Graduation from Orientation Week

Sara and I successfully graduated from orientation week by venturing into the "downtown" of Bamenda to do some shopping on our own Thursday afternoon. Didn't buy anything to exciting...mainly just some household type products and some basic foods that we hoped to cook providing we eventually got our gas cook stove for our kitchen. (The cook stove arrived today so we can now cook dinners :) ). We just went to the supermarket so we didn't have to do any bargaining but we managed to get there and back without getting lost and by getting our own taxis for the first time. We were pretty proud of ourselves.

Friday morning Emma, Marcelo, and Shela (all BCCSDR staff) went with Sara and I to Treasure Center which is a school for children and young people with intellectual disabilites in Upstation, Bamenda. It is an amazing school. Beautiful setting and although the school has been around for about 9 years, they moved into new facilities a few years ago and just completed the modern shower building recently. There was so much OT focus there without an OT that it made Sara and I pretty happy to see. Each child, parent and teacher help establish a goal for the child, and then work together through a variety of activities to help the child reach that goal. Once goals are reached, they pick a new goal! As the child gets older a lot of the activities have a vocational focus so that they can be employed after graduating from the school. Although Fridays at Treasure Center are usually sports days for some reason they weren't doing them yesterday. So I plan on going back to Treasure Center one Friday to see the sports activities they play to help me with my project for BCCSDR.

So what is my BCCSDR project? (or one of them). Well I will be working on preparing a document regarding inclusion in sports for people with disabilities including specific sport adaptations and modifications that can be implemented. Pretty sure all of you know that this is a pretty great and perfect project for me to be working on! I'm excited.

Friday night Mr. Julius took Sara, Emmanuel and I out for dinner in town. I had roasted tilapia (what we would call grilled), vegetables and chips and a beer (tried a Beaufort light this time).  Honestly, the potato chips (fries) here are amazing!!!!

At Mbingo Baptist Hospital

Today Sara and I took a taxi to meet Emmanual in town and then headed to Mbingo to go to Mbingo Baptist Hospital (a private hospital in Cameroon) with Emma and Marcel. Mbingo is surrounded by gorgeous landscapes, beautiful green covered hills and valleys. At the hospital is also a school for the hearing impaired where children come from all over and board there while going to primary. The goal is that the children will then be integrated into mainstream high school. Aside from our walk and experience visiting Mbingo, the taxi experience there and back was a new one for us too. Once we got to the outskirts of Bamenda our cab stopped and we had to transfer to a different cab. But at these new cabs we were required to wait until the driver had the amount of people he wanted. Although he originally told Emma that the back seat would be for the four of us, he took on more passengers so that we drove to Mbingo with 4 in the front (the driver basically on Emma's lap) and 4 of us in the back. I have no idea how the driver drove like that but we made it there. On the way home it was the same thing after waiting for a bit as taxi drivers argued over which cab got to leave with their 8 passengers first. Sara and I have been told a cab with 8 people could be what we experience some days on our way to SAJOCAH.

Thought of the day: One thing I have noticed is that almost all of the facilities or organizations we have visited so far have had workshop rooms or a focus on vocational rehab and learning or relearning a trade such as basketweaving, knitting, shoe making, farming etc. And almost all of the people we have met has said that part of the focus is on providing people a mean to support themselves financially once they are out of rehabilitation and back in their communities. Everyone is so passionate about people with disabilities being economically independent and a valuable and contributing member of the community - such a great thing that I don't think Canada has quite figured out to the same extent. Sure we have vocational rehab but it is most often linked to insurance and does not occur concurrently within the rehab facility. Yes the types of vocations are quite different but they seem to have figured out how to match the vocations people will be doing in their communities to the rehabilitation plan right from the start and continue once a client returns home, as opposed to only when the client returns home and it is time to go back to work.

That brings us to right now where we finally have internet in our apartment and will be heading out to pick up omlette and chips for dinner tonight.

