National Security and Salads!

So it’s been longer than usual since the last post (this is probably more likely the timing from now on) but it’s been slightly quieter the last few days compared to earlier in the week.

Wednesday was our most frustrating day here so far I would say. At SAJOCAH we are working to adapt a child’s adult sized wheelchair to better fit and support him, and he and his family want to leave SAJOCAH as soon as possible. We had a few ideas and plans in place and it was just a matter of rounding up available materials there to see what additional ones needed to be purchased. Well that turned out to be a bit of a waiting game all morning. I hit my breaking point at one point because I just felt useless sitting there waiting when I like to be a self starter and don’t mind looking for materials if just shown where we could look. We did try to see other clients as we were waiting but no one was available or we were told it wouldn’t be long so we should just wait a few more minutes. Well we were told about Cameroonian time very early on in and I think this was the first time that I was really bothered by it. At home everyone is always go go go to get things done or be somewhere on time, but it is much more relaxed here and although I thought I was adjusting to that ok, Wednesday showed me that I wasn’t quite fully adjusted. I think adapting the wheelchair a) is a task that I don’t feel incredibly competent in to begin with and to be honest was not the most excited to do here and b) needing it to be done in a condensed time for the family to return home puts pressure on Sara and I but not necessarily the other people we are working with on it. So we did talk to Sr. Petra about feeling a bit lost in the morning and to clarify a few things regarding structuring our time a bit more while we are there. She definitely helped us out and made us feel a lot better and I am looking forward to almost starting fresh at SAJOCAH tomorrow. 

Wednesday got a bit more “fun” as we travelled home. First of all we have our new taxi record: 8 adults and 2 children in the taxi, 1 adult on the hood of the taxi down the bumpy/rocky dirt road. I was incredibly impressed that the guy on the hood didn’t fall off, but didn’t even seem to flinch or lose balance at all the entire time. Second, there are 2 security checkpoints along the main road to SAJOCAH. Usually we either sail through these or the taxi is pulled over to check the driver’s taxi registration and license. Not this time. The taxi was pulled over and the National Security guard looked in and then saw the two white girls in the back so asked for people’s National Identity cards. So we gave them our photocopied passports and visas which we had been told to bring with us instead of our originals. Well this guy did not like them and said they could be fraudulent. So we had to get out of the taxi and finally I was able to convince him that mine was stamped and signed to prove it’s authenticity, but no such luck with Sara. Eventually we said he could trust us to go get the original and bring it back to show him and back in the taxi we went (we were very glad he and the other passengers were okay to stay and wait for us). But he came back and got Sara out of the taxi again and took our cell number and said he would call us later and be stopping by where we live to see the original later that today. He never showed but did call on Thursday and we had Mr. Julius talk to him on the phone and the guy said he would be there at 3pm. Never showed and we haven’t heard from him since. Everyone here is pretty sure he was on some power trip. But to be safe, Sara and I have each re photocopied our passport and visa and had them stamped and signed by the Police Chief so that we don’t ever run into this problem again!

Thursday was our first day at working at BCCSDR (whose new name is Centre for Inclusion Studies (CIS) which is much shorter and easier to say). We had a meeting with everyone in the morning and I worked on my inclusive sport project for a bit and then we headed out to the police station to have get those signatures.

Friday we worked on our projects a bit more then went with Mr. Julius and our Professor Lynn who is here for a bit to make a few visits around town. First stop was to visit the project manager for a research study on a pilot program to prevent mother to child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The reason for meeting her was that there is currently no inclusion of women or mothers with disability in their research. So Lynn and Julius made their case and although the project manager seemed supportive and had a few ideas on how to change this, no one can be entirely sure until changes and inclusion of women with disabilities is seen in action. We also stopped to visit a few of Lynn’s friends here so that Sara and I can make some contacts for the rest of our stay here. Friday evening we met Ruth who took us and Marcel to a party hosted by VSO’s from France and where a lot of other VCO and Peace Corps volunteers were. It was weird at first showing up at a party we hadn’t been invited to and where we didn’t know anyone but we settled in eventually and it was good to meet other people working here and hear a bit about their experiences so far and suggestions on places to travel.

Saturday we went into town to go to the Main Market to pick up supplies for the wheelchair adaptation and a few other things and meet with Ruth for lunch/coffee. We had no idea where to look for the foam and type of fabric we wanted but a really nice lady came up to greet us and talk to us for a bit so we asked here where we should look. Instead of just telling us she spent the next maybe hr with us taking us to stores that sell foam and helping us find the right fabric and prices! Honestly the people here are part of the reason this place is so amazing. They are so nice and friendly and genuinely interested in why we are here and helping us have the best experience during our time here. We met up with Ruth after and went to PresCafe: our new favourite restaurant. It has lattes, smoothies, salads and sandwiches which we have not seen anywhere else yet. I was sooooo excited to have a salad and smoothie and they were delicious! Perfect on a really hot, sunny day!

ps. would love to hear from everyone either via email or facebook message or even post a comment here (see my comment a few posts back on how to make that work!)