Made my first call to Cameroon

I purchased some international calling cards this morning. I called BEDERUP and asked to speak to my contact there. He wasn't available so I had to speak to a nice woman named Sibdelia. At first she gave me a hard time. But being the charmer that I am (haha) I was able to get her to put her guard down and she was very sweet by the end of the conversation. She wanted me to speak to another person there, but since I've developed a rapport with my contact, I'd rather ask him all my initial questions.

Interestingly the first words I heard were in French. Cameroon has two official languages--French and English. I was momentarily afraid that I'd be talking with French speakers. But when Sibdelia answered she spoke in English. This reminds me that I should learn some key French phrases for the French speakers I might encounter.

I missed my contact so I'll keep calling until I eventually reach him. The phone contact makes this more real than ever!!!

Willing documentary participants from the village

My contact in Cameroon and I had a nice email chat today. He told me some widows in the village looked forward to meeting with me and participating in the documentary. I'm very pleased to hear this. I hope I meet others there who are willing to talk and be recorded.

He also talked again about the devastation in the Mbessa village. He's going to send pictures. I hope to share them with someone who can bring attention to the situation. Although Cameroon on a grand scale is a peaceful African country, they suffer from internal disputes like any other country. I hope to learn more about this. For all I know this could be a potential Darfur or Rwanda. If so, it is critical to intervene now before it explodes to a greater conflict. Here is an excerpt from our chat:

[Excerpt]
11:24 AM GM: Hello BeLinda
How are you??
me: How are you!!! I meant to call you this weekend. I was going to use the number on the website. Is that OK??
11:25 AM GM: I have been talking about you to a group of widows[
Yeah but I will have to charge my phone as it ran out of charges
11:26 AM me: Is it a mobile phone?
11:27 AM GM: yep,..,but it fix on one corner of the office
me: what would be a good day to call you this week or next week?
GM: as the network coverage is on spoted areas here
11:28 AM Thursday will be great
me: Will I be able to use my mobile phone there this summer?
OK, I will call you using the numbers on the website Thursday.
GM: yeah
me: Any particular time? I want to account for our time difference.
11:29 AM Are the widows from the village that was burned down??
GM: we could fix it for 6 pm my time
11:30 AM it is 7;30 pm here now
no
me: OK, that'll work.
GM: they were from a neighboring village call Njinikom
11:31 AM I told them they will be receiving a new American Volunteer this time who is of their color
11:32 AM I told them your name,..,and they were excited about the news,..,I also told them that you will be doing a documentary
11:33 AM me: That's wonderful. I'm anxious to meet them and to hear their stories about their lives. And I hope they don't mind me sharing my life here in San Francisco.
11:34 AM GM: they will be so happy and welcoming
We have a program with widows where they come in and learn how to use medicinal plants for health remedies..,
Widows are a set of disadvantage group in the community as women have problems with land inheritance issues
Given it is
[Excerpt]
Question; I can send you pictures of the fire incident?? are you still interested helping victims
me: Oh yes, sure. I've been expecting you to do so. If you don't mind I'll pass it along to other people. Perhaps we can draw some attention to it.
11:55 AM GM: so we are gathering cloths and food supplies
Ok,..,I'ms so happy to hear ,..,,yeah pass it on to any sympathizer

11:56 AM GM: I will be here later
have enjoyed talking to you
me: OK, I'm going to lunch now. We can discuss this more during our conversation Thursday.---Peace . . . .
GM: wish you a great day,..,.,..,

Invitation letter from BEDERUP is here

Right after I published the previous post, I checked my email and discovered my invitation letter.

So I guess I gotta go now :-)

I'll contact the other groups and let them know officially that I'm committed to BEDERUP. And I'm calling BEDERUP tomorrow to acknowledge receipt and have a frank conversation about my health. I want them to know the truth. At first I wanted to hide it so they wouldn't reject me. But now I feel I need to discuss it so I can manage myself while I'm there. I'll let them know my need for water. They also need to know I don't eat meat. Animal protein isn't good for me and I want them to know it so no one is offended when I have to refuse. I'm not sure if being a vegetarian insults them culturally. Probably not, but you never know and the only way to know is to ask!

I'm excited and happy. Now I need to focus on feeling well and starting a video shooting schedule to document this.

Very interesting opinions from friends

I have friends who are concerned about me going on the trip, especially in reference to my health. As I've noted in a previous post I have a chronic kidney ailment. Many of my days for the past year or so have been agonizing. Yet, I keep moving on the best I can with the hopes I can conquer it or at the very least manage it effectively.

My friends see me daily and know how I suffer. Since it's already mid-April and I haven't progressed as much as I had hoped by now, they are urging me to postpone this trip until next year.

I have to admit I've had these thoughts too. I don't want to be a burden on my hosts or for that matter to myself. For example, I need to drink almost a gallon of water a day to feel good. I need water like a diabetic needs insulin. Will I be able to get that much clean water each day? I hope I'm not being ignorant by wondering about this. However, since we'll be in a remote village I have to ask. They may be offended that I think they might not have clean drinking water. I base this concern because of the limited press coverage of Africa. We in the US probably only hear all the bad stuff--droughts, famines, wars, etc. Not all locations in Africa may not have this problem.