(check back later because I will be adding pictures to the post hopefully tomorrow sometime!)

....and then the lights went out!

So it is now day 4 here in Bamenda and it has been a whirlwind of orientation week with three more days to go. Yesterday we went to Commercial Av to check out the supermarkets where some North American products are sold, as well as the food market in town. One of the supermarkets has a bakery attached so we are excited to check that out more. And the food market is a maze!!! So many stalls, so many laneways that Sara and I will definitely get lost in there, but I think we're okay with that and we are excited to go for our first shopping trip there ourselves next week. We did purchase a few things there, as well as some bananas and papayas at a few other stalls to begin practicing our bargaining skills: hopefully mine will improve :).  Last night we went to get omlettes and potato chips (fries) from a food stall near our house.....and then the lights went out! They came back on shortly after, but went out again for about 10 minutes and came back on as we were heading home with our delicious smelling dinner. And it was delicious! Honestly, some of the best fries I have ever had. The omlette was also good, a little strange with spaghetti in it but you didn't even notice it. After dinner we headed to the office to go on the internet...and then the lights went out!

This morning we headed to SAJOCAH where we will spending three days a week. It's a bit of a bumpy ride but not too bad and only takes about 40 minutes. We got a brief tour and met Sister Petra and the other staff. I honestly can not be more excited to start placement there on Monday. Everyone is so friendly and both the clients and staff were all working so hard, and were so welcoming to us. A lot of the children there came right up to Sara and I to shake our hands, one didn't want to let go as we got back in the car to head home. Sr Petra told us that they are expect more than double the clients they currently have in May so looks like we will be busy which I think is exciting!

We were about to eat dinner tonight........and then the lights went! This time for about 20 minutes, came back on for two, and then out for maybe five more minutes. And now I think I have to explain that I really didn't know how dark it could be until experiencing a power outage here. It is literally pitch black, and you know how usually your eyes adjust so you can at least make out figures or shapes to kinda of get around? Well that never happened the entire time the lights were out. I couldn't see my hands in front of me. And when the lights do come back on it's almost a shock to the system they seem so bright. But we have now learnt our lesson...as soon as it gets dark, the flashlight comes out and gets taken everywhere with us just in case!!!

Biggest gift since I have arrived here: seeing Mr. Julius', Emmanuel's and Sr Petra's faces when we told them about the fundraising we did and how amazingly generous Sara and I's family and friends are. So THANK YOU! The BCCSDR and SAJOCAH also send their thanks and are so so grateful. The joy, shock and gratefulness on their faces is something I will never forget!

The journey to Bamenda (and the 1st day here)

Sara and I finally arrived in Bamenda around six pm on Sunday afternoon after quite the eventful journey. Flights to Brussels and from Brussels to Douala, Cameroon were relatively fine minus a few crying babies that all seemed to be sitting right near us. But we still got some sleep in! Favourite thing of the flights, Jet Airways "feet baskets" under the seat in front of you. So much nicer than a foot rest and made for quite a nice sleeping position. Mr. Julius (the Bamenda Coordinating Centre for Studies in Disability and Rehabilitation's [BCCSDR] executive director had prepared us well for the airport and we got through customs and baggage claim pretty easily. But when we stepped outside into the extreme heat and couldn't find someone holding the BCCSDR sign we slightly panicked. Then all of a sudden I spotted someone waving across the street with a security officer and our sign! Apparently security was extra high that day so Aloys was unable to get to the usual greeting point, but we found him and were soon on our way.
I don't think it's possible to explain the feelings or what we thought when first driving through Douala, overwhelming and surreal are probably the best descriptors. And although this is a terrible North American analogy, I did kind of feel like I was in a taxi during the Amazing Race. Too much to take in so quickly. Aloys and CY our driver for the evening took us to our hotel for the night which was in a Catholic Mission House. Simple, clean and a perfect spot to finally actually sleep, but getting food was Sara and I's priority before sleep. So Aloys and CY drove us down to the seaport for grilled fish and plantains and Castel (a Cameroonian beer). The entire meal was great and Aloys gave us three rules for the evening and our bus ride to Bamenda the next day: No crying, No snoring, and No stopping while eating (we had to finish it all). Sara and I both managed to follow all three rules and there wasn't even a chance where we thought we were going to cry!

