Dry Season Gardening

This year I have decided to do a dry season garden and, with the experience of my ups and downs during rainy season, feel confident of the outcome. I am fortunate enough to have as much water as I need, since it is delivered to my house twice a week, but with this in mind, I wanted to continue to conserve water and only planted a few items.

I started out with basil, continued from the rainy season, just a different plant. As always, basil is amazing but particularly wonderful in omelettes too.


Cherry tomatos staked against my sekko walls. Working out pretty well and looking forward to them. Three of my four tomato plants from rainy season died from what I feel is heat exhaustion (certainly not a lack of water since I water daily), and the surviving plant produces plum tomatos.

After nearly a year of attempting to produce flowers in this pot, I have successfully produced a watermelon plant- two to be exact. Go figure. The problem with melons here is that you have to protect them against bugs since they are so sweet. I once had a large watermelon and was thrilled to eat it but, alas, upon cutting it open I found it full of maggots and worms. Better luck this time (I hope).

I have been trying to convince people since the start of the harvest season leave their peanut shells on their fields as a form of compost. The peanut shells help fertilize the soil but many people scoff at the idea. I have, thus, started the concept in my yard in the hopes that visitors will inquire as to why on earth do I have peanut shells all over my yard.

As dry season starts up again this year, once again the anacardium trees are in full bloom. Anacardium is the fruit (see below) and the nut hangs from the bottom. In order to get the nut, cashew nut to be precise, you burn off the hard outer shell and roast it in the embers of an outdoor fire. Note: If you don't roast the cashew long enough you may get sick- it's pretty toxic when not fully cooked. Below is a red anacardium tree in my yard- the red produces once a year, for about one month. The difference from the yellow is in the taste- yellow is deemed sweeter while the red is a bit more tart.

Along with the heat of dry season, I try to encourage men and women alike to dry their fruit. In a month it will be mango season, and hopefully people will dry out mangos to sell in the market or simply to preserve to have in the off-season. Below is a photo of a drying rack in my yard. It was left by my predecessor and is simply two squares of wood, covered with mosquito netting and nailed into place. It is a double-rack system, where fruit can be placed on the top level or within the two racks, in the middle. The sun is hot, 140 degrees, and dries fruit, including tomatos even, very fast.

My house guardian enjoys drying out the anacardium fruits, citing it as even sweeter and as a nice and portable treat.

Project Update

I want to send an enormous thank you to all of those who contributed to my water project. It will be starting in 2-3 weeks time, at which time I will have photos and live updates for everyone. The gutters will be ordered and hopefully delivered in 3 weeks time, along with the other materials as well, and the community is very excited to begin work. As it is the start of hot season, the students are especially looking forward to having drinking water and the teachers at the CES are prepared to start their sessions on how to treat the water. I am sorry I do not have more to report, but I wanted to make sure that everyone knows what is going on here in Douroum. Thank you again for your generous support and stay tuned!

Savon :: Soap

About 6 months ago, a volunteer posted nearby began experimenting with making soap. After several trials and errors, she perfected her Peanut Oil Soap and began sessions for the rest of us to learn how to make soap at home. We, too, had our ups and downs, but after trying it out at our houses, we have been able to show local womens groups how to make soap.

One of the great things about a formation on soap is that it is quick, simple and low-maintenance. If done correctly, the soap can be sold for a small profit or simply used in the household. Women were pretty excited to try it out in Douroum, Mayo Malao and Mandama. We also tend to discuss hygiene and the importance of washing hands before and after using the toilet and, thus, the role that soap plays in cutting down on diseases spread by hand-mouth transmission. The women also save money on buying soap from the shops or the market, and can turn a profit by selling it themselves. Hopefully, the production of soap will contribute to the overall health of each household with the hand-washing sensitizing.

The following is a brief rundown on how we make soap as PCVs in Cameroon but please please DO NOT take this as an expert manual by any means, nor necessarily the most effective way to make soap. Any ideas or suggestions for improvement are always welcome!

Materials:

• One wooden spoon
• Lye (powder form)
• 1-2 Litres of Peanut, Vegetable, Palm Oil- pick one or two, peanut was used to make body soap
• An 8x8 piece of cloth- we use the local fabric, pagne
• Plastic bowl or tupperware dish
• Rubber band or string
• Two cooking pots
• Firewood - or a gas range stove
• Measuring cup of any size you want
• Gloves
• Water
• Vinegar one part lye, 4 parts water, 8 parts oil

Process:

