vendredi 24 avril 2009

two months already!!!

I can't believe that today makes the third of my stay here... meaning that next month it will be half! I cannot say the same for the amount of work I have done...

Daylife

Walking out of my house, watching the kids going to school at 7:30 am. Don't forget your uniform, or you can't enter the school!
As french teachers complain about their 30 children, they should think about the african classrooms filled with more than 50...


motorbikers cleaning their bikes at the river:


Work

And because some might wonder if i'm working sometimes... What am I doing during the day?
Besides reading reports about compost or task management, meeting people and writing notices, I sometimes go for visits and interviews. An example with Prince Momo, from the chefferie Foto, that i visited last month, and who shows us his fields a month later.

if you remember, here is what the green beens looked like in march:

and today:


same for tomatoes and corn:


what's his secret? COMPOST! he has been making it for years, using corn canes and grass, or organic waste.
How to check if the compost has done his job? by looking at the depth of the earth, as Benoit, my new colleague, explains (he's the one who studied agriculture and who works on waste management, as I specialized in environmental engineering and work on composting, find the logic...)


my colleague Elise, doing her market:


The harvest: corn, green beens and taro, a good dinner in prospect! :)


we take advantage of the visit for sightseeing a little bit:

still about work:
They finally finished the roofs of the "Market A"...


... and bought garbage bins for the dustmen
(note that it was written white on green before, but because these are the colors of the party of opposition - SDF, they had to paint over...)


Back to the fun now!

The best designer in the town, making my loincloth for the Girl's day of the chefferie Fongo Tongo.

Girl Day of Fongo-Tongo:


people were impressed that I made my loincloth with the same fabric that they chose and they invited me to their Gala night next week! :)

The day after, I went to funerals, again, but that time, just for eating ;) and a friend's sister made plaits with pearls all over my head, and now i look like Lady Ponce, the famous "Bikutsi" singer! nice, but when it comes to sleep...





A Sunday at the university

as i was supposed to go to Mount Bamboutos, but the weather was unsure, I decided to visit the campus with a friend.

Dschang and the University from the hills:

the gril dormitories:



inside de dormitories ("parity" is not a common word yet...)

"Amphi 600", a lecture hall supposed to host 600 students...

... according to my friend, 2000 students is common, some coming with their own chair, other sitting on the stairs or standing in the back!

Tennis courts, football and basketball field, the result of the University Games, that the University of Dschang hosted last year:

on the hill: crops, in order to maximize the space:and because the University was formely a school of agriculture...

Monts Bamboutos, where we were supposed to go...
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboutos

and the Climatic Center, from the hills (note that the swimming pool seems to be blue now!)


lundi 20 avril 2009

A deadly weekend...


Foréké-Dschang Funerals

Saturday 18th ws the last day of the 2-week funerals of the chief Djoumessi Mathias
of the chefferie Foréké-Dschang, dead in 1966. According to the newspaper "Le Citoyen Dschang" (http://www.lecitoyendschang.com/infos2.php?citoyen=109), he was known as one of the greatest chief that the West Province has known. Following the Bamiléké tradition, the funerals occur several years after the death (about 50 for this one), when the dead person is considered to have reached the ancestor status. Then he can watch over his family and connect with Gods to improve living-people life. The body is dig up and this is the occasion for lots of speeches, music, food, etc. for anyone willing to attend the ceremony.


the chief's wives:The secret societies and guardians:



At the center of the chefferie's plaza: the sacred Tree:


The musical instruments, the sacred ones hiden behind a vegetal screen:


The clothes made individually in the fabric chosen for the ceremony:
Traditional dances with specific Bamiléké fabric (white and blue):





The most important people (chieves and their wives) carry horse tails:

Unfortunately, the rain started at 2pm and didn't stop till 7pm, so I did not see the entire ceremony. I understand why they usually celebrate funerals during the dry season!

As I went back home and slept all the afternoon (nothing else to do when it's raining strongly and when there is no electricity), a friend inviting me to his girlfriend's birthday party. A good occasion for catching up with dancing and eating! :)

Traditional dishes: grilled fish and chicken, plantains (boiled or fried), egges and ndolé, manioc sticks and hot pepper sauce, sweetened peanuts and pop corn:

ONE bottle of champagne for... 30 people! hope you're not too thirsty...

The most famous local dance: Coupé-Décalé (from Ivory Coast) that you have to learn when going out in nightclubs!








A deadly accident at the swimming pool

But why did I entitled this article a "deadly weekend"?
Because, besides the funerals (occuring a long time after the death anyways), a very sad accident happened at the swimming pool. As I was supposed to go diving after the funerals but didn't because of the rain, a student drowned in the deep pond, below the diving boards. Because he didn't struggled or call for help, and because of the cloudy green water, it took a while for the swimming instructors to find him at the bottom. After resuscitating him, they took him to the hospital, where the doctor said he would be fine. The young man died an hour later...
Is the swimming pool or the hospital responsible? This week inspection will tell us, but one thing is sure, the pool won't reopen till the water is totally clear. We told them several time to clean it up, but they needed a death for doing it...

After this weekend strong in emotions, i go back home to clean the house, do my laundry and wash my hair. Now I understand why Sundays are made for, especially when you don't have water at the tap and electricity!
Other than that, I appreciate more and more my place, for leaving on the hill where it's cooler and without moskitos, waking up with the birds and roster, to enjoying interesting sunsets and going to bed with calm music from the neighbors :)