Introducing: The Chief of Helping
Since I swore in as an official PCV, I’ve discovered that one of my favorite things to do in Cameroon is to visit other PCVs at their posts. It’s so cool to see the work other people are doing, and see how they’ve become an integral member of their community. And as someone who lives in a city, it’s so cool to see the rich culture and traditions that I don’t get to experience as much in Bamenda. A few weekends ago, I got to do just that. I went to visit one of my stagemates, Peter, who was being crowned by a chief of his village.
I originally didn’t think I’d be able to make it, I was planning on helping on of my counterparts with a honey harvest, but the day before when I asked her about it, she said the people we were planning on helping weren’t going to be available. Naturally, the first thing I did was text my friend Becca, who had told me about the ceremony, and she said that everyone was meeting the next day in a town called Dschang (which is three hours away from me), at 10am. So spur of the moment, I packed my bag and set an alarm for 6am, so I could get up, grab some food, and go find a car to the West.
I managed to make it to Dschang just in time to leave to Peter’s village, and all 6 of us going piled into a taxi (and paid for an extra seat, because obviously a normal sized car should have 4 people in the back seat and 4 more in the front). We spent 2 hours on a terrible dirt road, with only 2 or 3 terrifying moments where I had the realization that we could literally die in that car. But finally we made it to Menji, Peter’s post. It is probably one of the most beautiful places I’ve seen in Cameroon, surrounded completely by hills and jungles. We went on a walk to this little cultural museum, crossing a terrifying wood bridge that we went on one at a time, as we were concerned it might break otherwise. Then we all went over to the chief’s house for dinner and went to bed early.
Isn’t it beautiful?!
Don’t worry, we all made it across in one piece
The following morning was the big day: we woke up at 5am, because we were supposed to meet at 6am to take a car to the chief’s village. Naturally, we arrived at 6am because we’re Americans, and the car arrived at 7:30, because this is Cameroon. We all piled in and headed up hills, even more into the bush. At one point we all had to get out and walk up a giant, muddy hill, because the car couldn’t make it up with us inside. Then finally we reached the stopping point, or so we thought, but it turned out the car just couldn’t continue, so we started walking (or sliding) down a little muddy path, until we finally reached the chief’s palace. There was a sacred forest on one side, being guarded by a juju, and someone informed us that the ceremony was going to take place inside the forest. We were then informed that only women with titles can enter the forest, so the 5 females who all traveled hours for the ceremony would have to wait outside. I guess the chief ended up talking to the rest of the notables, and in the end, we were allowed to enter and watch the ceremony. We felt pretty special, because that means we may be the only women without titles who have ever entered the forest. We unfortunately weren’t allowed to take pictures, but Peter and one of our other stagemates, Dan, received their titles and then we all ate and drank. Peter is now the “Chief of Helping” and Dan is now the “Chief of Love”. After a long photo shoot outside the forest, we trekked back up to the car, and headed back to town on another slightly life-threatening car ride.
No better time for a group photo than after walking up a big, muddy hill... Everyone’s already out of the car!
Not a bad view.. The sacred forest is off to the right.
The weekend of the crowing also happened to be the weekend of a huge Cry Die (a death celebration). When we got back into town, we went to the Cry Die for a while. There were jujus everywhere, and people drumming, drinking, and dance. At one point it started pouring rain, and normally rain means all Cameroonians run for cover, however today everyone just kept on dancing and celebrating (I stayed under cover taking pictures). We met a Cameroonian who won the lottery and moved to the US, and was back for the Cry Die because it was his step-mom who had passed. He was also crowned at the celebration, and then he started throwing 1,000 (roughly 2 USD) and even a couple 10,000 (20 USD) bills at everyone dancing. I’m pretty sure that’s what everyone expects from me when they first see me. And instead I stand there and argue over 50 cfa (20 cents), because I’m stubborn and poor and I will not pay more just because of my skin color! (But really, ask my mom, she can attest to how ridiculously stubborn I am).
Gotta love those Jujus!
The rain was definitely not stopping this mama from dancing
Sorry for that petit digression. We went to eat, and of course even though we’re in a room of people with titles, we all have to sit at the high table with the ministry delegate in attendance, the chief, and the guy who moved to the states. From there we went to a bar, and after an obligatory drink or two, we finally went back to Peter’s house to pass out. I’ve found that waking up at the crack of dawn doesn’t actually help me to be a function person for a long period of time. Who would have thought?
Traveling back to Bamenda the next day was pretty standard. We had to get out multiple times for the car to go up the muddy hill. The taxi driver put people in the trunk (despite our protests because there were already 7 passengers plus himself). Then he tried to charge us 500 extra. A chief heard and told him since we’re volunteers he should actually just drive us for free, so in the end we paid the normal price. I rejected 3 different cars for trying to charge too much. Finally, a nice, air conditioned car picked me up, drove me to Bamenda, and wouldn’t let me give money even for gas. It took over 6 hours for a journey that should take less than 5. But I usually expect nothing else traveling in this country. And it was definitely worth it for such a wonderful weekend!