The End is Near!

All Agroforestry and Health Volunteers from my training group assembled for our Close of Service conference in Yaounde from August 6-7.  It was our last time to be together as a group, since we will be leaving Cameroon at different times in staggered groups. 

I spent the weekend before the conference with friends at Kribi beach, a big tourist destination in Cameroon.  We sunbathed on a beach right below Paul Biya’s vacation house, complete with armed guards and watchtowers.  After a morning in the sun sipping coconut milk, we’d go to the fish market and pick our own freshly-caught fish or shrimp, to eat waterside with beer and fried plantains.  It was lovely, aside from the men constantly approaching us on the beach to either hit on us or sell us souvenirs.  A few took photos of us

 at point-blank range without asking and then walked away!  

fish market

Back in Yaounde, we were thrilled to find that Peace Corps put us up in style for the conference.  It took place in one of the nicest hotels in Maroua- pool, air conditioning, hot showers, big beds, internet, and delicious buffet meals.  TVs in each room allowed us to catch a lot of the Olympics, including the womens’ soccer team victories!   

Meetings on the first day, though, were held not in the hotel but in the US Embassy, a modern fortress with about every security measure you can think of and surrounded by luxurious mansions housing Yaounde’s upper class. 

We chose our departure dates (November 29^th for me!) as the first order of business, and PC staff informed us of all the conditions required to get departure clearance from the PC administration (close our bank accounts, pay off rent, take final health exam, etc.). 

Next we reflected as a group about our two years of service and how it has changed us- skills gained, lessons learned, biggest accomplishments, legacies we will leave behind.  I took notes during the discussion, to give you an idea of our group state of mind as we prepare to leave.

We talked about how our attitudes have changed since arriving.  There was a general consensus that we have all improved in terms of our assertiveness, patience, confidence in our own abilities, humility, and persistence.  We agreed that we now have a greater appreciation for the little things in life.  We are more realistic, more tolerant, more compassionate, more resilient.  We are less inclined to take things too seriously.

We have become skilled in  public speaking, improvising when things go wrong, bridging cultural differences, and mobilizing and motivating people. We're better at living by ourselves, listening, resolving conflicts, teaching, problem-solving, and using local mannerisms and lingo to put people at ease.  We have learned to design, manage, monitor and evaluate projects. We've developed our abilities to work independently, facilitate discussions, work with limited resources, and negotiate. 

We have gained new knowledge as well.  We have learned, among other things, that you can’t impose projects on the population and expect them to be sustainable.  You have to find ways for them to carry the projects out themselves.  We learned when to lower our expectations and when to demand conformity to higher standards.  You have to keep trying new approaches without getting discouraged- projects almost never went as planned, yet often worked out in the end thanks to persistence.

We have witnessed first-hand the real-life effects of development problems (watching friends die of AIDS, seeing the high occurrence of malaria cases, etc.).  We experienced how corruption and other inefficiencies form barriers to development.  We better understand how culture can affect behavior, and how the informal sector of a developing economy works.  We have new insights into African politics and African geography.

We have a new appreciation for American governance over other countries’ political systems, as well as a new perspective on consumerism and excess in America.  We have evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the Cameroonian education system.  We learned French and local languages, as well as new technologies being promoted as solutions to development problems (improved cookstoves, solar panels, etc.)

view from hotel

What are we most proud of? Answers included: sticking it out for two years, earning a nickname in village, promoting condom use, helping kids gain weight, showing prisoners that someone cares, hearing Cameroonians remember the names of past volunteers or recognize the Peace Corps logo, having kids named after us, planting trees, encouraging girls to go further than elementary school and boys to respect women as equals…

What is our advice for future volunteers? You have to take care of yourself first, as in, don’t try to save world without eating breakfast. Find the coping mechanisms that work for you.  It helps to keep a sense of humor, even in the most frustrating situations.  Try not to take things personally.  Don’t forget to ask for help.  Don’t worry constantly over whether you’re doing enough.  Don’t be working so much that you don’t have time to hang out with people.  Don’t let people push you around.        

