I finally moved to Kolofata! It felt really weird to finally get to my house and know that this is where I’ll be living for the next two years. These past few weeks have been challenging, but it’s also been really good.

Anyway, as Peace Corps Volunteers, our first three months at post are supposed to be devoting to settling into your community and integrating. Hence, I’ve spent a lot of time just walking around my village, figuring out where the stores are, and meeting my neighbors. My next-door neighbors have a two-year old who’s absolutely adorable, and I just love hanging out with the family. They’ve been very helpful, too, in teaching me about life in Kolofata and whatnot.

So, in terms of actual work, we are supposed to take it slow and focus on needs assessment. After our In-Service Training Conference at the end of March 2011, we can then apply for funding to start big projects.

As a result, it feels like I haven’t really done much at post. I’ve spent most days at the hospital. In the mornings, I’ve been going with Dr. Ellen and the nurses on rounds, in order to get an idea of common illnesses. And it also helps me work on my French vocabulary and comprehension. Also, I’ve been helping with baby weighings! I’ve been really looking forward to weighing babies, since in just about every, single Peace Corps advertisement, there’s always a volunteer weighing a baby.

During my first week at post, I helped out with SASMIN, a door-to-door vaccination campaign, giving out the polio vaccine and Vitamin A supplements. It lasted from 5:45 am ’til 3 pm. It was so exhausting – I remember feeling tired and looking at my phone, and it was only 7 am – but, nevertheless, I really appreciated having the opportunity to do hands-on work after three months of training. Plus, I got to learn a lot more about Kolofata.

I also gave my first animation! An animation is basically a presentation, like the one Brianna gave on soy during site visit. I decided to start with something simpler, so I gave an animation on diarrhea I spoke in front of patients and their families in the pediatrics ward about the prevention of diarrhea and gave a demo on how to prepare ORS (oral rehydration solution) to treat it. Falta, my counterpart, and the nurses called people to gather in front of the ward, and there was a crowd of about 30-40 people. I spoke in French, and Falta, my counterpart, translated into Kanuri. Then, another person translated it into a third language. Craziness. (The patients at the hospital are so diverse, since there are so many ethnic groups in Cameroon, and people also come over from Nigeria.) Honestly, it was sort of hard to gauge the reactions of the audience, but Falta and the other hospital staff really liked it.

Speaking of the staff at the hospital, they’re wonderful. I’ve been able to ask them lots of questions about patients and about life in Kolofata. But… some people at the my hospital seem to think it’s a good idea for me to get married here. The conversations go something like this:

“No, I don’t think I want to get married in Cameroon.”
“What, you don’t want to marry a black person?”
“Um, no, I’m just here to work, not to find a husband”
“Oh, that’s okay. You can bring your future baby with you to the hospital.”
“WHAT?!”

Outside of the hospital, I started working with the women’s center. I’m really interested in women’s empowerment. The head of the women’s center, Mr. Bie, has worked with the last few Peace Corps Volunteers and has been great to work with as well. He’s also is also tutoring me in Kanuri. So far, I’ve learned salutations and numbers from 1-100! Woot. I doubt that I’ll ever be proficient, but at least I’m trying.

Right now, I’m in Maroua, hanging out with the other Volunteers for Christmas. This has been my first Christmas away from my family, but it’s still been really good. Last night, we cooked a huge dinner together – a salad, hummus, lasagna, mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, squash chutney, and beef. I haven’t eaten so much food since we had Thanksgiving together during training. I’ve also made several trips to the marche, buying things that I can’t find in Kolofata, like cereal, brown sugar, and avocados. Then, I’m headed back to Kolofata tomorrow!