Archive for December, 2009
December 23, 2009
I’m still coming to grips with the emotional impact of this trip, but the tangible plans for change are already being put into place.
Education
We held meetings at schools in need, asking them to form committees and present us with their top five priorities. We outlined a plan of action to address most of the needs presented by the locals and in conjunction with local authorities, government and the communities themselves, we are now moving ahead with the educational agenda.
Once at the school, kids will need a healthy daily meal—malnutrition is rampant and trying to learn on an empty stomach is futile. We’ve already started a drip irrigation garden at two schools that will grow rice, beans, huckleberry leaves, tomatoes and carrots (many items currently unavailable in the area). Not only will this food provide for the children, but surplus can be sold to the community and funds raised will go back into the school.
Water
People, particularly children, are dying every day from drinking contaminated water—from puddles, sloughs, dirty rivers and stagnant ponds. A water expert from Calgary analyzed the water and said he had never seen a higher level of bacteria anywhere.
The first step is giving people access to clean water. Many people here believe that human feces will feed the fish, so education regarding the importance of clean water is paramount. Right now it’s up to the women and children to hike for hours across difficult terrain to fetch water for their families. This is why many children don’t attend school—their priority is obtaining water.
The second step will be water purification. Matt Damon—I will be calling you when I get home! His amazing charity, www.water.org, is a leader in this area and we can definitely benefit from their expertise.
Health
We’re already involved in the construction, funding and supplying of health centers.
When I return in May 2010, the focus will be on development planning for health issues, but we already know that training of health personnel is key—doctors here have less training than nurses’ aids back home.
We need to implement a neo-natal and neo-care component, as well as a strong educational outreach on hygiene, illness, HIV/AIDS and nutrition. There is so much to do in terms of health. More on this to come from our next trip.
These are just a few of the areas we’ll be focusing on. Now that we’ve seen first hand what the issues are, we can work with our partners in the community to resolve them together. We hope you will continue to support us and follow our progress.
December 18, 2009
I’ve been reading every Facebook/blog comment, every tweet and every e-mail. Thank you so much for your words of encouragement and support – it means the world to me and everyone else on our trip.
A lot of people have been asking how they can help before the merchandise becomes available. I will be returning to Africa in May and we’re sending a sea container in advance that will be full of supplies. There are many things needed for the schools that we support. If you can donate any of these items, I would be grateful and can assure you that they will be put to very good use. Please note that we can only take items in very good condition (i.e. no junk that was meant for the curb!).
You can find the list here
The deadline for sending items is January 8, 2010 (it takes a long time to make it to Africa!).
If you are sending from the United States, please send your donation of supplies to:
Obakki Foundation Inc.
c/o FTN Warehouse
1750 Grant Ave.
Blaine, WA 98230
360.332.1539 (phone)
If you are sending from within Canada or internationally (aside from the U.S.), please send your donation of supplies to:
Obakki Foundation Inc.
201 – 135 West 7th. Ave.
Vancouver, BC
V5Y 1L8
604.669.9790 (phone)
If required, please list “gift” on the package to avoid any issues with customs. I know this is short notice, especially with holiday preparations underway. If you would rather have us purchase items on your behalf, you also have the option to call us directly at 1.866.410.9701 and we can take a credit card number over the phone.
Thank you all again for your support. Please spread the word about our foundation to your friends, families and colleagues – we are all making a huge difference in the lives of so many people.
Best,
Treana
December 16, 2009
Earlier this week, I did a quick post about a little girl I met at the Hotpec orphanage. I was so emotional at the time, it was all I could manage. On the plane home, I was able to write a more detailed account. Here it is…
Our visit to this second orphanage is almost too much to bear—91 abandoned children living in absolute squalor.
The babies are in one room, crammed into the few cots that are available. Most of them are docile and lethargic, many seem to shrink from human contact. I can’t tell if this is due to malnutrition or a conditioned response (probably a combination of both).
