I want to make a few disclaimers.
I do not mean to imply that Cameroonians are promiscious- I think people are the same pretty much everywhere in the world and of course each person is different. Honestly I know little about people’s sex lives here. I only wanted to say that the cultural attitude towards sex (not actual behavior) reminds me of America. Furthermore, all of the men that have come to my door courting have been unfailingly polite and I have never felt endangered or even uncomfortable. I feel a lot safer here than I did in America.
Nor do I want to imply Cameroonians are suspersticious or uneducated. There are many great universities and even the high school kids are doing stuff like crazy advanced math I’d never try- not to mention everyone speaks like five languages. And though I’ve found few people that know much about America, almost everyone can tell you tons about France, because that is what is relevant here. I’ve also been surprised at how many people have studyed at University abroad- many at my high school have spent time in France. But the concentration of people with higher education are in the larger cities where there is work for them, not so much in the villages where volunteers are more likely to be. And as for superstition- I’m sure that a Cameroonian in America hearing something like “You’re a Capricorn, too? No wonder we get along so well” would think the same things I think here. It’s just a different set of beliefs, which sometimes surprises me because they are not what I am used to. Indeed, the only reason why these things surprise me is because otherwise everything seems so much like home that I forget I am on the other side of the world.
Also, Peace Corps volunteers are not freaky zombies with post traumatic stress disorder- I was being a little dramatic with the whole glazed eye thing. And I think our romantic lives are pretty much on par with others our age. It can be difficult living outside of your culture for so long- being an outsider in both worlds, and we do get exposed to some difficult things and some of us do end up with some scars (I’ve got my very own half dollar scar on my calf from a motorcycle exhaust pipe). But the vast majority of volunteers rate it among the best experiences of their life.
And finally, take everything I say with a grain of salt. I am learning about this culture, and honestly I know next to nothing about it. I realize that I’m making a lot of generalizations based on my limited experience. Everyone is different and you find the whole range of humanity here. If I have misinterpreted something, said something offensive or otherwise screwed up, please let me know and I will correct it. Also out of respect for the privacy of others, I have and will change certain identifying details. And once again, these are all just my private musing and do not reflect the official views of the Peace Corps, the US Government, or anyone else.
I owe a ton to my neighborhood and the people here, who have universally been friendly, welcoming and helpful. I’ve honestly never met a better bunch of people. I feel very lucky to have been placed in Cameroon and in my particular town. Cameroon is a great host country, and I am very thankful that they will have us. I am grateful to all who have helped make this such a great experience for me as well as all of the people I know that are working hard to make Cameroon a better place. There is an attitude that it is all foreign NGOs that are doing development work, and this is not true. The vast majority is done by motivated intellegent and caring people within their own communities. There is no shortage of that in Cameroon and I have had the honor of meeting and working with some truly amazing people.
Now…
How useful is computer education?
Actually, I think it is very useful. First off, this place is rural now, but times are changing. People can see the future coming and they are very eager to learn computers and technology. Places like banks, offices, schools, etc. are starting to take advantage of computers- for example, many schools still do report cards by hand and keep carbon copies, but this is changing. My school does it by computers and it saves literally like a week straight of filling out papers and doing calculations. More and more jobs are going to demand computer skills. And a self employed person (which I think most people are) is more effective with a computer than without one. The world is only going on direction- towards technology. We’ve seen it in Asia and we will see it here.
Secondly, it is a little bit like the “cell phone” effect. Books are hard to get here. But with the Internet, it doesn’t matter so much that a town doesn’t have a library. People who previously had no method for discovering things like health information, how to apply to American universities, where to find funding for community development projects, etc. now have a way. It’s simply amazing how much of the world has opened up just with the opening of one cybercafe- and it’s a lot more efficient than trying to open a library.
This is not going to be the same place in ten years that it is now- and that is what I am preparing my kids for. I may not be able to teach them everything, but I hope I can get them comfortable around technology and eager to learn more.