The Last Installment of Amanda's Guest Blogging From Cameroon
Tu Lima (good morning); si ji a? (How are you) My mom arrived this morning, and knowing how busy we will be over the next 11 days I wanted to send out my final group e-mail now. I wanted to begin by again thanking all of you for your support, both emotionally and financially. With the funds that were donated we have been able to accomplish so much for the children here, and your funds will continue to support our orphan project even when I am gone as I am setting up some support accounts for some of our most needy children. If you remember, we were able to purchase speakers and an entire sound system for our after school project, which has turned out to be invaluable. We now play music when we have our day every Wednesday, and every Friday (as long as there is power) we show a film to the children. Last night, as I was walking Stephan home to do his ARV med checks, he talked to me at length about Star Wars, and is really mad at us for not showing the next one. We left off with Vader telling Luke that he is Luke's father, and Stephan really wants to know what happens next! We have a whole new generation here of Star Wars fans!
As my time quickly winds down here I realize once again the mistake I made in thinking that my short time here would be enough. I do not want to leave in 11 days as I feel I still have so much work to do here. Working with my deaf students has reminded me again of the intense need for a proper deaf education program, so while looking for American volunteers to come over for short periods of time (if you know any who are fluent in ASL please inform them of what i am trying to do here as I am desperate for volunteers) I am also in contact with the Peace Corps who developed an awesome deaf education program in Kenya in 1992 that is still thriving today. (thanks Jon!) These kids are in need of good teaching where they can learn proper ASL, sentence structuring, math skills, as well as computer skills.
I have also taken on a more active role in the Orphan Project, and I have been doing quite a bit of social work here lately. We have some orphans that need to be removed from their homes to live with other family members, and this is proving very difficult as we must follow Kom tradition. Here, while there is western law, there is also Kom law (tribal law), as well as Biblical law. It gets so confusing some days, and we volunteers talk about what it must be like for the citizens here who have all these laws to follow depending on the situation or the person. For these particular orphans we are dealing with an elderly grandparent who cannot take care of them, and since western law has failed them we are moving on to Kom law with the help of our BERUDEP director Simon. Kom law says if children are not being cared for by their grandparents are parents then other family members have the right to adopt them after paying a fee to the person who is neglecting them if the person neglecting them agrees. The problem is that the grandfather neglecting them and using them for child labor has been refusing to give them up for years, and we have no idea if we will win the fight to get these 4 kids into loving homes. And because I am leaving soon, I who have spent the past 3 months visiting these kids almost daily, giving them food, making sure they go to school etc, I am desperate to get these kids out before I go, or at least on their way out. Luckily for all of us Simon is being very supportive and is using his status as a community elder to get these kids out.
Because I am at the end of my time here, I also wanted to share with you all a bit more about our programs in case you, your friends or family members, may want to become involved. We are currently looking for volunteers for our Orphan project to continue my work here, mainly in the role of social worker. The volunteer would assist the field workers and orphan supervisor in making home visits, visiting our HIV+ kids for med checks, helping at the after school program, and working to advocate for our neediest orphans who we are struggling to either get moved to different homes, or enrolled in new schools, etc. We are also looking for volunteers interested in developing my ASL program, which would be a long term venture but one any volunteer could work on for any length of time. I have the job description and project proposal written up so if anyone is interested please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Another area that needs volunteer support is someone who is trained as an eye doctor. Issac has been carrying on our eye program alone since I was first here in the Fall of 2006, and while he is doing some amazing work (he again thanks all of you profusely for your donation of glasses) he is in need of training and added support. And for all of my nursing friends, we could really use you guys here! My compound has turned into a mini clinic recently as I treat wounds of children who's parents cannot afford to take them to see a doctor. The wounds last week were so horrible I took photos to show all of you. Boils are still very prevalent here, and when they burst they leave a gaping wound behind, and since the only doctors worth seeing are at the hospital, a taxi ride away, many children have their wounds left untreated. Needless to say there is really something for everyone here if you are interested in volunteering abroad.
But for those of you who are interested in helping from home we could always use more sponsors for our orphans. We only sponsor children who attend school as most of the sponsorship money is for school fees. Along with the school fees, the children also get new clothing, regular hospital visits, and food every two weeks that is delivered to their home. The children have the opportunity to be sponsored all the way to university if the the sponsor wishes to pay for it. The children also get to attend our after school program 3 times a week where they are given added teaching and tutelage by volunteers and a paid teacher, as well as milk twice a week. And of course, for our 4th day, Fridays, they get to watch movies. The kids that orld who teach them about their own countries, not to mention added 1:1 tutoring, and the opportunity to practice their English. We have some really bright kids, and some of the brightest I've noticed are the ones who have been sponsored since I first began my work here in 2006. if you are at all interested in becoming a sponsor, or want to donate to a specific project, again e-mail me and we can discuss it further.
I have learned so much while being here, not just about this country but about the world in general. Though it was daunting in the beginning to work with so many volunteers from all over the world, I learned alot from them and had many an interesting conversation about world politics and events. I have read about 7 non-fiction books since coming here about many different countries, and these too have proved invaluable to my learning experience. I cannot believe how little most American's know about the world, myself included, and I am more outraged now than I was before I left at the comments I hear Americans make about countries they have never even been to. I still remember a remark one woman made to me when she heard about my trip to Africa....she said "do you really think you can save Africa?" I told her that was not my intention, and to be frank Africa does not need saving. I don't feel in any way that I came to Cameroon to "save" the people here. They are doing OK for a country that has only been independent for less than 50 years. Sure their president sucks, poverty still exists, and they are more focused on catching up with the west technologically versus dealing with their more prevalent problems, but they are doing OK, and would be doing even better if we sent less aid money and made foreign trade fair. I can only imagine what the next 100 years will do for this continent.
