What's in a name?

Today I saw a new workplace opened in my street. The name; God Bless China, motorbike repairer. I always learnt that China has a bit of a complicated relationship with God, but apparently that doesn’t matter. Many shops here have names referring to God, like God is able (selling meat), God Bless Kumbo (fabric) or In God we Trust (a taxi, personally I would prefer the driver to trust his driving skills). In general, names often make me smile. Would you ever buy bread from Pees bakery?

Not only shops, also people can have interesting names. In Nigeria I knew a little girl whose name was Obedience. I think only Patience (what is also very common) would have fitted her less. There was really nothing obedient or patient about her. Or what about Immaculate, mother of two children?

In many names, God is remembered. Common names are Godswin, Godswill, Glory and especially Divine. That leads to funny miscommunications sometimes. I remember someone saying something about a talent of a person; ‘She has a divine gift’. Then people turned to my colleague Divine; what did you do for her to learn that?

Names like Hope, Gift, Promise or Favour are also very common. You also meet people called Sunday (and no, it is not necessary to be born on a Sunday to be called like this). Many of these names can also be used for both boys and girls.

To make life more difficult for someone like me, many people use their African name and also their Christian or Muslim name. So sometimes people refer to someone and I have no clue that it is the same person, as I know him or her by a different name. Sometimes people even have different spelling of their names in their government documents and church documents. How will I ever learn if it is all so complicated?

My own name also still leads to confusion. In the Netherlands people called me Elly, Elsie, Esther or even Angelique. Here I have been called Siesie and (most interesting) Elvis. And also my official name is different. So maybe I just fit in very well with all my names confusion.

But well, what’s in a name?

Grateful

Every now and then, I meet people who tell me how special it is what I am doing… How much they admire me and how amazing it is how I deal with all the issues as no light, no water, no internet etc.

I never really know what to say in these cases. I understand that to some people my life seems exotic and exciting. Or tough and crazy. At the same time, it is also daily business for me. Being without electricity is a normal thing here. We have no other choice than accepting it.

At the same time, I am always aware that this is my choice. I choose to be here. If I want to leave, I can always go. If there is a security issue, or a big health problem, I can always go. My friends don’t have that option. That already makes it easier for me, I know that once I can really not stand it anymore, I have the possibility to leave it behind and go.

But, what many people don’t seem to realize is that I am doing here what I always wanted to do. Of course, it is annoying to be without water or light. But there are so many positive sides of being here. I meet so many inspiring people, so many nice people. I see so many challenges, but also so many successes.

Sometimes I am travelling to a school and I just think; wow, I am REALLY here, I am REALLY doing this. This is REALLY Africa! I am no longer working to save a building, I am now working to support children to create a better future for themselves.

Who am I that I get so many opportunities and get the chance to live my dreams? I am just a girl from a little village in a tiny country. Why am I able to do all of this? I don’t have the illusion that I will save the world. But I am so grateful that my colleagues and I can bring some drops to the ocean and make a change for a few people.

As a little girl from a little village, I can now help new little girls from new little villages. Is that not reason enough to be grateful and accept some days without light or water?

Managers

In Knowledge for Children Cameroon, most of our staff is Cameroonian. We have a management team that consists of me as the Country Director, our Finance Manager and two Program Managers. They are all Cameroonians. Our managers are essential for our organisation; they have a very important role to play in all decisions concerning the organisation.

This seems to be special. Recently there was an intern in our organisation for one day of research. He was asking me how it is to work with African managers, because it is so uncommon. In many (international) organisations, the field work is done by Africans, but the management is in hands of Europeans or Americans.

Some time ago I also spoke with the director or a partner organisation. He was saying that I am so lucky working with Knowledge for Children staff. They are all working so hard and they are all so committed. According to him that is something special.

Our Cameroonian staff is very committed. They work very hard and try their very best to make our organisation better. I am always very happy that they come with suggestions to improve on projects, structures or even small things. We can’t always take every suggestion they do, but we always consider them, and we always try to improve on the problems they identify. And we always explain why we can’t do something, or we discuss and come up with a better solution together.

Sometimes my white face is opening doors that remain closed for them. But without our staff, our work would not progress. They know which doors I have to knock on and how I should knock. And they tell me. And then I can open doors, without them it would be difficult!

Cameroonian directors are normally very hierarchal. Often they have a bell in their office and they ring it when they want to see someone. I am obviously from a very different culture. I don’t expect our staff to come to my office in the morning, bow and say; Good Morning Madam! We chat and have fun together. If there is an event you will see me cleaning chairs. In Knowledge for Children that is very normal, we are a team and we do it together. But often people from outside are shocked to see the director (or even the managers) cleaning chairs, carrying tables or handing out water. ‘

For me, the strength of Knowledge for Children is this team spirit, working together in everything. And the real strength is in our Cameroonian staff, who will sustain all the work for long and who will always look for ways to improve our work. 

