The real Bush Experience

As part of the research project that Kohta, Lee, and I have been working on, we travel to various schools to administer surveys to adolescents about their risk-taking behaviors. At the same time, when we visit the schools, we lecture about various health-related topics including HIV and STDs. One of the great things about this project is that we get to travel to many places in Cameroon (concentrated in the Northwest region) and see much of the countryside.

Earlier this week, we travelled to what Cameroonians call “the Bush.” (Not the “bush experience” I referred to in my prior post! Although there were many of those along the way!) When people say “the Bush,” they usually mean a very remote area in the countryside without electricity or running water. We went to 2 villages (Nkor and Lassin), which are about a 3 hour drive from Kumbo. It takes 3 hours not because it is a very far distance, but the roads are un-paved and very rocky and you can never really go more than 5 to 10km/hr maximum. I would compare it to being on an old wooden roller coaster. Continuously. For 3 hours. With no air conditioning.

While there, we visited 4 different schools where kids between the ages of 10 – 18 years old attend. It was quite an experience. Many of the students had never seen a non-black person before so as we were driving through the villages, many kids would start running alongside the car waving. A lot of them also had never even seen a computer so our powerpoint presentation on a portable projector was also pretty popular. Pictured here is Rene, one of the Cameroonian health educators with whom we’re working on this research project. He is lecturing to the entire Government Secondary School in Nkor.

The other cool thing is that after our lecture, Rene said he wanted to play soccer (a very popular sport here). He basically just found a large open space, blew a whistle 3 times and within 10 minutes local kids started coming to the field for an impromptu soccer game. Here I am with some of the kids who decided we were just going to be spectators (can you find me?! J). They basically spent most of the game asking me questions about America.

While in the area, we visited one of the CBC clinics in Lassin. The day that we were there was the mother-child clinic so many women came with their babies for check-ups and also to hear a lecture on vaccination and nutrition. The facilities are simple with a few beds for maternity and adult wards. I posted a picture of a few of the women who came to the clinic to point out 2 things: (1) The many different beautiful patterns of their clothes, and (2) The way they wrap the babies to carry on their backs (definitely a whole lot more economical than a Baby Bjorn!)

Pictured here is one of the traditional huts in this area of Cameroon (this one is still under construction). The base is usually made out of red stone and the roof is constructed from wood planks topped with many layers of dried grass. It’s amazing that they don’t leak when it rains! Every 5 or 6 years, they change the grass that covers the roof. Inside, the floor is usually also made out of stone and furniture is made from bamboo. And yes, those are 2 chickens on the chair that happened to wander inside.