Tales from Cameroon by Richard Anderson



Tales from Cameroon by Richard Anderson

Peace Corps Update
It’s been brought to my attention that my journaling has been lacking in the category of length recently. Therefore, this installment promises to bring you a comprehensive update on my Peace Corps service. However, before any of that I want to answer a question long overdue. If you’ve watched the Thanksgiving videos on my Website, you’ll know that I went around asking people what they were grateful for. In all my journalism glory, I forgot to mention what I was grateful for. So let me just say I’m grateful for a loving family in Minnesota and phenomenal friends around the world. You’ve had an enormous impact on my life and I whole-heartedly attribute my successes to your presence.

Now to relevant Peace Corps news. My role at Université Adventiste-Cosendai is going to change somewhat. Instead of teaching, I’ll be concentrating my efforts on developing the library and building a university Website. This is wonderful news to me since that’s essentially what I’ve been trained to do. As many of you know, I had already started a small cataloging project with Microsoft Access, however I’ve abandoned that for a more ambitious project. As it turns out, the library is soon to have its own server. This opens vast new opportunities for modernizing the library. Thanks to my friend and fellow librarian Colleen, I became aware of an open source cataloging software known as “koha”. In order to avoid complex library jargon, think of it as a complete “library-in-a-box”. This software combined with my very own server will give me dictator-like powers over the collection. And best of all, there is a French version.

I now have two packages of donated books on the way to Nanga-Eboko from the United States and I’m working on getting some from France. I’m still waiting on the construction of four large bookshelves; however the university is currently experiencing a wood shortage so it may be a while before they are built. I might have mentioned at some point I was looking for a barcode reader. Well, I priced them last week in Yaounde and the model I looked at was going for 120,000 CFA or roughly $240.00. That’s a little steep if you ask me, but then again I’ve never gone shopping for barcode readers before. As I look around the library, I must say somebody’s been doing an excellent job cleaning. I don’t see nearly as much dirt.

Socially, my life tends to move from what adventure to the next. I won my second beer in country for dancing Coupé-Decalé and now I feel like an instant celebrity every time I go somewhere. In fact, Allen’s neighbor Jonh (yes, that’s how he spells his name) claims I’m more African than he is when I dance. I took that as a compliment. My friends here are always happy to see me and by the way they greet me you’d think they hadn’t seen me in years. I’m more comfortable with French than I’ve ever been telling jokes, sharing stories and thoroughly enjoying life. I love the food here and if you think Mexican food is spicy, try some Cameroonian piment.

Before wrapping this up, I want to mention that my friend and postmate Stanley Levine is currently on medical leave in the United States. As you can probably tell from the videos, Stanley is not your typical Peace Corps volunteer. In fact, Stanley’s not your typical anything. I’ve had countless valuable conversations with Stan about anything and everything from politics, to tennis, to religion, to Garrison Keillor, to Classical and Jazz music, to theatre, to Seinfeld, to Scrabble strategy, to what constitutes good coffee. It’s fortunate we share a lot of the same opinions, otherwise things might be different in the quiet village of Nanga-Eboko. We all want Stanley back in Cameroon and wish him a speedy recovery.

When this story was posted in February 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in over 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related reference material in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can use the Main Index to find hundreds of stories about RPCVs who have your same interests, who served in your Country of Service, or who serve in your state.

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Make a call for the Peace Corps PCOL is a strong supporter of the NPCA's National Day of Action and encourages every RPCV to spend ten minutes on Tuesday, March 1 making a call to your Representatives and ask them to support President Bush's budget proposal of $345 Million to expand the Peace Corps. Take our Poll: Click here to take our poll. We'll send out a reminder and have more details early next week.

Peace Corps Calendar:Tempest in a Teapot? Bulgarian writer Ognyan Georgiev has written a story which has made the front page of the newspaper "Telegraf" criticizing the photo selection for his country in the 2005 "Peace Corps Calendar" published by RPCVs of Madison, Wisconsin. RPCV Betsy Sergeant Snow, who submitted the photograph for the calendar, has published her reply. Read the stories and leave your comments.

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February 19, 2005: This Week's Top Stories NPCA Board positions are open for nomination 17 Feb Mike Tidwell on trial for climate action protest 17 Feb Katie Dyer is co-owner of Cadeaux du Monde 16 Feb Cyclone misses Tonga and Samoa PCVs 16 Feb Phil Hardberger in debate for Mayor of San Antonio 16 Feb Edmund Hull is Princeton Diplomat-In-Residence 16 Feb Bruce Greenlee is longtime friend of Latino community 15 Feb Mike Honda new vice chairman at DNC 15 Feb Jospeh Opala documents slave crossing from Sierra Leone 14 Feb Dear Dr. Brothers: Aren't PCVs Hippies? 14 Feb Joseph Lanning founded the World Education Fund 14 Feb Stanley Levine draws Marine and Peace Corps similarities 14 Feb Speaking Out: JFK envisioned millions of RPCVs 13 Feb Chris Aquino visits mother's homeland of Vietnam 12 Feb Is PCOL blocking users from posting messages? 12 Feb JFK Library opens Sargent Shriver Collection 1 Feb RPCV responds to Bulgaria Calendar concerns 28 Jan

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WWII participants became RPCVs Read about two RPCVs who participated in World War II in very different ways long before there was a Peace Corps. Retired Rear Adm. Francis J. Thomas (RPCV Fiji), a decorated hero of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, died Friday, Jan. 21, 2005 at 100. Mary Smeltzer (RPCV Botswana), 89, followed her Japanese students into WWII internment camps. We honor both RPCVs for their service.

Bush's FY06 Budget for the Peace Corps The White House is proposing $345 Million for the Peace Corps for FY06 - a $27.7 Million (8.7%) increase that would allow at least two new posts and maintain the existing number of volunteers at approximately 7,700. Bush's 2002 proposal to double the Peace Corps to 14,000 volunteers appears to have been forgotten. The proposed budget still needs to be approved by Congress.

RPCVs mobilize support for Countries of Service RPCV Groups mobilize to support their Countries of Service. Over 200 RPCVS have already applied to the Crisis Corps to provide Tsunami Recovery aid, RPCVs have written a letter urging President Bush and Congress to aid Democracy in Ukraine, and RPCVs are writing NBC about a recent episode of the "West Wing" and asking them to get their facts right about Turkey.

RPCVs contend for Academy Awards Bolivia RPCV Taylor Hackford's film "Ray" is up for awards in six categories including best picture, best actor and best director. "Autism Is a World" co-produced by Sierra Leone RPCV Douglas Biklen and nominated for best Documentary Short Subject, seeks to increase awareness of developmental disabilities. Colombian film "El Rey," previously in the running for the foreign-language award, includes the urban legend that PCVs teamed up with El Rey to bring cocaine to U.S. soil.

Ask Not As our country prepares for the inauguration of a President, we remember one of the greatest speeches of the 20th century and how his words inspired us. "And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man."

Read the stories and leave your comments.