Mud, mudder, mudst!

The rainy season in Kumbo has started. It rains almost every day, or night. Because of all the rain, all roads become big muddy slippery puddles. Yesterday I saw a taxi gliding down the hill where I live. I saw the driver tried to brake, but the mud is so slippery that it doesn’t help. (He slipped into the gutter).

The road to Oku during
the dry season... 

Reaching my house can become challenging. Going up is not so difficult. Our car has four-wheel drive so it can make it. I see a lot of cars which get stuck just below my house because it becomes a little steep and they can’t make it. But for me, the real challenge is to go down. It is difficult to control the car, you can’t brake.

Walking is also dangerous. Not so much because of the walking itself, but because of the cars, bikes and trucks that are still trying to come up our down. They can’t control themselves so they might just slip and hit you if you are not careful. Taking a bike is even worse, and taxis can’t make it up.

Right in front of my house is a depot of Brasseries, who distributes drinks. Many big trucks go there. Of course that is not really helping the quality of the road. They made a rain gate now just above my house. That is a gate which they close when it rains so only normal cars can pass, and no trucks. The heavy trucks destroy the roads too much. So hopefully it will be a bit better.

Last year I wanted to visit the village a bit further up hill. We drove up and met a truck stuck in the mud. We couldn’t pass so we turned around and wanted to take the other road. Just below my house, another car was stuck and we couldn’t pass again. Fortunately the car was removed soon so we could still travel.

My colleagues are very skilled drivers on all these roads. Soon schools will re-open and we will have to go everywhere again. We go to remote places and some roads are extremely bad. Sometimes we have to leave the car to see how we can pass a pothole, especially in the rainy season they can be full of water and you can’t see how deep they are. One road going out of Kumbo had a real swimming pool! But thanks to the cardinal’s mum (see previous blogpost) it is a bit better now.

The rain brings many challenges, but the dry season brings dust. Also a challenge! In general, roads over here are just a challenge and I still try to learn how to master them!

View from my office

Closing and repairing roads

When I came back in Kumbo, it turned out that the road up to my house has been worked on a bit. The mother of the Cardinal died and the funeral passed my road. People say; thank God the mother died, now our road is passable again. Isn’t it sad?

Some time ago I was in the capital of Cameroon, Yaoundé. I had a meeting at the other side of town. Somewhere halfway we got stuck. The President of Cameroon was expected back from the airport and then the roads are all blocked. I called the person I was supposed to meet who only said; ‘O, yes, just call me when you get close by’.

My colleague, with who I was in the car, was very happy because after 15 minutes the President really passed and we could still have our meeting. It seems that sometimes they close the roads around 11AM and the President only passes by 4PM. Or later… I also hear stories of people who are kept in the airplane at the airport for hours because the First Lady is coming back.

A few days ago I came back from the Netherlands, flying into Yaoundé. The road from the airport to the town was repaired. My friends then told me that President Hollande from France was coming to Cameroon, so the road has been repaired. On TV we saw people wiping the roads, painting the white lines, banners were put up all over town. Hollande was expected by 4PM, but the members of the political party of the Cameroonian President were supposed to be ready to receive him along the airport road by noon. Roads all over town would be closed down. I was lucky I didn’t arrive that day as the airport was most likely closed all day.

For people in Yaoundé, it is a normal situation that roads are closed if the President is expected to arrive or leave. For me as a Dutch it is an amazing thing that roads are closed for hours only because one person is supposed to pass.

PS Ngashie as drawn by a pupil

By the way, these road repairs and all security cost a lot of money. If you like to support a better cause in Cameroon, check our crowdfunding page here and help Knowledge for Children to donate books to PS Ngashie!

Help PS Ngashie to join Knowledge for Children!

‘Finally the Lord has done it, finally finally!’ Even before Knowledge for Children has brought any books to Presbyterian Primary School (PS) Ngashie, the pupils, teachers and parents are already very excited. They sing the famous song to express their happiness and excitement. Only the idea that soon their school will hopefully benefit from the Knowledge for Children program makes them very happy.

PS Ngashie is located in a rural village in the Anglophone North West Region of Cameroon. It has an enrolment of 81 boys and 91 girls. The nursery school has an additional 30 boys and 32 girls In the school, 6 teachers (including two nursery teachers) try to teach the pupils as good as they can. However, it is not easy. Like in almost all rural primary schools in Cameroon, there are no textbooks and no teaching aids. Three teachers did not go for formal teacher training. In both primary and nursery section, half of the teachers were not professionally trained.

