Impossible Missionary

If you’re here you couldn’t fail to know that the Pope’s heading this way soon.

Not here in Bamenda obviously – not sure the Popemobile could deal with the roads, but he will be in the capital and ahead of his trip the Government has been doing some spring cleaning.

YAOUNDE, March 10 (Reuters) – Cameroonian security forces have smashed up the street stalls, where thousands of people earn a living, to give the capital Yaounde a face-lift for a visit by Pope Benedict next week.

The report continues:

“My 10 years of investments have been ruined. I don’t know now what to do to survive,” wailed Mariane Ngoupendji on Monday when she found her typing and printing shop reduced to rubble.

“Will the Pope’s visit replace what I’ve lost?” she said.

And:

“I saw gendarmes and police chasing after fellow Cameroonians, beating them up with such ferocity and smashing their goods,” said a Cameroon Telecommunications company worker, who watched from a third storey window as police cleared stalls near Avenue Kennedy on Saturday.

So far so horrible.  I watched the story break on Twitter and there was plenty of coverage and condemnation.  A new VSO intake were in town and saw much of the “clearance” going on.  The Pope will arrive to a spring cleaned city – they arrived to one of ugly violence and intolerance.

You’d think it would be a hard job to defend the government on this one.  But support for them comes from an unlikely source – a US missionary based in the capital.

He writes: (Post now removed by Impossible Missionary – see update below)

…even if these people were asked to leave, they would probably not do it anyway until they were forced to.  So it’s easy to read an article and accuse the government of being so mean and nasty – which indeed could be very true, especially if the reports of police brutality are factual – but the vendors are not simply innocent bystanders in the whole process either.

He also refers to the stall holders as ignorant saying:

I’m glad that the city is getting a face-lift – it sure makes things look a lot nicer, and the big street lights make driving at night or trying to get a taxi along the main route so much easier and safer.  But it’s sad that some of this clean-up has to mean the destruction of people’s way of life.  Unfortunately, these people were simply ignorant, some willfully so, of the rules and are now facing the consequences.

Woah.

Street stalls are a way of life here.  They are everywhere.  It’s easy just to say they are illegal but they can be pretty solid structures.  What’s more, if they are illegal I’d imagine that they have only been allowed to remain because someone, somewhere is taking a regular few thousands Francs in bribes.

People here struggle.  You can bet these structures don’t turn over much and in a country where enterprise and entrepreneurship is so minimal…well what a way to reward it.

I ask you, if you are in general agreement with what I have written and also find the missionary’s take as ignorant as I do, to leave a comment.  Not below but instead on the missionaries own blog.  Go here.

Thank you.

Update 18/03/09: Our Impossible Missionary after posting something akin to an apology in his own comments box (you’ll also find it in mine), has decided simply to delete the post from his own website.  Also, his apology has gone too.  Anyone who knows anything about blogging will tell you that you live with your own mistakes and when you’ve messed up you don’t just press delete and pretend it didn’t happen.  The home page of the IM’s blog is here.

On the side of that page he writes:

Whatever your hardship or affliction, bear up under it for the sake of the gospel.

I guess that doesn’t include comment box criticism – easier just to delete everything and pretend it never happened.

Elsewhere I particularly like this article on fasting – very relevant for Africa that one.

A letter to a new VSO volunteer Pt.1

(Prompted by a spate of emails from new VSO volunteers)

Dear new VSO volunteer,

So, you’re doing VSO. Nice. You won’t regret it.

Or at least, by the end, you won’t regret it. I am yet to meet anyone who does. Sure we all bitch, moan and rant at times but remember this – we could all go home right now if we wanted to. We don’t.

So let’s get those standard questions out of the way.

The money – it’s enough to get by on but if you want a little luxury then you may have to find a little extra. But to put it in context – I don’t think I prepared a single meal for myself in my first year in Hanoi. Imagine the cost of eating out that often back home.

The next question is the house, right? Okay I’m pretty certain it won’t be a mud hut. I know that’s what you were thinking.

I’ve lived in three VSO homes – a lovely French-style villa in the burbs that I shared with three other volunteers in Hanoi. Later, on the same posting, I got a basic but beautifully located studio style flat.

