Voila!

Voila, my word of the next two years. It works wonderfully, in lieu of actual words to help in my expression of things like, "Exactly," "There you go," and just general agreement. One can use it multiple times to the point of annoyance. Hence the joy.

So, for those of you who have been dying to know... I have just around 102 weeks of service left. To say that things are starting off slow would be an understatement. First off, it is the month of fete de Noel. This means people are guarding money for either/or XMas or New Years, I am assuming. I will see how people en village celebrate the holidays. All I do know is that I bring utter confusion when I tell people I don't fete de Noel. Mama's are off to the champs early in the morning to harvest arachides (peanuts), mais (corn), and it appears as though the start of the soja (soy) harvest will start soon. So what exactly will I, as a PCV be doing? That is a good question...

Here in the South, land of abundant forest, people practice shifting agriculture, slash and burn specifically. With impending population pressure, as can be seen throughout the Western region, land will eventually become a scarcity and forests will no longer exist as they do now. I have two counterparts. One is Serges, who every past volunteer has praised for his hardwork. I learn more and more how helpful he will be during my service. The other is an ONG (NGO), CAAPRO. Judith and Solange will be my main contacts here, and they are both incredibly hardworking, dynamic, and kind people. My primary projects, as I have discussed with my supervisor will include 1) Continuing with the Soja project. By getting mama's to plant soja with other staple crops like manioc, mais, plantains, they can improve the health of their soil, they wont have to move fields every year, and as well all know, it is delicious and a good source of protein. 2) Integrating local trees for their non-timber forest products into cacao fields to stagger the income revenue/food source for families. As I saw during site visit, at prime cacao harvest time, men have a ton of money and spend it faster than I can even imagine. So, by integrating selective shade- giving trees (shea butter, the african prune-a local delicacy, wild mango) into the melange, because cacao requires shade, the cacao business can become better for the whole family. 3) A water project or two. 4) I have the luck of being at the site of the first national agro expo in 20 years. It is kind of a big deal, lots of opportunity to work with my village to show all of Cameroon how great farming in the South can be. And other possibilities.

For right now, life is going. I am learning that the neighbor kids are my saving grace. Without them coming in to my house and coloring for hours on end, I don't know how I would get by. They helped me build a fence of bamboo (a NASTY invasive here) for a small garden to protect veggies from les chevres et les muttons du chef, because the not very highly respected chef of the village lets his goats and sheep run crazy all over the village. I have a neighbor farmer who has a fish pond/porc/mais system set up (mais and household waste feeds the porc, porc waste feeds the fish), and I think he and his family will be good farmer leaders.

Today (or tommorrow, according to different sources) is the start of the regional agropastoral expo, so I will check that out and make new contacts, I am sure. For those of you in the cold, it is between 70 and 85 degrees everyday, with 85 percent humidity. Kind of gross, but better than fighting the bitter cold. Hopefully my next post will be more eventful. And each post for the next 102 weeks.