I was on the internet!

Just got power back on in my town. It was out for only like 2 days. And I haven’t been on the internet for a few weeks so I decided I should write a blog post. As I’m writing this I’m not on the internet, but I plan on buying some credit and using my satellite modem later this week.

I just read a WIRED magazine which brought me back to American reality. I forgot how awesome technology was until I saw this edition that was talking about the best start ups of 2011(even though there is still half a year left). It seems that most of the ‘hottest startups’ had to do with finding new ways to connect people. For example, one had to do with connecting event planners with open venues, another was about helping college students find others to flirt with at the same school, and yet another was about setting up dinner parties with random guests at local restaurants. So according to this magazine, the majority of good startups are just finding novel ways for people to meet (or network if you want to sound smart).

Well, I have a bunch of people here in Togo without technology but who would love to ‘network’. How can I create some cool new way for these people to meet people outside their own village? Seriously, I would like some ideas.  Most people here speak French, everyone speaks some local language. I probably meet one person every couple months who can speak English well. I don’t know how to do it. I have a computer and a way to access the internet, but it’s expensive and not possible for the majority here to have what I have. Really, any ideas?

Ok, on to what I’ve been up to. I went on a kick ass trip to Cameroon last month. It started out with me and two other PCVs in Lome. We went to the airport and found out our flight didn’t exist. That’s right, the flight we paid for a month before did not exist. After a lot of arguing and an awesome turn of events, we ended up staying in a very posh hotel for a day, had all our meals paid for, and even got to party with the whole airline crew(because it was May 1^st, and they party for Labor Day like they’re getting paid for it).

The next day I was awake at 5am and turned on the tv to find out Osama Bin Laden had been killed. I saw clips played over and over of people celebrating in all the major US cities and it was one of those times. Those times where I really wanted to be back there. I texted the news to a bunch of other PCVs in country.

Later that day I went to Cameroon. I can fill up so much space with what I did over there, but I’ll keep it short for now. Maybe I’ll write up a more detailed account and call it the ‘Cameroonian Chronicles’. For now you get the cliff notes of the cliff notes.

We landed in Douala and met a guy who had just returned to Cameroon from being in Ghana for 5 years. We shared a taxi to Limbe. There, I ate the best fish I have ever tasted, got sun burned on a black sand beach, went out on a fishing boat and got accused of being a pirate, and went to a wild animal reserve. Next we went to Boyoua, where we ate ice cream, hiked the highest mountain in West and Central Africa, watched a wrestling competition, and met a bunch of cool people. Then we headed to Kumba which is a lot like my town, Sotouboua. We went to a crater lake and met a bunch of other awesome people. Then we headed off to a village near Kourup National Park(suppose to be one of the oldest rain forests) Spent a night celebrating a birthday, then a day hiking through the rain forest, and of course met more great people. We then headed back to Douala, which led to a flight back to Togo.

Since being back here in Togo I’ve done a few things. I did a workshop to train locals in family health and gender equity. It was the first project I did that was funded through SPA(which comes from Washington). So I felt proud, after it was over(but really stressed during the whole thing), that I actually put together from start to finish a successful US government funded project. That’s your tax dollars there(If you live in America)!

I’m also the regional coordinator(Togo has 5 regions, just think of them as 5 states) for a national summer camp for kids affected by HIV. I basically help organizations find kids to send to camp and also help run the camp.

Another PCV and I are in the middle of putting together a trash collection program in Sotouboua. This has been a really cool experience. We are working directly with the mayor’s office to actually set up a system to start collecting trash house to house. Like as they do in most developed places. We are contributing to improving the sanitation here, and I get to see how the local government works and influences the people here.

I’ve got a few other smaller things going on too, but don’t feel like typing them up. Maybe later. I’m still collecting postcards that I’m giving to a local library. So where ever you are in the world, send me a post card with something interesting written on it about where you’re at!