So after a great meal and a good sleep we met Aloys Sunday morning for the bus ride to Bamenda. I think this is were my first culture shock moments hit. First was when we drove into the bus station and  plus guys ran towards the cab and started yelling into the driver and Aloys various cities and prices trying to convince us to use their bus company. We ended up going with a company called Garanti which as it turned out was no guarantee at all! The first half of the bus ride was fantastic we had three seats together and the bus was not even close to being full and we didn't make any stops until just over 3 hrs into the trip (midway). And then the bus broke down! Now we had been told this was a possibility with the buses in Cameroon but still frustrating and we had no idea when it would be fixed or another Garanti would come along. Well we didn't have to wait too long but the next bus to come along was already overflowing, plus add our fellow passengers from the broken bus and what you get is Sara and I sitting for the next 4ish hours on the steps of the back stairs onto the bus! Not the most comfortable, and no view but the driver kindly lent us his jacket to sit on. But we made it to Bamenda which was the goal so travel within Cameroon mission 1 accomplished!

Sara and I's "seat" on the bus!

After descending upon the city of Bamenda from a small mountain top (amazing view overlooking the city), we met Emmanuel (BCCSDR administrative assistant) at our new home for six weeks, the Bamenda Guest Home and Hotel. We each picked our rooms and then headed to dinner of grilled fish and bread which we brought back to our house to eat (I have a feeling I will be eating a lot of fish here, good thing I like it!).

Our home and view!

Which finally brings us to today and our first day of orientation. We met Mr. Julius and had a meeting with him and Emmanuel and the guest home's manager and assistant manager to make sure we knew the everything about the place and who to go to for anything we needed. We also discussed potential projects that Sara and I will be working on for the centre during our placement. My project is to draft a manual or guidelines regarding the practical implementation of a sports program for people with disabilities. So as you probably all guessed I'm pretty excited for that! Emmanuel than took us through the various roles of the BCCSDR (research, education and coordination) and than out for lunch in the city for ama jamma and corn fou fou. I liked the ama jamma, not a fan of corn fou fou. We then went to the bank and headed back to the centre to learn some do's and don'ts of Cameroonian culture. Biggest challenge: it is inappropriate for females to cross their legs in public. Second biggest challenge: remembering all the do's and don'ts as Sara and I both want to learn to be a part of this culture and therefore the last thing we want to is do something disrespectful that Emmanuel has already informed us about. But we both made a list of them and so pretty sure I will review it from time to time and the best way to learn is through experience so just going out in the city more and interacting with people will be a huge help and learning tool.

That was an incredibly long first post (so don't expect the others to be as long) and pictures will eventually be added (including exactly where  Sara and I sat on the second leg of our bus journey :) ).  But I wanted to leave you with one more story and thought provoking experience I had:

Emmanuel brought to our attention that while eating lunch today 2 other white females came in to eat at the same place and none of us acknowledged each other. Later Emmanuel asked us why and we didn't have an answer, we just don't greet everyone we see. Emmanuel said if he were to be in Canada and saw another black person he would automatically greet him and ask him how they were, it is just common courtesy and polite to do. And after he talked about it, I agree! Why don't we say hello to each other more often? Especially to people we don't know? That tiny bit of acknowledgement from anyone could completely brighten someone's day and make them feel that they matter. Imagine it really was common courtesy in Canada, or everywhere in the world? Sounds kind of simple, yet we don't do it so why not start. So I challenge all of you to say hello to someone today that you pass on the street, in an elevator, in a store  wherever it may be  just say hello and smile! I think you might then smile brighter too!.