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Cameroon
As we close this first ever distribution in the West African country of Cameroon, we thank our Overseas Volunteer Partner, the United Action for Children of Cameroon, for all their hard work and effort to bring the gift of sleep to 500 children. These photos capture a few special moments . . . mercis beaucoup . . . au revoir Cameroon.
Team Cameroon, 2024
United Action for Children of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and SCAW 🇨🇦
💖Sunshine and smiles 💖
The cattle quietly roam past the hotel as is usual every morning, holding their heavily horned heads high until they find a morsel of sparse grass.
Today, after so many overcast days, it is sunny and the sky is clear - a perfect day for our last distribution at Bomona Gare.
We set out along the bumpy road following two trucks, one piled high with brightly-coloured mattresses and the other full of the rest of the bedkits - backpacks that are yellow, orange, blue and black croc style shoes and numerous other items.
Upon arrival at the school, which normally had over 700 children, we were delighted to find lots of space outside, and since it was Saturday no-one else was there. We had time to play with the children. There was lots of laughter as well as giggles, jumping and diving to retrieve the frisbee. We also took a few goofy photos of the team.
It was a beautiful area and once we had set up, the distribution went very quickly.
Before we knew it it was over. Everyone was so enthusiastic and helpful, always welcoming and warm-hearted. We will miss the friendship and love.
Thank you to each and every one who made this distribution possible. 💖
Team Cameroon, 2024
United Action for Children of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and SCAW 🇨🇦
Today is our third day in the country and our second day of distribution. We are starting to see a pattern in how the time works here. For example, when they are planning to get us at 10 they actually arrive past noon because of the traffic. So, after 2 hours resting time in the lobby, we hit the road to meet the kids at Yato primary school and, what was supposed to take around 30 minutes, finally took us over and hour and a half since we had to wait while our driver and his partners got the driver’s license check point solved and then we had to wait for the numerous herds of cattle wandering the highway.
The school is located just in front of a rubber tree plantation. It was like being home in an old-style sugar shack, but the sap of the trees looks like thick marshmallow.
The trees are very big and majestic which created a very nice feeling of order and peace.
We had to walk the last 500 meters of the road as our car couldn’t go further.
What a nice welcome we got from the kids when we entered the schoolyard! They gave us a lot of help to set everything up and, in no time, we had the 150 bedkits distributed. Before we left, Charles played some soccer with the kids.
We came back to the hotel without any surprises and discussed with our OVP about how the day went and what we should do tomorrow.
A good shower before dinner made our day a complete joy and, as things change often here, we had 3 plates of chicken and 2 fish because they didn’t have a third portion of fish available. We were lucky they had 3 chickens 😊
Notre troisième jour dans le pays et deuxième distribution. Nous commençons a comprendre comment le temps fonctionne ici… Lorsqu’ils prévoient venir nous chercher à 10, ils arrivent passé midi… le trafic étant le responsable de ces longs délais. Donc, après 2 heures à nous reposer dans le lobby de l’hôtel, nous avons pris la route pour rejoindre les enfants à l’école Yato, école primaire. Mais, le trajet qui devait nous prendre 30 minutes nous a pris plus d’une heure trente car nous avons dû attendre que notre chauffeur et ses collègues règlent le dossier de la vérification des permis de conduire…et, les nombreux troupeaux de taureaux qui se promenaient près et même sur l’autoroute…
L’école est située juste en face d’une belle plantation d’arbre à caoutchouc. L’endroit nous a fait penser aux entailles des érables dans nos belles cabanes à sucre tradionnelles. La sève a l’apparence de guimauve épaisse, ce qui est très diffèrent de notre sirop! Les arbres sont très majestueux, tout en rangées et matures…. Cela nous fait sentir en paix et en tranquillité d’avoir passé du temps dans cette forêt!
Nous avons marché le dernier 500 mètres puisque notre voiture ne pouvait pas se faufiler plus loin entre les arbres. Nous avons eu droit à un chaleureux accueil des enfants dès notre entrée dans la cour d’école! Ils nous ont bien aidé à tout préparer et, en un rien de temps, les 150 ensembles de lits étaient distribués. Avant de quitter, Charles a pris le temps de jouer un peu de soccer avec les enfants pour leur plus grand bonheur!
Nous sommes revenus à l’hôtel sans surprises et, nous avons discuté avec l’équipe locale qui nous aident de notre journée et avons planifié également notre prochaine distribution qui aura lieu demain.
Une bonne douche avant le souper nous a apporté beaucoup de joie et, comme tout change souvent ici, nous avons eu 3 plats de poulet et 2 de poisson car, ils n’avaient pas le troisième poisson qu’ils nous avaient proposés… nous sommes heureux qu’ils aient au moins une portion de poulet pour le remplacer 😊
Team Cameroon, 2024
United Action for Children of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and SCAW 🇨🇦
Today our OVP (Orock) arranged a car with a driver and a tour guide for us to do some exploring.
We exchanged our money for Central American Francs as the hotel would only accept cash, as does everywhere else here it seems. The exchange happened through the car window with a street money exchanger. We felt lucky to have our guide with us!!!!
Off we went to an artisan market which was a fascinating place. Our guide then took us to a local restaurant for an early dinner. It was an interesting day!
Team Cameroon, 2024
United Action for Children of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and SCAW 🇨🇦
From yesterday: Arrived at the hotel . . . 1 in the morning . . . ready for bed!
And today: The team had a good night's sleep in readiness for a get-to-know-you meeting with Orock and his team. What we were not prepared for was . . . "We are distributing 200 bedkits today!" This was a change of plans from the November 15th start date we were anticipating.
The equipment was hurriedly gathered . . . and we missed nothing! A good night’s sleep helped us, no doubt.
With lots of helpers on hand for this first ever Cameroon 🇨🇲+ SCAW 🇨🇦 distribution the day went smoothly. This was a great start for what we hope will be a long term relationship.
The children, like children all over the world, were an absolute joy!
Team Cameroon, 2024
United Action for Children of Cameroon 🇨🇲 and SCAW 🇨🇦