I'm optimistic. I still believe BeLinda can do anything she sets her mind to do. But admittedly my kidneys and I don't see eye-to-eye on this. So I've decided to ask my doctor's opinion about it. I've also decided to monitor the month of June. If I can have at least 90% of that month with no incidents of pain and fatigue, then I'll feel more confident in going. If not, I'll postpone until 2008.

Life can never be simple. But I guess that's what makes life interesting . . .

Very simple solution . . .

I contacted CAMBIETEC and HINT and informed them that will contact them in a couple of weeks of what I might be able to contribute to them.

How simple was that!? Instead of pondering and stressing over how to juggle the organizations, I should have simply contacted them and told them I needed more time.

Duh!!

I don't know about you, but I have a tendency to make situations more difficult than they have to be. You'd think by now I would know better. After all life is hard enough. There are some things you absolutely have no control. HOwever, some instances in life you can control and when you can, you should.

30th Anniversary of the mini-series ROOTS

As I was channel surfing I noticed TV1 is showing ROOTS to honor its 30th anniversary. You know that caught my attention! I'm going to Africa to get in touch with my roots this year--how ironically timely.

The most interesting thing about it is how old it makes me feel. I remember when ROOTS debuted back in 1977. I was a sophomore in college! Thirty years later I now have a daughter who's a freshman in college.(Yes, Airwolf, now you know my age:-) Seems like yesterday we were huddled in the college dorm absorbing every episode. And believe me it was really interesting to watch this in the mid-seventies at my Mississippi, predominantly white college campus. To describe that would take it's own blog site--hahaha.

Back then I was a carefree college student, totally absorbed in my life. I THOUGHT I had problems then, but little did I know what real problems would be later in life!

A few of my friends who were watching back then are not on the earthly plane anymore. I'm glad I made it to celebrate the 30th anniversary. Hope I'm around for the 60th anniversary . . . .

OK, I guess I'm wrong . . .

I haven't contacted the other groups. It occurs to me that I haven't received the formal invitation letter I was promised from BEDERUP. Until I get it, I wonder if I should let the other groups go?

I don't doubt that BEDERUP won't send the invitation. I've already wired my reservation fee to them. They have received and acknowledged it. And they've said they're going to send the formal invitation. But from life experience it seems it's never wise to let one opportunity go until you secure another one--sort of like don't quit your job until you have another one :-)

It's early April and I'm not scheduled to be in Africa until mid-July. Seems like I won't be dishonorable if I wait a few more days until I get the formal invitation.

Probably making this too hard. I have a tendency to do that!!

Informing the other groups that I'm not coming . . .

I've made the decision to join BEDERUP this summer, but I've yet to inform the other groups of my decision. And I must tell them today. I don't know why I'm 'stressing' over it. After all it's not like I'm an Oprah Winfrey, a sister with money and star power. I'm just a little ole' tech writer in San Francisco with no influence and little money in the grand scheme of things.

But I'm connected to these people by blood. I feel an obligation to care and help in whatever way I can. I suppose my dilemma centers on wanting to help them all, which is impossible. If I had a year off from work I'd find a way to spend time with each group, but that isn't the case.

Although I can't be with each group personally, I will offer to be a go-between for any contacts they want to make here. Perhaps I can help them find organizations here who'll donate time and money on their efforts. And maybe one day I'll get around to spending time with them all.

Vacation????

My trip to Cameroon won't be a vacation in the typical going somewhere and lounging on the beach. (I'll get to that later hopefully!!)

I'll be assigned writing duties for different projects, such as proposals, brochures, and so on. One of the projects will be to help in some way to assist the villagers who were rendered homeless in Mbessa, a village in Belo Subdivision following a land conflict with Oku. Read more ...

Screw the gym, I'd rather do yoga

In one of my earlier posts, I stated all the things I needed to do (Tuesday, January 23, 2007) to prepare for Cameroon. One of those things is to get in better physical shape. At the time of the posting, I had accepted a 10-day trial membership with 24 Hour Fitness. It was my intent to join after the trial. But I went through a bout of illness and never got around to paying for the membership.

During my struggle of getting better it occurred to me that I should do yoga to get in shape instead of working out in a gym. First of all, I HATE gyms. I can't take running, biking, and sweating in a confined space with strangers, most of whom are there to pick up someone. I have no problem with picking up someone, but not when and where I'm working out. That's just like making the moves on someone while you're putting on your makeup!

Yoga is more introspective. You can be around a bunch of strangers, but you focus on your spiritual as well as physical development. You're encouraged not to focus on what others do around you. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure yoga studios are probably hotbeds for pickups, but it's more subtle. With yoga, I can develop muscle strength, flexibility, and endurance without lifting heavy steel objects. Not to mention it's a perfect vehicle for restorative activity for a less than optimum body. Yoga allows me to BREATHE.

So the bottomline FOR ME is--- yoga yes, gym no.