October update

Algol
Hamish Tait, Robin Hastie & Jim Hepburn
Sun 5 Oct 2008 13:46

ANNE

Back in Ndjamena, sadly, to see Heather off at the end of her two weeks with us. Spent her first week in Zidim and Maroua before heading off for a week’s break.

 

Work:

Spent a few days visiting the schools with Heather and delivering the things she herself had sent out, plus the bags and equipment Shona’s friends and colleagues had donated. There were a few punch-ups and one or two children trying to keep two bags for themselves but in the end we got there. Children are so deprived here that they become greedy when an opportunity to get something arises, even if it is a bottle of clean water. We all then headed for Maroua for VSO meetings. Hamish had one presentation to give and I had two. It was an ideal opportunity for Heather to meet our colleagues and for us to meet all the new volunteers. The new education volunteers are feeling pretty swamped at the moment, having been landed with school development plans which were written by someone else six months ago, plus all the extra demands VSO is making on us – lots of new and complicated stuff which has to be finished by 10th October, an impossible deadline, all the more so as we are to be taken out of our jobs for the 9th, 10th and 11th October for more meetings in Maroua. Not the best time for me to take time off with Heather but we felt we were due for a short break and she deserved some undivided time with us too.

 

HEATHER

(All Holiday!!!!)

Even though my visit to Cameroon has been short, I can’t believe how much has been packed into it!  Where do I start……?  Well, the car’s an adventure in itself….. 5 punctures so far and still counting!  The good news though is that as ‘Nasaras’ we never have to lift a finger!  No matter how far out into the ‘brousse’ we are, help arrives within seconds (obviously at a cost!).  Dad’s only had to get his hands dirty once, and Mum and I?  Well, we oversee the entire operation from the shade (and sometimes on a chair that’s been provided just for us!).

 

I’ve had so many amazing experiences out here I have to limit them for the blog purpose, so I figure one amazing and one downright hysterical experience will hopefully do the job.  On Saturday, we went to Maga to see the hippos.  After much debate the price was finally agreed with our Pirogue Captain and off we went.  After around 2 hours we were at the other side of the lake & still no hippos in sight.  Other boat men kept pointing in the direction of the land & this was confirmed by the one boat hand who could speak French.  The hippos were in the grass.  Oh well, can’t have everything…… or so I thought.  We continued on further and further into the ‘grass’ and it seemed as though we were in fact sailing through land?!  See attached photo and I think you’ll understand!  It reached the stage where we were all very uncomfortable with the hard work involved by the crew (3 plus captain) that Dad said to them enough was enough & time to head back.  They insisted that we were near the hippos, and sure enough, not 3 minutes later – there they were!  There were 4 or 5 of them in a circle in the water just bobbing up and down.  It was like they’d been waiting for us all afternoon!  What an amazing experience to see them like that.  Then it was time to head back.  Hard, hard graft & not much progress being made.  Dusk fell and we were only just out of the swamp – we still had another 2 hours to go before we reached land.  It is absolutely impossible for me to describe to you all how surreal it is to be in a boat in the complete pitch black, with no clue as to where you are going.  With lightening behind you, mist in front of you and fire flies surrounding you seemingly showing you the way.  Then, the engine fails.  So, our crew row for a while (if a little half-heartedly – give them their dues, they must have been knackered!), and around half an hour later the engine’s back on again.  The engine was repaired using one of our crew’s mobile phones; it’s really quite bizarre to be in a place where the people don’t have electricity, nor clean running water; and yet they have mobile phones. Little did we know but we were also running out of fuel…….  Eventually out of the darkness we heard young voices, wee children shouting to our crew.  We all thought we were close to land but, no, these 3 wee kids were in a boat coming out with petrol to rescue us!  Watching this black shadow move silently towards us through the mist was something else.  An incredible experience.  At the time, a tad scary, but once on dry land, we have all been able to realise how amazing it was.

