Archive for March, 2011

Spring is upon us! I imagine for most places in the Northern Hemisphere, people are experiencing the type of joy that comes with the first warm day without a coat. In London, sunshine has been with us for the past few days! For a city known for its gloom, this weather has been downright magical.

This afternoon, I took advantage of my flexible student life and went on a run on the South Bank along River Thames. It was the happiest I have been in a long long time. I ran with ease. The brisk air moved me forward. Everyone around me seemed to be in an equally good mood. For the first time, I did not grunt at tourists who were walking slowly and blocking my way. Instead, I smiled. I smiled at toddlers who were wobbling around, at lovers in intimate embrace, at people in suit who sneaked out of the office for a late lunch, and at school kids who were walking in herds in uniform.

I was so happy and felt completely carefree. I ran along the south bank, cross Borough Market, reached Tate Modern and across Millennium Bridge and reached St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was a perfect day. I think the last time I felt this way was my run down the dirt road in my village in Cameroon. I love the feeling of being one with the world and can take in life in perspective.

It’s a wonderful feeling to walk out of the door and know that people on the street are happy. London sunshine put the entire city in a good mood. The sunshine is indeed magical and they bring happy days!

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Yesterday (March 22nd) was World Water Day. I wasn’t aware that there was such a day until I saw Peace Corps’ Twitter feed featuring a number of water projects that volunteers are doing around the world. I then remembered my two years of service without running water. Someone else on Twitter said that “More people on our planet have cell phones than a toilet.” This statement accurately reflects my own experience in Cameroon where my house did not have running water, but had Internet. Technology is amazing, but let’s not forget the basic needs.

Do you realize how much water it takes to flush the toilet? (enough for me to take a bucket bath) or how much water it actually takes to do various daily activities? I learned all of such information to an excruciating detail. Even toward the end of my service, I agonize over laundry days. Laundry days meant that my supply of water will be depleted quickly and if my neighbor kids don’t come by, I risk serious chance of water shortage. I am glad I no longer have to strategically plan how I will use and reuse my water supply. This results in a much more sanitary way of living. To save myself from embarrassment, I won’t detail the exact ways that I reuse my water. But let’s just say that it was common to use the same bucket of water for 3 different purposes.

In honor of World Water Day, let’s take a minute and imagine a day without running water. What activities require them? how much water do you think you need? And if you are so inclined, visit this year’s World Water Day page to see how you can contribute toward efforts that will bring clean water everywhere.

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About a month ago, one of the hundreds of emails that I get from the LSE had an interesting title: OUCAN Conference: Chinese Investment in Africa. I get these emails so frequently that I often pass up many very interesting conferences and talks. But this one, I opened it immediately and signed up with Jennifer, a fellow MPAer who shares this Sino-African interest.

The conference is held by OUCAN: Oxford University China-Africa Network. Ever since befriending my Chinese friends in Cameroon, whom more or less adopted me as a daughter, I have been deeply interested in this subject.

Due to the hectic end of the term, Jenn and I could only make Day 2 of this conference. We took a train from Paddington bright and early at 8:20 to get to Oxford. It was nice to get out of London. The sunny weather also helped lifting the mood! The conference wasn’t as full as I thought it would be, and had a surprisingly low number of students. There were more LSE students there than Oxford, which I thought was odd. Also, considering it’s a China-Africa conference, the proportion of Africans present were strangely low.

Nevertheless, it was one of the more stimulating conferences/talks that I have attended this year. Throughout the day, I heard practitioners from the World Bank/DFID, China’s IPRCC, a Senegalese economist, Spanish journalists in China, Angolan Embassy rep, etc. The lack of students actually allowed us a great deal of opportunities to network and to exchange interesting ideas with these practitioners. Besides, I always love a chance to speak English, Chinese and French all within 45 minutes. I talked about Taiwan as a fun place to travel in Chinese while discussed lots of various things about Africa in French. Good to know I still got it!

Anyhow, the debates were incredibly interesting as both extreme points of views were represented. On the one hand, there were those who applauded the Chinese efficiency in Africa in terms of infrastructure development. On the other, there were some who recognized positive impact of China’s role in Africa, but criticized on the lack of opportunities created for Africans, lack of accountability on the part of the Chinese government. I stand somewhere in the middle. Having personal ties with both the Africans and Chinese people on the ground, it’s hard for me to take one extreme position or another.

My Chinese Family's Shop in Cameroon

One thing that was repeated highlighted throughout the day was the resiliency of the Chinese people in Africa. One presenter described the way Chinese were doing business in Egypt – they recognized a need for larger Egyptian women to buy clothes without going to the market, where they may feel embarrassed. The Chinese walked around with a 25kg bag of different clothing goods and went door to door to sell them to Egyptian women. They did not speak a word of Arabic, yet were able to somehow make the sell. The presenter highlighted on the sacrifices that the Chinese are willing to make, and I couldn’t help but think of my Chinese family in Cameroon.

While the Western world criticizes Chinese practices, not enough credit is given for these Chinese workers who are willing to be a world apart from their family, to live in a place where they do not speak the language, do not understand the culture, and do not have luxury conditions (especially compare to Western aid workers). Perhaps people would not be so quick to form judgment if they would just take the time to cultivate some connections and to understand the people – both the Africans and the Chinese.

I would love to take part in more of these conversations and see more Africans and Chinese become engaged. There is something about discussing development with an African in French that makes me feel very alive!

Definitely a wonderful day in Oxford! Jenn and I then finished out the day by eating at a delicious Chinese restaurant in Queensway upon returning to London. Who knew there were so many authentic Asian restaurants in this part of the town. Not to mention, the oriental version of Costcutter – it blew my mind!

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Yesterday was Peace Corps’ 50th birthday! Celebrations took place around the world – supposedly there were 741 events that took place across 76 countries and all 50 US States! I took part in a house party in London, and it was absolutely marvelous!

Since I’ve been back in London, I’ve tried to find other RPCVs, but not to much success. And here at this party, I met over 20 volunteers that ranged from a currently serving (Cristina, my replacement!) to a lady who served in 1962! It was really incredible that though we all served in various corners of the world, we could understand the funny stories of one another. In some ways, Peace Corps is its own language!

We took turn sharing amazing stories of our service.

There were a few volunteers who served but wasn’t with the Peace Corps. One British lady who was in Liberia back in the 70s recounted fond memories of being a part of the Peace Corps community because her organization didn’t have an established entity. She said Peace Corps friends have remained in her life until today. Her story reminded me of the French friends I met and volunteers from various other organizations like VSO. Peace Corps doesn’t just bridge relationship between American and the host country, but also other nations who send their people to the developing world.

I had such a fantastic time last night. In some ways, this group of people was what I’ve been needing since returning from PC. When I shared that it has been hard to be in London after my service, every one of them understood. No extra explanation necessary. That was really nice. Everyone at the party expressed interest in keeping in touch and planning future gatherings. I really look forward to them!

Happy Birthday to Peace Corps! Thanks for two wonderful years of service, memories that last a lifetime, and the opportunity to meet amazing people no matter where I am. To continue my role as a volunteer, I created a 5-minute video summary of my service. I’m promoting Goal Three to inform Americans (or anyone, really) of the people of my host country. Enjoy!

For the complete album of the event, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/PC50thLondon

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