PS Ngashie will be the 134^th school to benefit from the Knowledge for Children program. In this program, Knowledge for Children donates government prescribed textbooks to the school. Unique is the co-investment structure in which the parents contribute and pay a total of 30% of all books. Knowledge for Children works with a school for three years. After these three years, every two children sharing a bench have access to one textbook in English, Sound and Word Building, Mathematics and General Knowledge.

Besides donating textbooks, Knowledge for Children also trains the teachers of the school. This is essential as the official teacher training lasts only for nine months. Many teachers are not well prepared to teach. The ones that are trained and experienced still find it difficult to make efficient use of the textbooks as they have been teaching without books for long. Knowledge for Children therefor trains and coaches teachers on aspects like child centred teaching, use of books in the classroom and evaluation techniques.

Not only teachers, also parents are trained. In the Community Leadership Program, the parents choose representatives who will be responsible to ensure continuous investment in the school after Knowledge for Children has phased out from a school. They will learn how to manage the books, how to manage finances etc.

The children, teachers and parents of PS Ngashie can’t wait to see textbooks and to start using them in class. You can help us to make it possible! The children of PS Ngashie count on your support to realize their dreams for the future.

For example, Blessing is a pupil in class five. When she grows up she wants to be a journalist. It will be difficult for Blessing to reach this dream without having access to text books.

The children in class one and two all want to become a ‘Madam’. Their teacher inspires them so much that even the boys want to be her when they grow up. Of course not all of them will become teachers, but with the help of text books at least some of them will be able to become teachers in their future.

With your help, PS Ngashie can become a Knowledge for Children school. Be assured that the day Knowledge for Children will bring the first books, the song will even be louder; ‘Finally the Lord has done it!’. 

We started a crowd funding page to raise money. If you want to help, you can donate through this page. You can also donate through me in cash or through my Dutch bank account (contact me for details). 

Thanks a lot in advance!

Marching!

Cameroon is fighting Boko Haram. We hear about successes of the military in fighting them every now and then. The nation is really behind the army to secure peace in this country. And with a reason! Cameroon is a safe haven in the middle of countries with a lot of violence, Boko Haram in Nigeria, wars in Central African Republic and Democratic Republic of Congo, security issues in Chad. Cameroon is really safe compared to all these places.

For me, being Dutch, I understand that people are proud of their army. I can even understand that people and councils are collecting money or food to support the army. I am not happy that the construction of the road from Kumbo to Bamenda is put on hold as the budget reserved for that seems to be going to the army now to fight Boko Haram, but even that one I can kind of reason.

What strikes me here all the time though, is how militarized national holidays are. On Youth Day, school children march in front of the oga’s or big men of Kumbo. On Women’s Day, women march, on Labour Day, workers march. This marching is taken serious. The school right in front of the Knowledge for Children office has practised marching for Youth Day for weeks. So, weeks of teaching are disturbed because children will march and have to practise to march in line. Apparently marching is seen as more important than reading or counting.

People here are always shocked when I tell them I never marched in my life. I joined parades, I joined protest marches but I never really marched like a soldier. For Cameroonians, it is impossible to think about that. They start in nursery school and many continue until they are adults.

The 20^th of May is National Day. This day celebrates the unity of the Anglophone (British) and Francophone (French) Cameroon. Sounds like a reason to celebrate to me indeed! But again, everyone comes out to march. The focus during National Day is on the army, police etc. In short, during National Day, men in uniform march. I can’t help that I find it difficult to take a too fat man, stuck in a too narrow uniform, marching very seriously very funny. So at least I enjoyed that part of the day.

In Kumbo however there are only few men in uniform. So the school children march again, political parties march and before you know it you find yourself in the Grand Stand of Kumbo for three hours, watching how people march.

I hear that in some places (or some years?) the marching is more like a parade with dancing and shows. At least in Kumbo this year, that was not the case. The MC even announced that this day was to honour the army, so all marching should be like the army.

Celebrating Queens Day, dressing up in orange!

It is understandable that people want to support the army in this time. But is all this marching really so serious? Is there not a more fun way to honour the army and celebrate the peace and unity of the nation? Or am I just weird that I think marching in the burning sun, waiting for hours and marching for five minutes, is not a fun way to celebrate your peace and unity?

I went to a school the next day and many children, boys and girls, said they wanted to be a soldier when they grow up. So apparently, the message is reaching them. Maybe I am very patriotic, but I am afraid I prefer our crazy orange events for Kings Day over all the military show off!