Life's a Beech & then you change the world: Youth Day & International Women’s Day

Holy cow—it’s already MAY! My apologies for my blog absence (and I do mean it). I wish I could say it was because I was up to my neck in activities that involved changing the world, but in all honesty, it was pure laziness (too honest?). Believe it or not, these past three months have been quite eventful, and it will take me more than one post to sum it all up for you. Be patient with me…or as the Cameroonians would say—Ashia!

Youth Day is on February 11 every year. It’s Cameroon’s way of celebrating, well, the youth. There is normally a week of events that leads up to the big day. Schools will put on talent shows for their students, soccer matches are also a popular event, and this year there was the first ever Miss Ngaoundéré pageant. I attended a talent show the Wednesday before, held by one of the high schools. It was so much fun to watch! Groups of students would make up dances, lip sync, perform short skits, play music, sing, dance…you name it. It wasn’t a competition, just an opportunity for the students to showcase their creative talents (which doesn’t happen very often).

Traditional dance

Salsa dancing!

Live band

I also went to the Miss Ngaoundéré pageant. There were about 18 contestants, comprised of both high school and University students (but they were all around the same age). For the first pageant ever held in the city, it went pretty well. They girls had choreographed and practiced their walks and formations on the stage. They showcased their casual wear, traditional-wear (from their village), and formal wear. The talent portion wasn’t really a talent portion, just the girls dressing up in their favorite sport gear (tennis players, basketball players, soccer players etc.), and then there was the bathing suit portion….I was surprised they even decided to have one considering how conservative it is in the city…not to mention the governor was there!! It was a little…riskay…if you ask me. Anyways, they ended the pageant with the Q&A portion. Overall, the girls did great and a winner was chosen! I have to say it was definitely a good time and great experience, and something I think I would like to help with for next year as a youth activity!

The contestants and the runner-ups!

Miss Ngaoundere 2012

On Feb 11 all of the schools in Ngaoundéré participate in marching/parading at the Place D’Independence (a big field with a sitting area for spectators—it’s where they hold all major holiday celebrations). All the schools—elementary, high school, university, and technical—show up with their matching pagne and parade in front of the governor, government officials, and a group of spectators. I’m not really sure why they do this, but it’s a tradition for all major Cameroonian holidays. At the end of the day, everyone parties, eats, drinks and the clubs are open and poppin until dawn. Just as Americans look forward to holidays as an excuse to celebrate and party (i.e Cinco de Mayo, St. Patrick’s Day etc.), the Cameroonians do too. Youth Day is no excuse.

A group of students parading in front of the Governor and spectators

Some of the crowd..there were more

Now, International Women’s Day is also one of those holidays. Same basic premise, except this day/week celebrates women and their accomplishments, and how far Cameroon has come in its efforts to empower women. So the parading involved most, if not all, women’s groups and associations in the city and surrounding villages. Most of these groups are involved in doing some kind of income generating activity, like a savings and loans group (they call it “Tontines”), or they make and sell things. These are usually the most dynamic and motivated women in the community, so why not give them a day to celebrate? Every year there is a pagne made for International Women’s Day. You can sort of see the pagne in these pictures:

The "former" Governor (he actually just got replaced)

20 "Men of the Year"-they received awards for helping out the women in the community....on Women's Day (go figure).

Here they come! Both the pink and green pagne were the chosen pagne for this year

An all women's band!

After the parading is over, the women go home to feed their husbands and family (But wait! It’s Women’s Day…and they’re still cooking for the men?), then go back out to party the night away--at least those who are allowed to leave home, and those who drink. I say that because even though there is a day specifically for women, it doesn’t really include all women in this society, especially the conservative Fulbe community. Many women are only allowed to leave their concession/house only when they get permission from their husbands (that also includes going to the market). Yes! Women are making strides in Cameroon, but they still have a long way to go…

So during Women’s Week I went to a couple of events. I sat in on a Women’s Association meeting and made some contacts with some important ladies in the city (score!). Then I went to a Women’s Exposition, which was basically a food fair because all the women’s groups were selling food out the wazoo. The highlight of this day: I ate grubs, python, and porcupine. Yep. I sure did and it was tasty! Well, the snake and grubs were (surprisingly) but the porcupine was a little to gamey for my taste. I call it my “Andrew Zimmern moment”. He’d be so proud of me.

So that was basically the entirety of both holidays. Next year I plan on actually holding activities (especially Youth Day/Week!) so I’ll have plenty more to say. In my next post I’ll talk about In-Service Training and my trip to the beach!

Oh P.S--MANGO season is in full swing, ya'll! I made mango salsa for the first time...sooo delicious, and I taught my friends how to eat a mangos the easy way! More to come... stay tuned, folks :)

Here's a picture of my city from the top of Mt. Ngaoungere :)