Day 6 - Travel back to Buea

Good news! The suspension on one of our cars has been fixed. Bad news, our spare tire has been used, and we now have a flat as a spare. I hope we don't get another flat tire.

Today, our quest was simply to journey from Tali to Buea. In the end, we prevailed, although several exciting moments consumed portions of the day. The major exciting moment was when we approached a quagmire in the road. A video is posted on the previous post. Our talented drivers got us through the mud hole and back to making progress.

By 7 pm, we had arrived in Buea at the Chariot Hotel. The hotel was paradise for us since we had spent several days in the bush. Each of us also had our 'private' space back. Many of us had been sharing living quarters while in Tali.

We are looking forward to our final days in Cameroon.

Videos

Between each of the presentations by Corrie, Cathy, and Sarah, the African women performed a song that responded to our topics.

This is a video of the 'Right-of-Passage' cultural event we observed, as noted in the previous post.

This is the quagmire our drivers are studying to determine if we can make it through. 2 choices:

1. Turn around and drive 6 hours back to the origination and travel the road we arrived on instead.
2. Drive through it

"When you arrive to a place like this in the road, you for sure know you will be sleeping there."
- The Reverend

We made it through!!

Photos Day 5- It's all about the People

This was our last full day in Tali. The agenda for the day included a Woman's Forum and Cultural Event. It was this day that we were fully immersed in the lifestyle of Tali, Cameroon.
Woman's ForumSpeakers: Sarah, Corrie, Cathy
Attendees: Women from Tali and the 59 surrounding villages
Purpose: Share our stories of being professional women leaders, the value of higher education, the balance of family and work life, and the importance of giving

At 10 am, we were served breakfast that included fried eggs with onions and tomatoes, sliced white bread, fresh pineapple, peppered coffee, local hot tea, Ovaltine/cocoa, and water.

After breakfast, Sarah, Cathy, and I (Corrie) were given traditional African dresses that were purchased by the local women. We changed into the dresses for the Woman's Forum, and drove a few minutes to the Tali 1 Town Hall. We arrived around 11:30 am. (The men stayed at the place of residence.)

Traditional African dresses given to us
The meeting room was not yet ready, and the women had just begun arriving. We were given chairs and asked to sit on the outside patio until the program was ready to begin. During this time, we were greeted and welcomed by women arriving. Each village had coordinated their dress attire to match. The women looked beautiful in the matching traditional dresses.

Attendees at the Woman's Forum

The school children were in uniform and very curious about us. I had brought silly bands with me, so I shared these with the children. For each shape given, I explained what it was and how it related to a professional career. For instance, a wrench would be used by a mechanic and an elephant might be protected by a ranger.

Government primary school children

By 2:30 pm, all the women were gathered in the hall and men had started filtering in. Finally, at 3 pm the Former Governor had given his approval to begin the Woman's Forum.

Sarah began by explaining how she was part owner of Schmidt Associates. She expanded by sharing what it was like to work at Schmidt Associates, how many employees we have, our training program, and the importance of servant leadership. I followed her up by explaining my role at Schmidt Associates, how I was raised on a farm, went to the university to get my masters while working and having a family at home, and sharing the importance of sending children to the university. Cathy closed for the group by telling the attendees about her role at CICF as an accountant and the importance of giving.

Once we were complete with our testimonies, the women had the opportunity to ask us questions. Some of the questions raised were:

• How can we raise money to send our children to university?
• Will electricity and better roads come to Tali with African University?
• Our cocoas are becoming damaged before they can be harvested; will African University develop better farming techniques?
• How much of the rainforest with African University take?
• Will there be employment opportunities for us and our children at African University?
• What language will classes be given in at African University?

We responded to their questions, and they presented us with several spices that a group of women had harvested in the rainforest. We were able to bring some of these back to the USA. Martin is planning to brew a beer with some of the spices.

Finally, William had brought along Verizon duffel bags as gifts for the women in attendance. We handed all the bags (about 150) out and ran out! William drove back to his place of residence and got more and we still ran out. For the women who did not get bags, Elizabeth served them lunch.