The rest of the children are separated into two small rooms, one for boys and one for girls. They sleep four to a bed, with no sheets, no electricity and, often, no food. I ask our friend, Ed, if he’d let his children sleep in these rooms. He wouldn’t let his dog in here.
In Cameroon, all children must pay to attend school, and this orphanage is continually trying to find ways to raise enough money to send all of their children to school. I find an older boy alone in his bed, trying to study in the twilight, desperate for an education, because he knows that is his only hope for a future. Twenty-seven of these children, some of them as young as five-years-old, walk one hour to and from school every day.
By 6:30 p.m., the area is submerged in complete darkness. The headmaster is hoping that electricity will help protect against two main threats of the orphanage: poisonous animals, mainly snakes, that come into the rooms at night; and the men who lurk in the jungle, waiting for nightfall and their chance to either rape the children or steal them to be sold as sex slaves.
Meals are cooked in a barn that is more of a shack, and this is where I find the girl. She’s scraping old rice and dirt from a bowl and spooning it hungrily into her mouth. Back in Canada, my four-year-old daughter is considered fairly small for her age and this girl is the same size, although she’s likely a few years older because of the malnutrition.
I pick her up as I would my daughter, but this little girl is much more delicate and fragile than any child I’ve held. I can actually feel the lack of density in her bones. She clings to me, craving human interaction and reveling in my touch. Something about this little girl pierces my heart and speaks to my soul. I can’t put her down, even when Ryan comes to get me, telling me it’s time to go. She begs me to keep holding her and I’m in tears as I drag myself into the Helix to leave. I do not want to be that person. The one who abandons her, again.
December 14, 2009
I fell in love with a little girl today. We visited the Hotpec Orphanage, home to 91 children. I found her sitting on the dirt floor of the ‘barn’ scraping some old rice out of a dirty bowl and into her mouth.
I picked her up and never wanted to let her go.
December 14, 2009
Night
We travel from Lewoh through Dschang to The Parlimentarian Flats Hotel in Buea. The drive is long, the roads are bad and by the time we arrive, everyone is covered in red dust from the surrounding land. We’re too tired to care and collapse into our sleeping bags (you wouldn’t dare use the bed at this hotel!).
5:30 a.m.
At home, it’s commonly referred to as a nice, warm shower, but here I call my morning routine the daily bucket. I’m looking forward to getting the red dirt off of me, but in addition to the usual share of brown water, I get an added bonus in the form of a thick layer of larvae and bugs. Moth exfoliation, anyone?
The Orphanage
Christian. Edward. Peter. Levis. Sebastian. Ngasse. Etienne. Henry. Isiah. Brandon. Solomon. Paul. Lawrence. Hans.
These are the names of the fourteen orphaned boys at this orphanage. These children have been abandoned at an early age and have since been disregarded by society as dirty, useless orphans. Their names are all that they have and they deserve some respect.
The boys original orphanage was a chicken coop. Fourteen boys and their headmaster slept on the floor of this disgusting room in order to have a shelter over their heads. We have since built them a new shelter—no child should have to live like that, especially these children who have already dealt with so much hardship.
I meet with every single child in private to hear from him personally. They aren’t used to getting undivided attention and start out very shy and reserved. But once they start talking everyone has so much to say. I hear their stories from the past—all too sad and personal to even begin discussing here.
I hear their current struggles, like having to split five cups of rice a day between sixteen people, or not being able to concentrate in school because their past experiences creep into their minds.
These children need more than food. They need counseling. They need ways of coping with what they have seen. They need someone to care about them. They need the promise of a new future. They need a friend.
These boys are part of the ‘What Makes You Happy’ campaign and I’m very eager to let them know that so many people at home are beginning to hear their words, read their letters and see their art. And that people care. I promise them that I’ll bring as much attention to this project as possible so they don’t have to worry about their future anymore.
Their words will be available on Obakki product in January—please come back and help raise money for these beautiful children.