I wish you all the best, and will be seeing some of you very soon!
Love,
Amanda
As my time quickly winds down here I realize once again the mistake I made in thinking that my short time here would be enough. I do not want to leave in 11 days as I feel I still have so much work to do here. Working with my deaf students has reminded me again of the intense need for a proper deaf education program, so while looking for American volunteers to come over for short periods of time (if you know any who are fluent in ASL please inform them of what i am trying to do here as I am desperate for volunteers) I am also in contact with the Peace Corps who developed an awesome deaf education program in Kenya in 1992 that is still thriving today. (thanks Jon!) These kids are in need of good teaching where they can learn proper ASL, sentence structuring, math skills, as well as computer skills.
I have also taken on a more active role in the Orphan Project, and I have been doing quite a bit of social work here lately. We have some orphans that need to be removed from their homes to live with other family members, and this is proving very difficult as we must follow Kom tradition. Here, while there is western law, there is also Kom law (tribal law), as well as Biblical law. It gets so confusing some days, and we volunteers talk about what it must be like for the citizens here who have all these laws to follow depending on the situation or the person. For these particular orphans we are dealing with an elderly grandparent who cannot take care of them, and since western law has failed them we are moving on to Kom law with the help of our BERUDEP director Simon. Kom law says if children are not being cared for by their grandparents are parents then other family members have the right to adopt them after paying a fee to the person who is neglecting them if the person neglecting them agrees. The problem is that the grandfather neglecting them and using them for child labor has been refusing to give them up for years, and we have no idea if we will win the fight to get these 4 kids into loving homes. And because I am leaving soon, I who have spent the past 3 months visiting these kids almost daily, giving them food, making sure they go to school etc, I am desperate to get these kids out before I go, or at least on their way out. Luckily for all of us Simon is being very supportive and is using his status as a community elder to get these kids out.
Because I am at the end of my time here, I also wanted to share with you all a bit more about our programs in case you, your friends or family members, may want to become involved. We are currently looking for volunteers for our Orphan project to continue my work here, mainly in the role of social worker. The volunteer would assist the field workers and orphan supervisor in making home visits, visiting our HIV+ kids for med checks, helping at the after school program, and working to advocate for our neediest orphans who we are struggling to either get moved to different homes, or enrolled in new schools, etc. We are also looking for volunteers interested in developing my ASL program, which would be a long term venture but one any volunteer could work on for any length of time. I have the job description and project proposal written up so if anyone is interested please don't hesitate to e-mail me. Another area that needs volunteer support is someone who is trained as an eye doctor. Issac has been carrying on our eye program alone since I was first here in the Fall of 2006, and while he is doing some amazing work (he again thanks all of you profusely for your donation of glasses) he is in need of training and added support. And for all of my nursing friends, we could really use you guys here! My compound has turned into a mini clinic recently as I treat wounds of children who's parents cannot afford to take them to see a doctor. The wounds last week were so horrible I took photos to show all of you. Boils are still very prevalent here, and when they burst they leave a gaping wound behind, and since the only doctors worth seeing are at the hospital, a taxi ride away, many children have their wounds left untreated. Needless to say there is really something for everyone here if you are interested in volunteering abroad.
But for those of you who are interested in helping from home we could always use more sponsors for our orphans. We only sponsor children who attend school as most of the sponsorship money is for school fees. Along with the school fees, the children also get new clothing, regular hospital visits, and food every two weeks that is delivered to their home. The children have the opportunity to be sponsored all the way to university if the the sponsor wishes to pay for it. The children also get to attend our after school program 3 times a week where they are given added teaching and tutelage by volunteers and a paid teacher, as well as milk twice a week. And of course, for our 4th day, Fridays, they get to watch movies. The kids that orld who teach them about their own countries, not to mention added 1:1 tutoring, and the opportunity to practice their English. We have some really bright kids, and some of the brightest I've noticed are the ones who have been sponsored since I first began my work here in 2006. if you are at all interested in becoming a sponsor, or want to donate to a specific project, again e-mail me and we can discuss it further.
I have learned so much while being here, not just about this country but about the world in general. Though it was daunting in the beginning to work with so many volunteers from all over the world, I learned alot from them and had many an interesting conversation about world politics and events. I have read about 7 non-fiction books since coming here about many different countries, and these too have proved invaluable to my learning experience. I cannot believe how little most American's know about the world, myself included, and I am more outraged now than I was before I left at the comments I hear Americans make about countries they have never even been to. I still remember a remark one woman made to me when she heard about my trip to Africa....she said "do you really think you can save Africa?" I told her that was not my intention, and to be frank Africa does not need saving. I don't feel in any way that I came to Cameroon to "save" the people here. They are doing OK for a country that has only been independent for less than 50 years. Sure their president sucks, poverty still exists, and they are more focused on catching up with the west technologically versus dealing with their more prevalent problems, but they are doing OK, and would be doing even better if we sent less aid money and made foreign trade fair. I can only imagine what the next 100 years will do for this continent.
I wish you all the best, and will be seeing some of you very soon!
Love,
Amanda
