Fatter and whiter

Well we have been for for 2 months now. I tried not to have too many preconceived ideas about Africa before we came. The two I did have is that it would be hot and I would lose weight. Well neither of them have been true. I am fatter and whiter than when I left the UK.

As we may have mentioned it is the rainy season here in Cameroon. This means we have hardly seen any sun. But not for much longer. 'The dry season is coming' Marceline said to me last week as we hung the washing out. So soon it will be getting colder in the UK and it will be hot hot hot here. Anyway white skin is fashionable these days.

I am sure I am fatter! Before we came my friend said to me 'it does not matter what you eat now, you're going to Africa'. Although we only eat one proper meal a day I am convinced my belly is bigger. It is due to the fact that everything is cooked in copious amounts of oil. I watched in horror one day when Marceline was cooking and she poured half a bottle of oil (a 1 litre bottle) in to the pan. This is to make the sauce not to fry in! Not really getting much exercise either. Joe is playing football but I do not really play any sport, don't really fancy jogging either. We get served up huge portions also which I feel obliged to eat!

Anyway enough about my figure. How has the last month been? Well pretty good. Genesis our host and boss has been away in the states on a training course for small organisations.

So without him being here things have been slow. I have written and just about completed a 30 page training manual to teach others how to become HIV educators. This is so the awareness programs can continue after we leave. I have also written information for a web site Joe is busy creating for me.

We are now planning when and were the training courses will be. Soon we will be visiting the villages speaking to people about HIV. It is difficult during the rainy season as many of the roads are impassable.

Joe has finished working on the HINT website which should soon be live. And is now working on a curriculum to teach how to build web sites.

I still miss my washing machine, although doing the washing is good exercise! After spending a couple of days in Douala having hot showers made me miss them even more! We take so much for granted in the UK. Everyday I have a hot shower before work and sometimes one after too. We do not have water everyday let alone hot water. A few times I got to have a wash and there is no water in the tap. It will be off for a few hours then return. Otherwise we are pretty settled in to Cameroon life.