Finally... a post :)

Wow it’s been so long since I have had a chance to update anything.  My apologies family and friends, I have been so busy with stage that I haven’t had an opportunity to write.  First things first, I am happy, healthy and loving life.  It’s been over a month now since I have arrived in Cameroon and time is flying by extremely fast.  I find out my post next week and then site visit the week after.  So crazy J I am beyond excited to find out where I will be living for the next two years. 

I haven’t really been missing the amenities of home, which makes adapting to this new life style allot easier.  I am used to bucket showers and no flush toilets however I have to get water from the well and I have gotten some pretty bad infections in some of my bug bites.  Sounds gross and it is. I now bleach my water before bathing.  There are way too many parasites and bacteria in the water not to.  If you want to send me anything…. Send me liquid band aids and heavy duty band aids.  Here the moisture in the air makes them fall off too easily so my infections have been taking over two weeks to heal.  Only one other bump in the road so far, I got a spider bite that must have been poisonous because I get really sick for a few days… couldn’t really move my neck and had a fever of 102… thankfully it went away and I am all better. 

On to the fun stuff… I got to go on a field trip last weekend to the west.  It was sooooo much fun and made me so excited to be an Agroforestry volunteer.  We arrived in the west on Friday and got to see contour barriers, nurseries, grafting, marcotting, transplanting, alleycropping, gas dryers, food preservation, organic composting and a watershed.  It was all AMAZING!! I have never been so excited about nature and vegetation propagation in my life… to be honest I had no idea what any of it was before I came to Cameroon.  My tech sessions are so informative and rewarding…. I only wish I had a background in Chemistry so I can understand all the craziness that goes on with soil fertility etc. but I am picking it up quickly.  After arriving in Feutap, we went straight to the APADERwhere we were given a tour of the grounds, which are absolutely stunning.   We got to walk through a swampy jungle which was not my favorite part, as I nearly fell face first into the mud.  Not my finest moment.  When we first entered the jungle a huge black snake fell on top of our tech trainers head… pretty crazy experience. 

Après, we checked into our hotel and went out to grab dinner.  All of us girls and a SED volunteer went to the night market, where we got braised fish from a street vendor.  Seriously the most amazing fish I have ever had… and yes you eat with your hands.  The next day however was my favorite. We got to a small village, Bandrefam and meet with volunteers who were working with a group of ladies to create tofu and soymilk which they would sell as an income generating activity.  Unfortunately, it poured like crazy and since there were no paved roads, the trip home was one that I will never forget… nor will any of my other stagemates.  We had to drive two cars to take all 22 of us to the city… the van carrying half of my stagemates tipped over from the mud. Nobody got hurt thankfully, and Therese (our program assistant) paid some local boys to push the van out of the mud a few times ;)  I will post photos when I get a chance.  I really wish you could see how beautiful it is here. 

Some of the most amazing and rewarding experiences I have had so far in Cameroon were on my fieldtrip last weekend.  I am so thankful for all the amazing people on this trip who are dedicating 2 years of their lives to do development work.  It is a hard sacrifice to be away from loved ones but we are all in it together and I have built some wonderful bonds already..  I won’t be able to post for a while since I will be in the Northwest this weekend and following week at post.  I hope you all are doing well.  I think about you all often.  Please send me love… a card or letter would make my day.  It lets me know you are thinking of me too.  I will try to write when I get a chance. 

Katelyn Witz, Peace Corps Volunteer

Corps de la paix

B.P. 215 Yaoundé Cameroon

P.s. thank you Alley for my letter… I love you dearly.