Pancakes to remember, even sans syrup



As a health volunteer, should I be concerned that the main ingredient in the suspicious knock-off baking powder I found was listed as "edible alumnimum"? Despite using powdered milk, an extremely tempermental stove top, and an absurd amount of palm oil in place of butter to prevent sticking, the pancakes were a success!

I invited teachers from the schools I work at, the doctor and nurses from the health center, my French tutor, motorcycle driver, favorite bean and begnet seller, and neighbors and new friends. My first time entertaining for Cameroonians, and it was hectic and tons of fun! Apparently it's a compliment to bring all your friends, and children, with you when you are invited somewhere. We put in bananas and chocolate bits and used jam and Cameroonian coffee-flower honey in place of syrup. The big joke was how much more my neighbors liked it than the jello I made them, which made many of them "want to vomit". The ones who weren't too scared off to come back have regained some trust in my promise that we have great food in America, despite the fact that I'm not it's most talented ambassador.



 Eating local is easy when the farmer's market is the only market. I gave my friend going to the main fruit market in the next town $4 to get fruit for the Easter brunch, and he brought back 7 massive pineapples, 15 papayas and at least 30 mangos, all picked that morning. The humidity might be killing me, but living in the tropics sure has some perks. Made my first smoothie this morning with the leftovers and...I don't want to make you jealous or anything...



I introduced Easter eggs to the kids in my compound, struggling to explain why eggs are a symbol of Easter for us to kids who have never experienced Spring. But they had no problem adopting it - access to clean paper and crayons was very exciting. They don't have art classes in school or supplies at home, so I try and give them the opportunity to be creative whenever I can.

One big project I'm hoping to do is paint a giant world map on the wall of a school here - it'll be a cool art project and a great excuse to sneak in some geography education. Most kids here have never seen a labeled map of Cameroon (I have one on my wall, and no one has known where we are on it or where the capital is, some thought it was a map of Africa) and have little concept of the rest of the world's layout. To kids and adults alike, "European" applies to all white people and "whiteman" things such as Western medicine, and I routinely hear statements like "I know your roads in Europe are not like this" right after I say I am from the US. But hey, many Americans talk about Africa like it's one country and I can hardly place ten African countries even though I've had maps around me my whole life, so we can all benefit from the geography quiz game. Quick, do you know where Cameroon is?



My kitchen helpers had a field day using whisks,spatulas, and measuring cups and spoons - and I became the photographer when each one wanted photo evidence of her cooking like an American woman. A couple girls even went home to change outfits for the shoot. Don't let the cute pink halter top fool you - they cook ingredients they have grown themselves and mashed or cut up by hand over a fire in a huge pot. But they were running the show by the end!



And very pleased with the results : )

See that tap? With a bucket and water underneath?? After several months of having no reliable water source, someone was finally able to unblock the old pipes to my house and now water runs most nights for a couple hours. The difference this makes to my quality of life and my mood I could NEVER have fathomed before experiencing first-hand the stress of water shortages and dysfunctional local infrastructure. As the village chief likes to remind me, that makes it a valable grassroots experience, and I can't disagree.

 The liberating feeling of knowing that you can bathe, wash dishes,  flush your toilet, wash your hands, cook what you want and get on with the rest of your life - of actually being in control of your health and how you spend your time - has made me want to work harder to get water to other people here and everywhere. Teaching the importance of hand washing, cleaning vebetables and hygenic toilets seems beneficial, but it can feel like putting the cart before the horse when people don't have a dependable water supply. Improving water infrastructure is intimidating to me, but my own water saga has made me appreciate how critical it is.
Nothing to be taken for granted - water is life!