1. Put on the gloves and keep the bottle of vinegar near you. The purpose of the vinegar is to treat any burns caused by the lye. Lye is very strong and will burn you if it touches any part of your skin; thus, the gloves. NOTE: Keep small children away- though easier said than done, a lye burn can cause serious damage to a child.
2. Take your measuring cup (1/2, 3/4, 1) and measure out one serving of lye, depositing it carefully into a plastic bowl or tupperware container. Add to the same bowl, 4 servings of water. NOTE: If you use a one-cup measuring device for the lye, you will use the same size i.e. one cup for the lye. If you use 1/2 cup for the lye, its using 1/2 cup measuring cup 4 times for the 4 servings of water.
3. Stir the water and lye together until fully dissolved- stir carefully, a splash will burn you as well.
4. Feel the bottom or sides of the container and you will notice that the chemical reaction of the lye with the water causes the mixture to heat up- in fact, it can get very hot.
5. After having dissolved the water and lye, take the same measuring cup (i.e. one cup or 1/2 cup) and measure out 8 servings of oil into a pot over either a) a fire or b) a gas stove. **For peanut soap, use 6 servings of peanut oil and 2 servings of either palm, cotton or vegetable oil. The peanut oil is used because it is not harsh on your skin.
6. Heat the oil until the temperature is the same as the temperature of the lye and water mixture. Continue to test the oil heat against the lye/water heat and when they are the same temperature, pour the oil slowly into the lye mixture.
7. Immediately, but slowly, start stirring the entire mixture with the wooden spoon. Stir until the mixture is slightly yellow- a creamier yellow- and then stop. NOTE: Do not overstir because the mixture will separate but equally do not understir because you do not want the soap to set with lumps.
8. Next, cover the mixture with your piece of cloth, securing it with a rubber band or piece of string, and set it aside for 3 full days in a cool and guarded place. After 3 days, remove the cloth and cut the soap into as many pieces as you want, in various shapes if you want. The mixture should have solidified. If the mixture DID NOT solidify, you did not get the temperature of the liquids correct before mixing, your lye powder may have damp - thus diminishing the effectiveness of the chemical reaction- or there may have been too much stirring.
9. Take the soap out of the container and leave it out in a cool and guarded place for the next 3 weeks. After three weeks you can use the soap.
10. Throw out or thoroughly clean and disinfect the gloves.
11. This peanut oil soap is meant to be used as a body soap but women have told me they used it to wash dishes, clothing and children with perfect results.

FURTHER NOTES:

• Storage of your lye in ziploc bags or airtight containers prevents moisture from entering
• Vinegar can be used to clean your wooden spoon and containers so that you dont wipe lye all over your sponge and also your house
• Women tend to get frustrated that they have to wait three weeks, but reassuring them of the long-term benefits can sometimes help
• The ratio is: 1 part lye :: 4 parts water:: 8 parts oil

Lye is purchased in Cameroon at construction shops. Most often it is sold in 20 kilo sacks for 17,000 cfa and is not sold in smaller amounts. I am hoping that different women's groups will cotese money to buy x amount of kilos to try out the soap.

Like I said earlier, this is a work in process, and we are still working to perfect soap-making on a local level. The next step I am going to take is to experiment with wood ash: easily available, economically efficient- much more so than lye- and safer to use, wood ash has been used to make soap in the past- no reason why we shouldn't try that technique here in Cameroon.

1 Dec 2009 World AIDS Day

This past year was the first (and hopefully not the last) celebration of World AIDS Day in Douroum and Mandama. Both villages have AIDS associations and receive government assistance which, unfortunately, never makes it to the people who need it the most. Nonetheless, neither village had fully recognized the International AIDS Day, 1 december, and my postmate and I decided to hold some events and sessions within our communities to generate interest.

We decided to organize a soccer game (one event that never fails to generate interest and attract large crowds in cameroonian society). Indeed, we even took it a step further and involved both of our Girls Clubs- lycee and ces- the equivalent of high school and middle school. One thing to mention is the large rivalry between our respective villages in all aspects of life, sports included. Thus, I began training my girls in September and Kauleen worked with hers in late November, but the clincher was that we planned on mixing the two teams so that the rivalry wouldn't be full-blown. We wanted to encourage a friendly atmosphere and for the two villages to work together towards a common and just cause: HIV/AIDS education and sensitizing communities.

The day of the match rolled around and despite many last minute issues- including my lamido's refusal to support AIDS Day citing it as "not an important issue" and "not something he would support" - the teams were mixed, the game was played and the girls all participated in sessions where they learned about the 4 fluids of transmission, AIDS prevention and statistics. I am hoping that next year both communities will continue to recognize AIDS as an important and life-threatening issue and hold events for 1 December.

