NGO hopping and Monkey buisness

So my search for Moumié was an epic failure. She thought we said we wanted to meet Friday instead of Sunday, so she waited for us all Friday and we waited for her all Sunday. The day was not entirely in vain because we relaxed and I needed a lazy Sunday. Jaime, a fellow SIT kid, received a call from Moumié recently and we are going to try and visit her again. I did get a chance to go into town and buy her book. The bus ride was an interesting experience because I got to see some of the challenges of being an immigrant in Cameroon.

The police stopped the bus several times, each time picking out people who weren't Cameroonian and asking for their identity cards. A family from Gabon as well as a Nigerian man were left behind, with their luggage on the roof and all. According to women next to me on the bus, they will most likely have to bribe the police with money if they want to continue.

So the past few days have been spent NGO (non governmental organization) and multinational organizations and agencies visiting. It is interesting to hear from small NGOs as well as the World Bank and Peace Corps. I idenitifed heavily with the cause of this organization called CED (Cameroonian Environmental Development) who sells fair trade chocolate and dried fruit and really seems to be motivated by the true needs of the people as well as environmental protection.

I feel the need to share some of my family's pet stories. So they used to have a monkey, who was very mischivious and often escaped his cage and ate all the fruit in the kitchen and took naps on my mom's bed when no one was home. He liked to dance and laugh when he was in a good mood. They also used to have a parrot who imitated everyone's voices and knew family members by name and could even sing parts of the national anthem. I want a pet monkey so badly.

(Sorry for all the grammer and spelling issues, I find that I am losing my English as I gain my French)

written by

peep on October 15, 2008 from Yaounde, Cameroon

from the travel blog: Cameroon

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