Always do needs assessment with your community before starting projects.  Don’t start work too early before figuring out the lay of the land.  Be adamant about what you want.  Don’t say yes to everything; create boundaries with your host institution.  Don’t travel during your first three months at post.  Be very careful about taking on construction or infrastructure projects.  Keep your community focused on task at hand.

After that discussion, we had a session on how to describe our Peace Corps experience to future employers, so that it builds our resumes.  Not all employers even know what Peace Corps does exactly! As one staff member said, “We have to demonstrate that we didn’t just go sing Kumbaya and play guitar and chill with villagers.”

We talked about using language that will appeal to employers:  “I learned how to operate within a whole new culture and with diverse populations.  I gained global understandings.  I experimented with different approaches to development and can now speak knowledgeably about the development field.  I adapted to a foreign environment, learned flexilibity, explored food security, food transformation, income-generating activities, value-added products, economic development.  I grew in so many areas- grant-writing, leadership, language-learning, NGO development, consulting, etc.” 

PC staff also informed us of resources and tools to use in our job search, especially the network of returned PCVs, Peace Corps job fairs, etc. Overall, that session was a nice self-esteem boost.  As one embassy official told us, “Who wouldn’t want to hire a volunteer? We couldn’t do what you did.” 

In the afternoon, we had a session with the Economic and Political Policy Advisor to the US Ambassador to Cameroon.  It was very interesting hearing about his work at the Embassy.  He said Cameroon is challenging because, in contrast to other countries where he just picked up a newspaper to find out what was going on, there is hardly any media coverage following events in Cameroon.  The lack of media makes him more relevant, however, because there are not a lot of experts who master the economic or political situation in Cameroon.  He not only reports to Washington, but receives calls from diverse actors looking to intervene in Cameroon: business investors, charities, journalists, etc.

In addition to poor media coverage, he complained of the rampant corruption.  He lamented that very few of the government ministries in Cameroon are genuine.  It’s complicated and enigmatic as to who is actually making government decisions.  Corrupt officials deliberately hinder reforms that they don’t directly benefit from. Corruption also creates disincentive for businesses to enter the formal sector of the economy.  Entrepreneurs keep their ventures small and informal to avoid being leeched slowly by corrupt bureaucrats and red tape.  Few medium-sized businesses mean a weak middle-class. Without an educated middle class, there is no one to hold the government accountable for its corruption. 

Based on these challenges, the Embassy’s priorities in Cameroon are democratization, improving the business climate, and creating a middle class.  The Advisor also mentioned agricultural development.  He claimed that the next Green Revolution could be in Africa, as so much of the continent is under-cultivated, and that Africa can profit as the world population doubles and the global demand for food production increases.  He finished by saying that he while he sees signs of progress, Cameroon has a very long road ahead of it.

Then he spoke to us more generally about joining the Foreign Service.  He explained that once you enter the Foreign Service, you spend almost all your time overseas, with only 5-7 years in Washington DC during your entire career!  He pointed out that part of what sets the Foreign Service aside from other avenues of development is that he has the power to get a meeting with anyone, even higher-ups like Paul Biya himself.  He admitted, though, that because Foreign Service officers serve only 2-3 year stints in the same country before being reassigned, many of your goals are abstract and the results are not always concrete.  You move on without knowing the real impact of your work.  Also, another downside is they don’t get to decide how to spend their money—everything is decided in Washington.  If  they wanted to work on economic development but Congress wants to address HIV/AIDs, economic development will be put on the backburner. 