Women of Tra

As of October 2009, a new women's group was formed in Tra, a nearby village about 5-7 km from Douroum. I had done a soy formation in Tra earlier in my service and told them to contact me if they wanted me to return and work there. My system was, and has been, to wait for a message from a village or group of people who want to work with me. That way, I know that the community has initiated interest and put forth the effort to send me a message and convene for a meeting- all of which are small, but important, steps. Up until now, I had heard nothing from Tra and, not wanting to force myself upon a community if they didn't want or need me there, I waited and worked in other nearby villages. About a few months ago, I received a note from Tra asking me to come and help a new group of women.

The primary ethnic group of Tra is Dabba, with some Fulbe and Guidar, and is predominantly Christian and Animist, with very few Muslims. The first meeting I went to blew me away. I had set up a meeting time of 2pm and not only did the women show up on time, they had (and have since) perfect attendance. Most of my meetings in Douroum are guaranteed to start about an hour or two after the fixed time; thus, I was thoroughly impressed from the start. The women are well organized and really only need me as a sounding board for their ideas and work plans. There are about 20-25 women, ages 17-28, mostly of Dabba origin. One woman, Asta, speaks French and the rest speak Dabba and a small amount of Fulfulde. Almost all of the women have 3-4 children each and most have toddlers.

Our first meeting was to outline the purpose of the group and various technicalities of meeting time/place, weekly or monthly dues, or cotesing as we call it here. The women had already decided they wanted to cultivate peanuts and peanuts alone. They were slightly open to the idea of companion planting with soy, but their sole desire was for peanuts. When asked why, they simply responded that they have always had successful peanut crops and were already able to make a living off of the production and sale of peanuts. One sack alone, about 50 kilos, can be sold in the market for 30,000 FCFA- roughly 65USD. The average person cultivates about 1-2 carrs worth of land and a woman who has 2 carrs worth of peanuts generates about 6-7 sacks- an excellent source of income. Furthermore, the women decided to use the profits for pharmaceuticals. In essence, what they would be doing is cultivating peanuts, selling them for a profit and then guarding their money to use in case someone's child falls sick or needs medical treatment. Eventually, they want to open a pharmacy with their money, but for the time-being they are content to use their earnings to tend to the health of their families.

Successive meetings have established a bureau, i.e. a President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc, and have established a cotesation system. Cotesing is a term for pooling money together or the equivalent of member dues. Groups can decide to do this on a weekly or monthly basis, establishing a specific amount. The money is then guarded by the Treasurer, recorded by the Secretary and utilized for various purposes. Perhaps the group needs to buy seeds for planting, or they would like to throw a party for some holiday - the key is that each member is involved in the decision-making process of how the group will use their money.

This group has decided to start cotesing in January 2010. Meetings will be held weekly on Thursday mornings at 9am and each woman shall contribute 100 cfa. In the coming months the women will learn accounting techniques and how to organize their group ledgers; agroforestry techniques to improve soil fertility; health sessions on maternal health and nutrition. I am excited for the formation of this group, especially since they are very well-organized and are self-sufficient; they hold meetings whether or not I am able to make it; and they are overall proactive and wonderful to work with.

October 2009

I have finally gotten enough time (not to mention ambition) to sit down and update. My apologies for the lack of communication. Things have been on fast-forward lately and so I shall backtrack to October where I had several new mini projects crop up.

I decided to pair up with the Paul D. Coverdell Worldwise Schools Progam/Peace Corps after hearing positive feedback from other volunteers. The program is meant to foster communication and cross-cultural exchange between an American classroom and a Peace Corps Volunteer, but I decided to forgo my place in the exchange and, instead, use Cameroonian students. As of right now, there are 12 elementary school children in Douroum communicating with approximately 20 American third-graders, and the exchange is great. Students on both sides are excited and both teachers are enthusiastic and motivated. I held an essay competition for the students of the Environmental Education Club at the elementary school and chose 12 students to draw photos and write mini essays about their lives here in Cameroon. I also took their photographs to send to America. Technology is limited on my end, with my digital camera and simple video function, not to mention the slowness of the postal system, but I think that this is a great way to demonstrate to American students the gross differences in lifestyles. We have just completed Unit One which was a personal/autobiographical unit introducing the children to each other. Unit Two will address communities and Unit Three will be comprised of environmental issues. All in all, things are going smoothly and I am glad I decided to undertake this project.

The second venture was a collaboration between myself and a nearby health volunteer on HIV/AIDS education. We held a session on the transmission and prevention of HIV/AIDS with the students at the CES and then afterwards held a soccer match, with mixed-gender teams. The information session was more successful than forming mixed-gender teams. We also held a couple of maternal health sessions in Douroum and also in Tra for women and men alike.

UNICEF

I just found out this past week that Unicef works in my village. They work mostly in the Primary School but I thought I'd leave this link to their program in Cameroon for those of you who are interested: http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cameroon.html