December 13, 2009
We stop in a village on our way to Menji to check on a water project we’ve initiated. This is also where the medical center is and we search for the baby with the burned hands that we transported here a few days earlier.
Good news—we find her happily breastfeeding with her mama and she looks so much better! She is receiving antibiotics to control the infection as well as medication to manage the pain. Her hands have been cleaned and sanitized and she looks healthy and content.
Here is proof that people’s lives can be changed, even saved, when proper medical attention is within reach.
December 13, 2009
Gordon Ramsay has nothing on the ladies of Menji Fonjumata . Some female volunteers and I have been invited to help the village women prepare dinner in the smokehouse, and it is reality show material. The woman in charge is on a serious deadline and if our technique or speed don’t meet her expectations, we’ll be kicked out. I’ve always had a competitive streak, and I’m determined to measure up.
The knives are as dull as the potatoes are substantial, and it’s tricky work. A potato peeler is a luxury here and I vow to bring back a suitcase full of them on my next trip after seeing how hard these women work.
Thanks to the Helix rides and this knife, I’m getting blisters on top of blisters, and the smoke is burning my eyes, but I refuse to give up…there’s no way I’m going to be banished from this kitchen.
The food in the village is good, mainly rice, beans, potatoes—basically, whatever is available—and tonight we’re getting chicken as an added treat. They’re killed, gutted an plucked in minutes, then seared over an open fire. It’s all served with a great sauce and although the food is simple, it’s delicious.
We finish off our meal with some palm wine, fermented from the sap of a palm tree. It has hallucinogenic properties, similar to absinthe, and is extremely potent. Step aside whiskey—I’ve found a new friend.
December 12, 2009
We’re camping in the middle of the jungle—there’s a shelter available but the scurrying sounds from rats have made the African sky a much more attractive alternative.
Someone brings a bottle of wine but we have no opener, so Ryan puts the base into a shoe, wraps it in a t-shirt (mine, I think) and firmly presses the base against the wall until the cork shoots out. After that display of manliness, I know for certain that if I was on a deserted island (which I sort of feel like I am), I want him by my side.
With only the stars giving us light, we sit around for hours with a group of locals discussing the issues of Cameroon and possible solutions. We spend hours talking—a collaborative brainstorming session to identify the problems but also devising possible solutions that are sustainable options.
Educational outreach is a priority, especially for girls, who are not considered permanent members of the family and therefore not seen as a good investment for education (going to any level of school costs money in Cameroon). Usually, they’re kept at home to work the fields, houseclean, take care of siblings and cook. We come up with some women’s initiatives that will hopefully increase female enrollment.
This is one small example of the immense issues we have to deal with, but having two worlds sitting side-by-side, equal to each other and working things out collectively, has a significant impact on me and reinforces my resolve that real change can and will be made.
I wish everyone could move beyond thinking we’re all different. We are not. Despite our geography and circumstances, we’re the same.
December 11, 2009
I’m sure many people think of Africa and envision National Geographic-style wildlife. And that part of Africa does exist here in Cameroon—the Cross River Gorilla is on the other side of the valley (they are the most endangered ape in the world, with less than 300 left in the wild), but we have no time to track them.
The wildlife we’ve encountered is a little less exotic, but much more abundant.
Rats are everywhere. I’ve seen women walking down the road swinging rats like they’re Safeway bags. The villagers’ diet consists mainly of rice, beans and potatoes, so rats are a quick and easy source of protein.
There is also a proliferation of mosquitoes. We’re all covered in bites and trying to evade them has proved futile—our nets are useless at night because we have nowhere to hang them, so we’re loading up on our Malaria medication and hoping for the best.
When we sleep, I always make sure there is someone to my left and someone to my right, reasoning that any creatures that come across us will investigate my neighbours first. This morning my theory was confirmed—Ryan woke up with a live chicken perched in on his stomach and our friend Ed had three goats curled up at his feet. There were no pythons, but I’m not taking any chances.
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