Here in Bamenda I’ve a brand new spacious home on a quiet road. I even have rooms for guests.

You want to know about the toilet don’t you? Yes I have one. Actually I have two. It flushes – just so long as the water is on. Most of the time it is. I am sure there are volunteers out there that use a latrine but the majority have a very adequate WC.

Then again when we’re on the road, or in the field, things can get a little less sanitary – but you adjust.

Going back to your volunteer home you can expect to have basic furniture, a bed, cooking utensils – or you’ll be given a small grant to purchase your own. A fridge is the norm too – as is whatever cooling apparatus is needed to make your life bearable whatever the heat.

Okay so we’re not talking Embassy style living here – VSO stops short of an SUV, a driver, cook and maid. Just so you know.

The work hours? It varies but it’s likely to be roughly equal to what you do back home. Most volunteers work office hours, take weekends off and enjoy three or four weeks holiday a year. Some even more.

Your very next question is bugs isn’t it? Yes, if you’re going somewhere tropical there is bugs. The good news is I am yet to meet anyone who hasn’t got used to them. Living with them, avoiding them where possible and occasionally killing them becomes second nature. Honestly.

And yes healthcare is provided too. Minor ailments can be treated locally or, if not, they’ll transport you somewhere that can help you.

Food ? Good question. Some people take to local food – some people don’t. Me I tire of limited local choices pretty quick but I’m yet to live anywhere that doesn’t sell fresh fruit and veg by the tonne in the local market.

You can always cook your own food. It’ll be fresh if nothing else. You might want to bring some dried herbs with you though – just for livening things up. Or maybe even some seeds. I’d pay good money for coriander seeds right now.

Meat’s another issue – you want flies with that? Seriously – you get used to cooking it a while and you stop worrying.

The work? Exasperating and rewarding in randon measures. It can drive you mad or it can be a source of euphoria never previously known without chemical assistance.

Ooh something else –  there’s a small box to fill out that says something along the lines of “What can’t you live without and what would you not like to be considered for?”

It’s a very important box.

Be honest with yourself. Me? I don’t do isolation posts. Village life isn’t for me – although I understand that many volunteers love it and wouldn’t have it any other way. Each to their own.

I also, as you might have guessed, require internet. I can only remove myself from the world so much.

Then there’s the blogging. I’d blog if I were you. Very therapeutic and it saves poor VSO staff from listening to my whinging. It also gives friends back home something to read in their lunch hours at work and you can enjoy being the focus of their envy.

What should you bring?

All the obvious items and a plan for entertaining yourself – you might have to do that a lot.

Depending on where you end up, you might spend a lot of time on your own. The iPod, the books, the downloaded movies – all good. Listening to podcasts in the dark keeps me sane when the power goes again.

Next I’m taking it a step further – I’m visiting home at Easter and I’m bringing back a Wii Fit. Hey it’s that or watching badly copied Jet Lee movies. What would you go for?

Give me time and I’ll post a part two. It’ll be less practical and much more of the touchy feely stuff.

However, all you need to know at this point – beyond what I’ve just typed – is that you’ve made the right choice.

But if you’ve any more questions then feel free to ask.

Good luck.

Ourman interviewed

My interview with www.journalism.co.uk went live today and can be found here.

Thanks to Judith Townend for making me sound semi intelligent.

Almost forgot, also thanks to Rachel Beer for this nice link and rather useful plug.

International Women’s Day March, Bamenda, Cameroon 2009

No words needed from me – all the rest of the pics here.

But just wanted to remind you of this:

The United Nations
The UN sets global standards for human rights. But right now it has no single agency with the resources to work globally to improve the status of women.

VSO is campaigning for a new UN agency to help more women earn an income, like Shiasta. This agency will also help women grow more food for their families, access healthcare and have a say in decisions that affect their lives. And it will ensure governments keep their promises about treating women equally.

Add your support here.

Not singing – but dancing…in the rain.

A little celebratory jig to welcome the rains after a long dusty dry season.

Hope the neighbours didn’t see.