My fellow volunteers and I were somewhat discouraged by our impression that there is a definite Foreign Office bubble.  It seems Embassy workers seldom leave the embassy.  They live in American-style houses, import American product, socialize with Americans after work, and generally live at an American standard of living.  As a consequence, they don’t always know the most basic cultural aspects of the country.  One official did not know what “couscous” was, and Cameroonians eat that every single day!!  (I also judged them when I saw that the editor of their newsletter devoted the first page to an opinion piece on the importance of protecting the right of Foreign Service officers to own pets.  I stopped reading right there.)  All this goes against the grain of Peace Corps philosophy.  Still, the Foreign Service is tempting when you hear about all the exotic places you could live.  For example, one official had on her list of residences Paris, Senegal, Mali, Madagascar, and Cambodia.  As a new Foreign Service officer, you get to choose from a list of 50 countries for your first few assignments.      

The Foreign Service session was followed by a meeting with Consulate Officials about immigration policy.  Several in our group are dating Cameroonians, and this was for their benefit.  It was also relevant for the rest of the group, as we have all had countless Cameroonians ask how to get into the US.  Essentially, to gain entry, you have to either be the spouse of an American citizen, or a tourist who can demonstrate compelling reasons for returning to your own country.  The only other way would be to claim political asylum, or to win the Diversity Visa Lottery, which is a program for countries underrepresented in the Visa process where you can play to win US citizenship and even have your entire biological family brought over with you. 

It was entertaining to hear the things Cameroonians have tried in the past.  They’ve attempted about every trick in the book: fraudulent birth certificates, graphic evidence of intercourse to prove marriage, etc.  There was once a serial marrier who would marry people, get them to the US, then go marry someone else.  He told us sadder stories of people who abandoned their kids and spouse once they gained entry for themselves.

The second day of the conference was devoted to brainstorming ways to share our Peace Corps experience with Americans (presentations in schools, recruiting new volunteers, slide shows, articles for local newspapers, etc…), and to listening to a panel of former volunteers.

The panel was one of my favorite parts of the conference.  Five RPCVs, ranging from 1 to 30 years out of service, described their transitions back to life in the US and their careers since Peace Corps.  Interestingly, most of them have become ex-patriots, living and working abroad.  For instance, one woman works in war-torn countries like the Congo to set up refugee camps, another helped found an agricultural NGO called the “One Acre Fund,” and another has worked in the Foreign Service for 20 years.

They told us to be prepared for reverse culture shock when we arrive in the US:  For some, being back was like “trying on an old shoe that no longer fits.”  Many were struck by how Americans seemed superficial and spoiled.  Some found that when they started recounting their experience people’s eyes would glaze over, people didn’t care to hear. One volunteer said she started crying in Petsmart, seeing all these wonderful rich things just for pets! Another said American food tasted too sweet, he wasn’t used to so much sugar.  We all laughed when they warned us we would have weird habits leftover from Peace Corps, like throwing trash out car windows, hissing at taxis, accidentally talking to African-Americans in French, etc. They said we may find ourselves saying “When I was in Cameroon…” over and over and over. 

They advised us not to become cynical about our work, just because we don’t always see immediate results; in the words of one volunteer, “the seeds you planted will flower, you just may not be there to see it.”  They told us not to stress about founding a job, not to hurry to jump back on the “conveyor belt,” but to wait for jobs that are challenging and stimulating, even if they pay less.  It was reassuring to hear from people who had already been through the transition from Peace Corps back to life in the States.  All of them said that their Peace Corps experience had been invaluable to them in terms of professional and life experience. 

After the panel and language testing to evaluate our level of French improvement, the conference ended.  I hung around Yaounde for a few days waiting to pick up Andrea from the airport, and then headed back up North.  

It was great to see all my fellow volunteers.  As a group, we looked like veteran volunteers- relaxed, confident, thinner, tanner, and with an air of can-do about us.  I felt that being volunteers had made us better people, more alert, more engaged, more capable.  I’m so curious to see where all my fellow volunteers will end up after Peace Corps, what ripples we will make back home.

agro volunteers of the Xtreme north