Michael Gardiner – Cameroon Experience – February 12 to February 26, 2012
This past February was my first trip to Africa. When I heard the news that I was going to Cameroon, I could not believe I was going to have the 
opportunity to see that side of the world. I had visions of the savannah, and travelling through the jungle. I was also fascinated to think about the people I would meet.
The weeks leading up to the expedition were incredibly smooth. Vaccines were taken care of, getting some light clothing, and packing a little food. One of the things I found incredibly useful was the bringing of cliff bars, a high in protein meal supplement, especially for the long hikes. We spent a lot of days hiking. I had to complete several assignments in advance to get ahead in university. And then before you knew it, it was mid February.
I first met up with the main group at Toronto airport. There was an instant sense that the trip was finally underway. We all got to know each other pretty quickly, there was Elise a history student who liked classic film, Ana trained in kick boxer and a very serious contender for her masters, Darren a naturalist who played the acoustic guitar, Cameron and Amanda a couple who were working through their nursing degree together, J.D who had already adopted dozens of children and travelled to Ghana, Kristen a young gym teacher who travelled quite a bit (she had just spent an extended period of time in Mongolia, Wendy Kristen’s mom who wanted to see a little bit of the world her daughter knew, and finally last and not least Ed a retired army captain who defied all expectations.
The group seemed like a great fit, every one was a few years older than me leaving me as the groups junior.
When we got there we hit the ground running. After what seemed like a day up in the air, we hoped on a bus. We ended up in Parliament house, which was my first experience with African plumbing. Or should I say a lack there of. And of course I was very apprehensive about everything. Having spoken with the nurse who gave me the vaccines, I had been fairly petrified upon my first arrival that any number microorganisms were lurking on every surface. This coupled with the fact we had studied the life cycle of malaria (which involved the bursting of blood cells and an attack in the liver) in my first year bio course, ensured the first day was spent sweating over every move I made.
However contrasted with this innate nervousness was our first encounter with Sylvester and Pam. Sylvester is a teacher at the school in Boy-yah. He is very friendly and tells us that when we return he will give us a tour of the school. We also meet Pam today, she will be with us for most of the trip, and it is her we will be living with in Laywah. She is incredibly funny and caries herself very proudly. In a society where women are still treated very unequally her pride is a rare and refreshing thing to see.
In Boy-yah, we had a meeting with the regional minister of education. This was our first experience with the incredible gratitude the Cameroonians have. They thank Ed for all of the hard work that he has done in “The Valley” and they also thank each one of us for coming, as if we had been as important to the process as Ed.
The next day we headed to Laywah. This was to be our base-camp for the duration of the trip. It was here we started to learn about the different 
problems that the villages faced. The thing is, when you are there you walk. That is the primary mode of transport. You don’t however feel as though you are wasting time, because as you walk you are discussing. One specific chat we had while strolling around Laywah was about a project run by the Danish government (I think it was Danish not 100%). They installed these giant highly technical water purifiers in several towns. They spent millions and it was deemed a huge success! How ever the complicated machines soon broke down. This was a hard lesson in how not to design a sustainable project in a foreign country. In order to be successful a project must eventually become totally run by the people of that country. This is the model that has worked so well for ICA.
When the ICA wishes to build a school, or some purification facilities, in a village there is a long consultation project. First the villagers must want the technology. Then they must also be willing to put work into what they have been given. In the case of building a school although ICA provides the funds, the majority of physical labor is done by volunteers in the community. And then once the school is built it is taken over by the government and teachers are hired. In this way although the initial prompt to build a school is done by ICA, in the end it is totally run by the government of Cameroon. Most of the work being done by ICA in Cameroon was being done in a place called The Valley.
As the days past we all became much more relaxed around one another, and with our surroundings. Within a few days we were headed to The Valley. This would be our first meeting with what was to be considered to be one of the poorest parts of Cameroon. After a 3-4 hour helix ride and couple of hours walking through the brush we made it to Ejong. At the school the children were incredibly well behaved and even sang for us. I was incredibly impressed to see children who had likely never heard an in tune piano singing on key. We spent half of the day with them as we visited their classrooms, sat in on some lectures, and distributed school supplies. We had all brought some with us in our suitcases to drop off for the children.
The next village we visited went much in the same way, singing children, and a large welcome ceremony. But to illustrate just how friendly many of the people are I believe the following story is relevant. When we all introduced ourselves in front of the village we gave our full names. Right after the ceremony this man walked up to me. He says “You are Michael right?” It turns out we had the same name! He being Michael As well thought that was well enough that he would offer me a farm and some decorated clothing! Although I couldn’t accept this it was quite funny to imagine settling in as a farmer in Cameroon.
Now although most of what I have said up to this point seems to leave out the grimmer images we have of Africa, it is not to say we did not see any of the poverty, which was the primary reason for our visit. In visiting their homes we did see the quality of housing, which consisted of fairly rudimentary clay houses. We could imagine how they would hold up in the rainy season. We also saw children, who definitely appeared to be in need of a more nutritious diet. The one issue that was surprisingly confusing was the issue of women’s equality. In Cameroon the women do a great deal of work. They farm, raise the children and do other physical labor, however they are still viewed as inferior to men. This to me seemed a very large contradiction. This incredibly odd form of sexism I think could be staved off once education becomes more available.
The point is, the thing that really struck me the most was that the people of Cameroon are not the people who you see in those World Vision commercials. They are a happy people, a proud people, you see the children run around and play everywhere you go. It is not to say that are not without suffering, but they are also not without hope. I think this may be illustrated in a statement made by one of the chiefs, he said “We have the spirit, we have the mind, but without you we have nothing”. To me it shows just how willing they are to work toward change, and work with others to help themselves.
Overall I feel that this trip was an enormous success. I am still in touch with many of people from the expedition. I am also pleased to let you know that part of the reason this report has taken so long to compile is that I have started fundraising for ICA. On the trip the number was put to me. For 20,000$ you can build a four classroom elementary school. This is a village, which does not yet have a school, the first chance for a village at an education. I hope that we (me and a group of my friends) are successful in our endeavor to do so. Also if the UTE has any useful contact information for gathering donations or running events all help is appreciated.
I would like to once again thank you for the opportunity to travel to Cameroon, with Ed Smith. It was definitely one of the most interesting experiences of my life so far. I look forward to working with Ed in the future and will hopefully be returning to Cameroon again (on my own dollar) within the next five years once the school is built.
Sincerely,
Michael Gardiner