 

Now, time for the downright funny!  As most of you probably know, I run a hotel.  So, Mum and Dad in honour of this, booked us into the ‘top’ hotel in Maroua for 2 nights. So, we checked in and the rooms were beautiful, clean & well equipped.  A good start.  Dad was clearly feeling the strains of being surrounded by females & so retired to bed early before dinner.  Mum and I ordered Pizzas and after an hour and a half they arrived.  While we were waiting for dinner in the bar, a rat came in and wandered through to the staff side of the bar.  Oh well, we’re in Cameroon……  Once Mum and I were seated & relaxing enjoying our pizzas, another little rodent decided to join us and scurried under our feet towards the kitchen.  Lovely!  I have to say, Mum handled it extremely well & didn’t scream once  I don’t think her feet touched the floor ever again after that but she was composed at all times.  As we were chatting away I happened to glance up and notice that someone was clearly desperate to get his grubby little hands on our food.  It was only later after ourselves & several members of staff had assessed the situation that we realised, he was, in fact, deceased.  I can assure you, this is no joke (although the staff & management thought it was hilarious!).  We have attached a photo for your benefit.  I will be using this to train health & safety in hotels for years to come……….

 

And I haven’t even mentioned the Animist Funeral (Part 1 and 2!); my horrendous attempts at riding a moto (no thanks, I’m far happier in a car!); the bil bil; the troop of dancers in Rhumsiki; the infamous crab sorcerer or my 3 marriage proposals (the last one suggesting that I should be honoured I’d be his third wife – bearing in mind he’s still happily married to the other two but at least I’d get my own mud hut to cook in?!?)!

 

On a serious note.  Life out here clearly isn’t easy & Mum and Dad must be finding it hard to feel that they are making a difference.  However they are respected out here, and it’s obvious to the outside eye that they are helping people each and every day and the Cameroonians are grateful for their help.  From my point of view, being non-medical, I see that the only way forward for these people is in education.  It’s all very well giving them food & clothes but until they understand why they need to work for things, you are fighting a losing battle.  So, prepare to be harassed by me when I return to the UK with an education fundraising campaign…… YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

 

Hamish’s news

It’s been just great to take a break and enjoy Heather’s company.  We’re glad we spent some time on serious “research”, with Shona’s assistance, so that we’ve been able to be quite selective in what we’ve done this week.  Anne & I have really been able to relax, and hopefully Heather will feel the benefit of a break from work too.  We particularly enjoyed a couple of days’ stay in Roumsiki, which is a real tourist attraction here.  Our guide, Prada, introduced us to a new restaurant in the village, called Baobab (named after a tree native to the area and which is credited with magical properties).  We got a great welcome from the owner and the food was superb.  There is another restaurant in the village renowned for its vegetarian pizzas.  There’s no choice of menu, you just eat what the owner produces.  Each of the three times we’ve been there, the menu has been completely different and always delicious.  (For the benefit of the McFarlanes, this is real “fine dining”!) 

One thing we have learned is that high speed long distance driving on roads full of deep pot holes and in temperatures of around 40°C is not to be recommended.  Five punctures in 2 weeks and we discovered one of the tyres had been a re-mould when the tread came off en route from Chad!  No harm done and I’ve now learnt to keep the speed done to no more than 80Km/hour – the car seems to cope at that!  Having said that, if we have a problem, this ageing nassara is never allowed to change a wheel; locals appear apparently from nowhere and take charge.  I’m not sure if it’s because they think I’m too old for manual labour or (more likely) they’re expecting a fat tip.

When we get back to Zidim on Sunday we’ll hopefully feel ready for the challenges ahead.  Anne is facing quite a workload both from VSO and from the demands of the four schools’ development committees and their “hangers-on”.  Personally, I’m looking forward to Anne Poppelaars’ return.  I don’t yet know exactly when that will be, but it will be great to be back with a colleague who will cheerfully share the workload!  Now we know Nicola, Mark and the boys will be arriving in Yaoundé on 13th December, so we can start planning another tour of the Extreme North when they’re here.  In fact, it looks like life is going to be one long holiday for the next 11 months!

The attached photos show shots of the kids in the schools receiving bags and books donated from home – thanks to everyone who contributed.  The other pictures relate to Heather’s blog; there’s the crab sorcerer in consultation with his crab, “ratty” from Hotel Mizao and the brave crew of our pirogue at Lake Maga punting us deep into the marsh in search of hippos.

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