And thats me from Cameroon!

Hey peeps...

So after 15 whole days without the internet...I'm back in Kumba having said my goodbyes to Bangem (and having found out on my last day that they now have an internet connection in town installed in the town - d'oh!). It was definitely weird saying goodbye...

The last two weeks were spent putting finishing touches to a few of the docs that i've produced, helping my colleagues in their activities and really winding down getting ready for Uganda. I was able to attend a WWF Workshop on the demarcation of national forest - which involved various delegates and local chiefs, and a great couple of presentations providing some good education to the attendees, and a TFTF workshop on tree planting (and I did some planting too!).

Yesterday afternoon I was treated to a scrumptious good bye meal by the family i'm staying with. They prepared so much food!! and it was soo nice and very enjoyable.

The little things I'll def not forget from Cameroon - the cold showers, the variety of insects (wait till u see the pics), power cuts (I was left with half a haircut at one point), lightning storms and heavy rains, the great hospitality, and the chilled out mode of operations!

So I'll be travelling to Douala tomorrow, hopefully flying out to schedule reaching Uganda on Wed morning. I'll be picked up by the Director of the NGO I'll be helping - and will hopefully start to discover more about the adventure there. Things i know at the mo - the NGO has a medical centre, a community, a tree plantation and a few vehicles... and is looking to achieve self-sustainability using these assets. Though my primary location is in Kampala, the field activities are in a town called Ruhanna. But I'll write more about all this when I reach Uganda. (oh yeah - and there's white water rafting that I'm really looking forward too!)

Ciao for now...

Last 3 weeks...

Hey y'all...

I've got the internet again after a couple of weeks - though was a close call as we've had no power for the night and most of the morning due to torrential rain and storms... and I'm travelling back to Bangem this morning. Luckily the lights came back just before I was leaving - so I've quickly nipped into the internet cafe.

So a quick update on the last 3 weeks... I did some touristing at Limbe - a seaside town close to here. I visited a primate zoo - it was really interesting watching the gorilla's and chimps... So many pics to keep you all interested when I'm back :o).

I also visited the Muanenguba lakes - the main tourist spot near Bangem, and what the local area is famous for. The lakes are result of a historic volcano eruption... and they are amazing. We had a 10km trek to the lakes.. which was slightly tiring, but the lakes and the surround area were gorgeous. We also visited the people who have inhabited the area - very interesting set... they concentrate on herding cows, goats etc, and seemed to have a very content and happy life!

In terms of work.. a couple of weeks ago I held a strategy workshop meeting with my colleagues. This was interesting as the younger members aren't normally used to inclusive planning - they are normally given tasks and that's it... We went through the various collateral I've created since I've been here... After the morning workshop, we went for a meal to celebrate our hard mornings work, as is customary!

For the last few weeks of my stay in Cameroon, I'm mainly supporting the two members of staff with their activities... and this is taking me to various workshops and meetings with community groups.

I have also completed my situational analysis of the Kupe-Muanenguba Division, which is basically a "how I see things" document outlining whats good and what are the opportunities and threats to the region. (if anyone wants a read, ping me an e-mail and I'll send it over).

Now i'm gonna see if i can post a couple of pics - I think u'll know if i'm successful or not!

ps. luckily I haven't had to travel with animals as yet... maybe that'll happen in Uganda :os!