Return to Cameroon

As many of you will know, after an unpleasant struggle to get a short-term visa, Aicha joined me in Ireland for two of the three months that I spent there. Wedding celebrations continued there with a meal in my house for my extended family and a session with friends in the Cellar Bar. There were also sessions with a number of other groups, such as Bank of Ireland colleagues, Irish Life colleagues and neighbours. People were extraordinarily welcoming and hospitable and many also donated funds for further projects in Cameroon. Aicha was very happy in Ireland despite feeling a little cold at times, particularly when we visited the west where she found the Atlantic breeze intimidating. She found the people lovely and the countryside very beautiful. We went to see U2, Riverdance, a jazz band in the Spiegeltent and (regretfully) Fatboy Slim in Marley Park. We also went to Dun Laoghaire to the Festival of World Cultures where we saw dancers from Cameroon perform. There was much that was new to her and the standard of living was far beyond anything she had experienced. It was hard for us both to face back into Cameroon but we are well settled in at this stage.

We arrived in Douala in a pause in the worst rains that people could remember. Douala has a nine month rainy season and is not far from an area which is claimed to have the heaviest rains in the world. I was apprehensive about the train journey from Yaounde to Ngaoundere because I had seen coverage on television of a derailment which killed five people and injured more than 200. Derailments happen every month or two and we have been lucky never to experience one. My apprehension increased when I learnt that there had been a second derailment of a goods train which caused 12 wagons carrying fuel to explode and kill two people. I was told that this was covered up on national television, where some shots of the aftermath were shown with no commentary. Apart from having to wait three days to get a booking on the train (because of the disruption caused by the derailments), happily our journey was largely trouble free.

Back in Maroua we found that many of the volunteers with whom we were friendly had left. However Aicha prepared an end-of-Ramadan feast for volunteers and that enabled us to meet many of the new volunteers. I finally got to see the house that we bought. It has more potential than I expected but also needs more done to it. Work is in progress on building a modern en suite bathroom off the main bedroom and we will move in when that is finished and live in the house while the other renovations continue. When we asked the electricity company to reconnect us they told us that the previous owner had not paid his bills, had been cut off, had illegally connected himself and then had been served with large fines as well as a bill for arrears. They are now telling us that they will not connect us unless we pay all this, and we are currently trying to find a way out of this. At least we can be happy that the house does not appear to have been sold to a number of other buyers, as sometimes happens here.

Before we left Maroua there had been a high profile case where a number of wealthy businessmen had been arrested on suspicion of being involved in a ritual killing of a child. They were said to be members of a sect which practises sorcery. On our return we have heard that all have been released and the charges dropped following payment of large bribes by members of the sect.