in our very first visit that he used to be a teacher. He always wanted to become a head teacher. He never made it to be the head teacher, but now he is the Lord Mayor and can still support education. And of course I am happy he does this by supporting Knowledge for Children so the children of Nkambe will Read Today and Lead Tomorrow!

House hunt

In June I am travelling to the Netherlands. When I come back, I will move to Yaoundé to work from there on fundraising for Knowledge for Children Cameroon. So, last week I travelled to Yaoundé to look for a house. Quite an adventure!

I have to admit it was not as bad as in Nigeria. I tried to find a new house there and I even got offers of apartments on the first floor, without stairs; Madam if you rent it we may be able to build stairs!

In Yaoundé, houses are very expensive. At least, the houses in the better areas, which are safe and central, are expensive. I have really seen apartments (so not villas with a swimming pool, but an apartment) for 1,500,000 CFA (almost € 2300) per month. Just imagine the salary you should have to live there! And especially, consider that the GDP per capita is $ 2300 (data from 2008). So, renting that place for a month is literally the year income of an average Cameroonian.

After looking at houses and rooms for three days, I got the idea it was quite terrible. Places were very expensive. Or the walls are covered in mould (we will paint it Madam, so you will not see it anymore! That doesn’t really solve the problem…) Or there were big puddles in the bedroom (we will dry clean before you move in Madam!). Or they could only be reached through a small path which was already very slippery without rains falling. Or they were right above an evangelic Church.

In the end I found a place where I will move in July. From the outside it looks pretty bad. The landlord said they used tiles from China. And instead of protecting the walls from water, they absorb the water. But the inside is very fine, and that is what it is all about.

So, I'm getting ready for the city life!

Highways

The Cameroonian ‘highways’ are quite an interesting experience. Of course, many highways are covered in potholes. Between Kumbo and Bamenda they broke down four bridges last year. They are still trying to build them up again. Now that the rainy season is coming, we know that in a few months it will be almost impossible to go to Bamenda. I heard stories that the taxi takes you to the bridge, then people carry passengers and luggage through the water and a new taxi waits at the other side. How this will really work with four bridges in a row is not yet very clear to me, but maybe I will experience it soon!

Officially we are supposed to drive on the right side of the road. But in reality, we drive on the best side. That means the left, the middle and sometimes even next to the road. Sometimes the best part of the road is simply besides the road.

Another interesting thing is that it is totally acceptable to stop on the highway to talk to your friend who you see in the car coming from the other direction. Or to turn around on the highway if you miss an exit. I did that some time ago when I missed the exit in the dark. There was a taxi behind me who followed me and also missed the exit, and also turned around. Nothing strange!

Cows passing

Did you ever try to cross (as a pedestrian) a Dutch highway? No? Well, here it is very normal. There are zebra crossings on the highway. But of course nobody uses them and crosses anywhere. Even cows are passing the high ways. Some time ago I ended up pushing our car uphill as we needed to stop on the steepest point because of cows and the car couldn’t continue anymore.

Regarding this, it is not too surprising that you use your horn all the time. To pedestrians who may be crossing, to other cars who may change lanes because of the potholes, may just stop or turn around. I have to admit that this horning is less here than it was in Nigeria, where you horn also to people who are not there, but may be there at some point.

Soon I will be in the Netherlands and enjoy our Dutch roads. It is always a bit strange to keep my own side, to drive straight instead slaloming around potholes. And I tend to horn to every car that should give me priority, or every bicycle I want to take over.

Do you dare to enter my car in June?

Children's dreams

The differences between the Netherlands and Cameroon are obviously very big. But, children are the same all over the world! I don’t know any child who is not happy with a balloon. And like in the Netherlands, children in Cameroon also have dreams about their future.

Last week I visited a school. In class 6 (around 12 years old) I asked the children what they want to be when they grow up.

Fabiola wants to be a teacher. She wants to give knowledge to the people. Noel wants to be a doctor: ‘I will help people from dying and sickness’. Faith has even bigger plans: ‘I want to be a pastor to preach to people that they are not going to church and to make people now thanking God who gives us much things. I will preach to them and they will sing and enjoy that the Lord is good’.

It is nice to see the dreams of these children. But, what makes me sad is to read these stories. The language is so terrible that sometimes you can only guess what the children are writing. It is also sad to realize that most of them will not be able to live their dreams.

