The past week....(running out of original blog titles)

So what has happened this past week? Well we officially finished the wheelchair!!! As frustrating as the process has been it felt really good to complete it and the child sat so much better and could engage more in interactions with others. Yes it wasn’t perfect and yes there are things we would still adapt or change, but compared to how he was sitting before, we think it is going to make a significant difference for him and his family.

With the wheelchair being done we could now move onto working with other clients one on one. It felt so great to actually apply more of the practical OT skills we have learnt on previous placements, as well as continue developing our skills at interacting with and assessing clients. I have switched from working with kids at SAJOCAH to working with adults with stroke or other developmental delays and even after just one day it has been incredible rewarding. To see someone that is very rarely engaged in productive activities or interaction with others sit and focus on a task and converse with me for over an hour was pretty cool.

Friday evening Karlien, Sara and I went to the market to officially order our dresses and pick out our fabrics. We had a total of one hour to do all this which you think would be enough time but when a torrential downpour hits in the middle of going to different fabric stalls and there are probably over a million different fabric prints to choose from, time goes by incredibly fast and we were practically kicked out of the market as the gates were closing at 5. We had to draw and describe the styles we wanted since they incorporated some traditional elements from here, as well as modern western style so that they are more wearable at home so we aren’t entirely sure how they will turn out but I am very excited to see it and hopefully wear it here one day before coming home. I’m not going to describe the style or fabric here since like I mentioned I’m not really sure how it is going to turn out so you will also just have to wait to see it in person or in pictures from the trip.

The Chief's Palace at Bandjoun

Mosaic artwork at Bandjoun Station

Yesterday we took a day trip out of the North West Region of Cameroon into the West Region which is Francophone…..so Sara became my translator for the day. It is only about an hour away and our first stop was the Chefferie in Bandjoun which is the Cheifdom there. Although some similarities in the design of the palace, there are definite differences between this palace and the one we visited last week in Bafut. They do represent two very different tribes but it was really interesting to me how two Palaces and regions so close together in proximity are so different. I found this especially with the art work…in Bandjoun there is a lot of intricate and colourful beadwork on the thrones, headpieces, bowls, pretty much everything. We have not seen this type and style of artwork/decoration anywhere else our entire time here so it was very nice to see. On the way home we stopped in it at Bandjoun station which is an artist’s retreat recently established by Bartholomew Togo, an artist from Bandjoun who now lives in France. It has beautiful mosaic tile artwork on the building and walls surrounding the compound. Unfortunately it is not yet opened to the public but the artist had just come in on the 16^th so we were able to meet him and talk with him for a few minutes outside of the retreat. On the way home we had the driver and Godwin (our tour guide from the previous two weeks) drop us off at Handicraft Cooperative. I think I am officially done my shopping (well to be honest I will probably still purchase some things in Limbe and Kribi). Afterwards we ate dinner on the patio of the restaurant there – a great dinner of roasted fish, plantains, chips and vegetables. One of our more expensive meals but it was a nice treat and there were amazing views of the city.

Out for dinner!

Today is National Day. May is officially the month with the most holidays here and apparently sometimes all the holidays fall in such a way that people here have over an entire week off at once because they all line up in a row. As with a lot of the holidays here it involves a march pass. Sara and I originally received tickets to view the march pass from the Grandstand on Commercial Ave here in Bamenda, but last night Hannah who is the director of the Foundation of Adapted Sport and Physical Education for the Disabled invited us to go with her to Mbengwi to march with her organization. So we decided that we would rather participate in the march as opposed to just watching it. It was a great experience and nice to be a part of their holiday instead of just viewing it as a bystander.

After the National Day march pass with FASPED

Tomorrow is the start of our last week on placement here….I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again….time has flown by. I’m of two different mindsets about my time here being almost up. There is a large part of me that is not ready to leave. Now that I am getting more of an opportunity to work with clients at SAJOCAH and really just getting into the swing of things there I’m not ready to leave that and would love more time to learn and practice OT there.  On the other hand, I feel like I am ready for placement to be over. I would probably feel this way no matter where I was on placement so it’s not a new feeling, but I am also excited to come home and see friends and family. Knowing me I’ll probably cry on my last day at SAJOCAH and my last day here because I really will miss the place and the people….it’s been an incredible ride and I’ve learnt so much about Cameroon, OT and myself. There have been both positives and negatives to my time here with the positives far outweighing the negatives, but both have taught me a lot. Truly grateful for this experience and all that it has been!

But it’s not quite over yet….still 2 more weeks of experiences to pack in. We’re almost done planning our week of travel to Limbe and Kribi so Sara and I are both excited for some relaxation time on the beach.