June 10 and 11

We went to a workshop for WINCONET, a network of environmental NGO's. The point of the workshop was to asses the network, see what its goals and expectations are and then create a working document for the future on how to run it. The invitation to it did not include either a beginning time or an ending time, so the thought was that you came when you felt like it. We got there at 9:45 and the workshop still hadn't started. At 10 most of the people had gotten there. at 10:15 the white man heading the workshop decided it was time to start, since it was supposed to start at 8....ooops. The only person who knew this fact was a woman who had called into the office the day before and asked. Pius and the rest of the group hadn't even thought about calling in to ask, they all assumed it would just start when it started. That's cameroon for you. .

The man running the workshop is from North Carolina. He's been working with an NGO here for the past 9 months and has a two year contract. Other than the fact that he still wears a suit and tie, he seems to have completely assimilated, eating with his right hand and going out for beers with the people in the workshop.

There was an "opening ceremony", meaning a speech by the head of the office where the workshop was being led and then it was time for a coffee break. We started the workshop and then broke into groups to talk about what WINCONET is and what are it's strenths, weaknesses etc. About an hour later I began to feel a bit off and I noticed I had a fever so I decided to go sit down in the foyer and take a nap. I would have gone home except that I would have had to take a cab and then walk 15 minutes by myself down a dirt road, which when I am feeling well is a challenge so I decided it was best to just nap and wait until the workshop was over. Everyone decided that the next day the meeting was to start promptly at 8am. Whoever was there would begin.

The next day we got there at 8:30 and people were sitting outside--the office still hadn't been unlocked. At 9 we got inside and waited until 9:30 and things began. I was still not feeling well, but I decided it was better to get out of the house so I brought medicine for my fever and food to eat and did some more napping. I had tea at tea time and that's when I realized that it's probably the water than didn't sit with me very well. We finished up the workshop at 1, had lunch and then headed to a bar to share some drinks.