Peace Corps Office

September 24, 2012 – Monday

Peace Corps Staging

Location: Yaounde, Felydac Hotel

Today was our first full week day in Cameroon, we had breakfast at 6:30 and left for the Peace Corps office by 7:30.  When we were all settled in, the Country Director told us her vision and the expectations she had for us.  Then all of the trainees went individually to the front of the room to give our self introductions to the group. The following was mine:

Name: Prinal Rajesh Patel

Program: Youth Development Volunteer

Hopes: I’m excited about learning from all the trainers, Cameroonians and the other Volunteers.  I’m excited to make long lasting bonds with the other Volunteers.  I’m excited to become fluent in French.  I’m excited to move in with my host family and I’m excited to complete training and begin working with the youth.

Fears: I’m afraid of being ineffective and not creating an impact in my community.  I’m afraid that I won’t be able to identify the needs of the youth within my community.  I’m afraid of missing my family too much and not learning French fast enough.  I’m also extremely afraid of the crazy amount of cockroaches I’ll run into.

We then had a brief Medical Orientation and were given a big PC medical kit, a medical manual and Malaria slides.  Simultaneously, we were each receiving our first 2 shots, Hepatitis A 1 and Typhoid.

After lunch we had our intake interviews with our Program Managers.  My program manager is Amadou, he is amazing! He’s been with Peace Corps since 1992.  During our meeting he asked me he following questions:

1.        What kind of post would I like? Somewhere in the North.  That’s where all the national parks are, the people are super Christian, so the men are more conservative and don’t harass the women as much.  Unfortunately, it’s also one of the hottest regions in the country.

2.        Do I want any amenities? I’m flexible either way; I don’t need running water or electricity.

3.       Do I want a post mate? Definitely! 100% yes!

4.       Do I prefer an urban or rural setting? Rural setting, because there is more poverty in a rural setting.

5.       Would I prefer an Anglophone or Francophone region? Francophone obviously! I wasn’t going to spend 3 months becoming fluent in French then pass up the opportunity to actually use it.

While the trainees were going in and out of different offices to get their injections and do their intake interviews, in the main room, Yaya was playing Mulan on the projector, so that was fantastic! We were all singing-a-long and laughing, it was a lot of fun.