Many of them have gone through a primary school where they hardly learnt how to read and write. Some of them will not be able to go to secondary, for many tertiary education is too far because their parents don’t have money to pay their school (or they don’t want to spend on it). And even if they are able to go to school, they are still not sure of a job after they graduated.

For many graduates, there is no job. Most people work in agriculture. During Youth Day, the President even told young people to go and farm. On the one hand, it is good to encourage young people to work in agriculture. On the other hand, isn’t it sad that so many young people struggle to go through university and can only grow corn afterwards?

I believe that creating opportunities for young people starts in primary education. What you see right now is that we have a vicious circle; in primary schools they say pupils don’t perform because the teachers are not capable. The teacher training colleges say they can’t help that as the students they get from secondary are not performing enough to study well. In secondary school they say they get pupils in school who can’t read or write and that is because of primary. We need to break that cycle somewhere, and breaking it in primary education seems logic to me.

I don’t have the illusion I will solve the problems of all young people in Cameroon. But if Faith really becomes a pastor or Noel becomes a doctor, I hope they look back at their time in primary school and think; thanks to Knowledge for Children we had access to books. And that they will buy books for their own children so they also get the opportunity to read!

Faith wants to be a pastor

Esly's little Cameroon Quiz

Cameroon flag -
Youth Day 2016

How much do you know about Cameroon? 

1)   The Cameroonian flag has three colours; red, green and yellow. Why?

a. The flag was based on the flag of Ghana, the first country in West Africa to get independence.

b. The three colours represent; green for vegetation, red for independence and yellow for the sunshine. The star symbolises unity.

c. The three colours represent three religions; Christianity (red), Islam (green) and indigenous believes (yellow).

2)   What is the background of the name Cameroon?

a. The first British to arrive in Cameroon was Mr. John Cameron (in 1467). He named the country after himself. Over time, this changed into Cameroon.

b. The highest mountain of Central Africa was always called Mount Cameroon by the local people. The country was named after this mountain.

c. Portuguese sailors reached the country in 1472. They saw so many shrimps in the river that they called it Rio dos Camarões (Shrimp River). Over time, Camarões became Cameroon.

3)   How many languages are spoken in Cameroon?

a.  Two; French and English

b.  More than 200

c.  More than 500

4)   In 1996 a new Constitution was accepted. According this Constitution, the President could be elected for maximum two terms of seven years. Since when is Paul Biya (1933) the president of Cameroon?

a.  1982

b.  1995

c.  2008

5)   Cameroon is often called Africa in Miniature because it has mountains, deserts, rain forest, savanna and coastland. What is true?

a. Cameroon is more or less five times as big as the Netherlands. The population is about twenty million (compared to seventeen million for the Netherlands)

b. The highest point of Cameroon is more than 5000m above sea level.

c. Cameroon is home to one of the top-five wettest places on earth with an annual rainfall of more than 10,000mm (more than ten times the annual rainfall of the Netherlands)

See the answers below!


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The flag between 1961 and 1972

1b. The flag has three colours (green to symbolise the vegetation, red for independence and yellow for sunshine). The first flag had two stars to represent the British and French parts of Cameroon. In 1972 Cameroon became a unitary state and the second star was removed from the flag.

2c. When the Portuguese arrived in Cameroon, they entered the Wouri River. This was home to the Cameroon Ghost Shrimp. Until today, Cameroonian prawns are famous.

3b. It is unclear how many ethno-linguistic groups Cameroon really has. Some sources talk about 230, others about 275 or even more than 300. What is clear is that the diversity is huge. Cameroon has two official languages; French and English. These are also used in education.

4a. The current president Paul Biya is in charge since 1982. In 2008 an amendment to the constitution was accepted to allow the president to run for unlimited re-elections. At this moment, discussions are already on about Biya running for a next term again.

5c. Debundscha, on the foot of mount Cameroon has an annual rainfall of over 10,000 mm. This is one of the five wettest places on earth.

Mount Cameroon has a height of 4095 meter. Cameroon has a surface of +/- 475.500sq km. The Netherlands is +/- 41.500, what makes Cameroon more than eleven times bigger than the Netherlands. The population of Cameroon is around twenty million so the density is much less than in the Netherlands.