Women receiving bags
By 4 pm, the Forum was complete and the men (Wayne, Martin, David, and William) were whisked off to be dressed for the cultural event. Kathy, Sarah, and I were driven to a nearby community space. We were exhausted from the conditions and events earlier in the day. I saw our driver with a warm beer and immediately requested one for each of us. This was our first beer in Tali and very welcomed! Although warm, I have to say the beer was the most refreshing and best tasting I have ever had!

Sarah and I enjoying our beers

Cultural Event
30 minutes later, the men were dressed and we walked to where they were to take pictures before the cultural event started. Once complete, we were seated on the side of an open space before two buildings. The entire village had gathered for this event. Originally, we were to attend a cultural event that was put on for us, like theater. Due to unforeseen circumstances, we were honored to attend an event that would have taken place whether we were there or not.

Clutural dress for men

Chief elect-elect

By 7:30 pm, the pomp and circumstance was complete and the members of the club were absorbed in traditional activities in the clubhouse. The team was dismissed, and we headed back to our place of residence while in Tali.

At 9 pm, we were served 'lunch'. This included fried chicken and river fish, rice, tomato and green bean sauce, boiled yams and potatoes, fufu eru, fresh fruit, sodas, and water. After dinner, our stomachs were full and our bodies were in much needed rest. We retired to our rooms and packed for our departure the next day.

The event was a rite of passage for a man to be in line to become chief of the local club. Our understanding is that this club acts as a fraternity with rules of conduct, traditions, and a membership of only men. One of the rules of conduct is that a member cannot abuse a woman. The club has a current chief (who is the Former Governor that has been with us since day 2 of the journey), a chief elect, and a chief elect-elect. This event was to observe the selection of the chief elect-elect.

We were able to observe the phased entrance parade that welcomes a 7-year old boy to the clubhouse after spending 7 days in the bush learning the ways of the club.

Photos Day 4

After the intense planning meeting late last night, the team felt really prepared and anxious to accomplish our goals back out at the site. After the driving portion of our trek, we began the hike through the bush back to the site.  We were shocked to see that the jungle had already began to grow back over the path we cleared the previous day, and that new green shoots were starting to come up through what we had trampled down just 24 hours earlier.

Once we got to the site, we found a young, but established Bubinga Tree (same species as the "Big Tree").  We, along with the members of the Tali community that were with us, said a prayer and blessed the future home of African University.

Group from Tali (plus Brasil, our driver) blessing the site.

After this brief reprieve, it was time to get to work. The team began to measure, stake out, tape, and record the coordinates of the Phase 1 buildings and the central roundabout.

Bubinga Tree that is the Axis Mundi of African University.

Field Team around the roundabout.



Staking and taping the building footprints.



Corner of future dormitory

Footprint of first academic building

From left: David Russell, Sarah Hempstead, Wayne Schmidt

Wayne Schmidt & Martin Sams



William Agbor-Baiyee & Elizabeth


Once all the work was completed and we all took a few minutes to rest and rehydrate, we began the hike back to the vehicles. Along the way William, Elizabeth and our guides took some time to show us some of the useful and interesting flora of the rain forest.

Coco pod

The coco bean is under the white (tasty!) pith.



Wild pineapple



Willam showing us Eru, which is a very popular dish
 in Cameroon and is cooked similarly to spinach



Plant that may have properties that treat AIDS - 
The top of the leaf is green, but the underside is a dark purple



Elizabeth showing us a leaf that is used to wrap and serve food
At this point, I am seeing a Jimmy John's sub wrapped in this leaf!



Appreciating the fauna



Unappreciated fauna



Really unappreciated fauna



Photos Day 3

After the harrowing trek into Tali the night before, morning over the rainforest was quite the sight. For me, opening the shutters and looking out upon the fog shrouded forest was one of my fondest memories of the trip. I even found it in my heart to forgive the rooster that had been trying since 4:00 AM to get me out of bed. Although I particularly enjoyed the next meal that featured chicken. 

