MY VOLUNTEER VISIT TO THE CAMEROON, THE CHALLENGES, THE SUCCESSES - FEBRUARY 2009

Well ladies and gents

Before I proceed, often times we see experiences which challenge us as negatives, falling in the self-pity trap of “why me?” Yet, looking back at those experiences you must understand that they are there to serve us for a purpose, for the greater good. Generally that purpose is for us to learn something about ourselves and the part we played in that scenario.

There were a sequence of events prior to me going to the Cameroon and whilst in the Cameroon which truly tested my resolve.
resolve.

Prior to leaving for the Cameroon in February 2009, I had to attend several meetings with the African Foundation Stone to go through preliminaries. On both occasions I got lost and turned up an hour late for my appointments. On another occasion, I had to cancel my meeting at the last minute. Then on the day of departure my plane was delayed for two hours. When I finally got on the plane, I sat next to an elderly woman. At this point in time, I had a book and my MP3 in my hand. For the next 20 minutes this women was gesticulating in French. She then called an air-hostess over who tried to calm the woman down. People around were now getting agitated as this woman continued her tirade. I was totally oblivious to what was going on because the conversation was being conducted in French. Then a lady behind me tapped me and told me to swap seats with a gentleman by her side explaining that the woman was complaining about my MP3. I was confused as I had not turned on the MP3, but this woman was certain that I would be playing loud music, so I moved. But what a blessing, as the woman I moved next to was a French Cameroonian who ran a women’s organisation in France. We were able to laugh and converse, rather limited, but converse none-the-less in French and have made a wonderful connection with each other.

The next incident to occur was when I touched down in the Cameroon, I was helped by a porter to take my luggage outside the airport building. I had expected to see a placard with my name on it, but there was none and I had no way of identifying the person who was to pick me up. I then spent the next hour or two at the airport, walking around looking for my host organisation. I tried several times to call the hotel - no answer. After asking my spirit for guidance, I decided to get a taxi to the hotel. The porter said he knew someone and summoned a taxi for me. I got into a taxi with two strange men, in a strange country. As I entered the taxi my practical side briefly said, do you know what you are doing. Yet my spiritual side told me “you are protected, you are safe.”

Half an hour later I arrived at the hotel only to be told that there was no booking for me and that the hotel did not have any spare rooms. I then spent the next 40 minutes trying to make contact with the various numbers I had - no answer. Meanwhile, the porter was harassing me for money, which he had greatly inflated and also the offer that he knew somewhere where I could stay for the night. At this moment in time I had been quite calm, but now I had started to stress a little. My spirit was now telling me to call Mr.P Archer, who always tracks me when I travel and makes contact to make sure I arrive safely. I was able to make a phone call to him, telling him where I was and apparently he had made contact with the host who had been looking for me at the airport but she did not know what I looked like and did not have a placard. By the time I finished the call, the rest of the volunteers and host organisation had turned up at the hotel. Apparently there had been a mix up regarding the bookings.

That night, though, we all went out to dinner and had a fabulous meal of fish and plantain, eating with our hands and relaxing. The next morning I was told I would be picked up at 9am. I sat for the next 4 hours waiting. In between that time, I was chewing on some nuts from Holland and Barratt and all of a sudden my back tooth cracked. By this time, I quietly smiled to myself and asked my spirit what was the learning for me from all these experiences. I was able to spend those 4 hours reflecting, meditating and praying on all that had happened. I then decided to read a book I had been given about Reiki and the amazing thing was that everything I had experienced, was confirmed in that book.

The organisation I was due to work with were not available for me as the Director had a seminar to attend all that week, therefore I requested to visit other women’s organisations and then had the opportunity to form a wonderful bond and friendship with many of the young men on the street, especially a young man called Diesel. I was able to walk the streets of Douala and get grassroots experience of how they live their lives. I was able to visit where they sleep and also interview many of them about their dreams, hopes and aspirations. I ventured into territory that would be considered dangerous for a woman, but I always prayed beforehand and knew in my heart I was safe, but I had come to the Cameroon for a purpose and at all costs was going to fulfil that.

A series of further events took place over the next week which had myself and Lorna saying “there is a greater purpose from all of this.” When I was asked by the Reverend Lorna Beckford, on my last day who too was a volunteer at the time, what was I able to take away from all my experiences and challenges? I told her, the challenges that had been placed before me had been put there to test my resolve to the limit and I did this dignified, calmly, silent and strong. Yet I could only accomplish this state through the meditation and prayer I had been doing.

To-date though I have accomplished so much from that trip. I was touched by the hospitality and positive attitude of the Cameroonians, even those on the street still have hope. When I compare this attitude to what I see over here in the UK, we certainly have many lessons to learn. I will be going back to the Cameroon shortly to work with the men on the street, with the Reverend Lorna Beckford, the experiences I had out there in February can be fed back into my workshops and talks to great effect. I also learned much about myself. Yet most of all what I found really profound is that the Cameroonians have this sense of purpose, drive. They are entrepreneurs, always with hope in their hearts and for even though who do not have much in the material sense, what they have is priceless because they value life and they value friendships and have a sense of unity and pride.

This serves for us as lessons for all of us to be grateful for what we have. Those I worked with had nothing, often times just the shirts on their backs, yet they had a smile and spoke of hope and had dreams and aspirations for their future. Young men who sometimes only had one piece of bread to eat during the day. Whilst many people aspire for the latest piece of technology, the latest designer purchase, the most expensive purchase - do these things really define who you are?

Remember: Wealth is not only money and material things, wealth is your health, your relationships, your values, everything that makes you happy inside. But wealth defines who you truly are on a soul level. If everything were to be stripped away from you right now – would your car define who you are or could the strength of your soul still remain standing, strong and dignified?

You will be able to hear recorded interviews from the trip on: http://www.qarmabroadcast.co.uk