It’s funny how one day here everything goes along swimmingly,
but then the next day it can be terrible. But luckily even on the terrible days
there will always be something that turns the day around. School was great the
other day. I talked with one of my classes about homosexuality, since one
student mentioned that he wouldn’t want to go to America because that is where
homosexuality came from. In Cameroon homosexuality is illegal and severely
frowned upon, however I could not let that comment slide, especially since that
student also said that AIDS came from America. Which leads me to believe that
he thinks that everything bad comes from America and as an American teacher I
can’t leave the classroom with them believing that. Therefore we talked and discussed
homosexuality, I got at least some of the my students to believe that
homosexuality is not a choice that people make. I think that that was a win!
(Although it was only 5 students, change happens little by little here). But
like I say one day you have a great day teaching and the next day it’s just
awful. But fortunately even though something bad can happen, there will always
be something that can turn my day around.
With my little time left in Cameroon, only 6 months or ¼ of
my time, I am thinking about what I about to do in Cameroon before I leave,
which is why I am helping out at the local hospital with their
vaccination campaigns. I started today filling out paperwork for all the little
babies, writing down what shots they got and when they have to come next. The
exciting thing is that I get to go en brousse to help in villages there. It was
really interesting to see how the whole situation worked. The nurse said that
next time I will actually be able to give vaccinations. (I know I am not
qualified at all, so hopefully I can just stick with the paperwork!) But either
way I am excited to be able to go en brousse with the nurses, it seems like the
stereotypical aide work that one does, which I think will be interesting.
The other day I was working at the hospital for the prenatal
visits and subscribing women and taking their weight and blood pressure. One of
the women when I asked her for her name to write down her name. African names
are very different than American names and I asked her if she could spell it
for me, unfortunately she was illiterate. It was shocking to see an 18 year old
girl who is pregnant who couldn’t even spell her own name. It really saddened
me. I know illiteracy exists here, even some of the younger students in 6th
grade that can barely read or write, but at least they can write their own
name. It just goes to show how much work really needs to be done here in
Cameroon.