After breakfast, we ventured out to the site. To get there, we drove about 30 minutes in the 4x4's through the jungle before we had to get out and hike for about another 45 minutes to reach the location of the proposed Phase I site. Many of the men from Tali joined us, and helped clear the path with their machetes. I was humbled by the work that they had put in prior to our arrival to make the site accessible. Along our walk, we finally got to see the much hyped "Big Tree". We had been hearing about the "Big Tree" for months prior to the trip. Usually in a sentence like, "Oh yeah, I remember that. It was just South of the Big Tree." This lead to much knee slapping among those of us who had not been to the site. After all, it is a rain forest, and the "Big Tree" doesn't seem like a very useful wayfinding device. 

And then this ...

US: "Um ... That IS a Big Tree!"



And this ...

Who's laughing now?

Wandering off the path was never really an option since the density of the rain forest made this bad decision impossible. This density is also what makes the work the people of Tali accomplished (clearing the path and the Phase I site) so incredible.





African University Field Team



Aside from locating and marveling at the Big Tree, we did manage to get some real work done. We asked the team in Tali to stake the boundary of our property, to drive a steak every 100 M, and then to stake out a tighter grid inside the purposed Phase I site. We used the handheld GPS to record the coordinates of these stakes so that we would have accurate site data that could be uploaded to the computer and Google Earth.





Welcome to Campus!



As tired as we all were, we still had more to do. After dinner, we went to the Tali Town Hall for a meeting with the village. Wayne and William both updated the village on the progress of the project and the purposed Master Plan. Also, the village Chief presented Cathy (Treasurer) with a monetary donation that the people of Tali had managed to raise. This was a very heartwarming moment, and illustrated the commitment of the people to this project.

Photos Day 2

Where's the car?

 At the start of our second full day in Cameroon, we were all very excited to be heading into "The Bush" to get started at the African University site. As our luck would have it, a new tire was required on one of our vehicles, and supplies for our stay had to be acquired. Our early morning departure became an afternoon departure instead.

University de Chang

Along the way to Tali (location of African U.), we stopped in Dschang and quickly toured the University de Chang (pronounced Chan). This was in a more agrarian setting than the University of Buea and was split almost in two - one campus on the top of the hill and one campus in the valley below. We ate in Dschang and got back on the "road".

Palm Plantation

We all knew that this was going to be a brutal travel day and that we would be in the car for 10 hours, but we had no idea of what was to come. The first few hours after Dschang were on red dirt roads. The dust from the car in front made visibility for the trailing car very difficult. Especially at night. The last stretch (last 3 hours) was spent on very treacherous roads that our drivers needed everything out of the 4x4's to navigate. 



Cameroon!



We arrived in Tali around midnight and were greeted by the local Reverend. Both the men and women were shown to their accommodations, and we all got to experience "off the grid" for the first time.

University de Chang

Harvesting Rubber

Photos from Day 1

University of Buea



On our first full day in Cameroon, we were forced to rearrange some activities since our luggage being a day late forced us to stay in the vicinity of the airport. Our hosts were very accommodating, and we managed to still have a full day of progress despite the delay.



In the morning, we made a site visit to the University of Buea, a very urban campus with a large number of students commuting (mostly by foot).



Del Monte Banana Plantation



Along the drive to and from the airport in Douala (about 1-1/2 hours each way) and to Limbe in the evening, we were first introduced to Cameroon's rich agriculture. Basically, if you are a plant this is the place to be. Coco, Coffee (arabica and robusto), Bananas, Plantains, Mango, Pineapple, Yams, Coconut, Rubber Trees - all these plus more are grown here and sold as exports. Most of the Banana Plantations we saw were owned by Del Monte. A former Governor of one of Cameroon's regions has joined us on our travels, and is teaching us many things about the country. For instance, Cameroon's Department of Agriculture has found a way to grow these crops so that they produce more fruit and are shorter so that they are easier to harvest. Very fascinating.





William presenting to the Rotary Club of Limbe

The Rotary Club of Limbe was gracious to host us a week early and let us present to their group on short notice due to the luggage mishap. It was a great meeting, and we were even able to switch to our Plan B fairly seamlessly when the converter we brought with us turned out to be the wrong one and our technology went down. The  group was clearly interested in the idea of a new university in the country, and asked great questions of our presenters. At the end of the meeting, flags of both clubs were exchanged.



Wayne and Corrie Presenting to Limbe Rotary