One month from today I will be on a plane flying to Cameroun.
Received staging email and called SATO travel immediately to book my flight, honestly the easiest travel arrangement ever. Just gave them my name, email, and date of birth- flying out of Green Bay, WI it is- 6:00 am on September 21st!
The spectrum of emotions I'm feeling as of right now is wide and varying depending on my mood. Sad/ happy/ jittery/ excited/ nervous/ confused.... the list goes on. But to know that I am about to depart and about to leave for the US Peace Corps, wow that is something to say. I've waited a good three years for this- and can't believe it's coming up soo quickly. The group of people who are in my training class seem to be quite nice and I am looking forward to getting to know and experience this with all of them.
One month to eat all the cheese and American goodies I can get!
I'm a WISCONSIN gal.... cheese is not only one of my favorite foods, it's another food group. This could be a problem :)
Some people were wondering about how mail/ communication will be while I'm away: so I'll post some information now.
Communication
Due to recent technological advances (email, international SMS, etc.), Americans have become increasingly accustomed to immediate and convenient communication. This is increasingly becoming the case for Volunteers in Cameroon, although frustrations, particularly with traditional “snail mail” do remain.
Peace Corps Cameroon would like to emphasize the following points to give you a realistic picture of the means of communication available to Volunteers in Cameroon before they leave home:
1. Traditional snail mail still takes a long time and is not reliable. A letter sent from the US will typically take a minimum of 3 weeks to reach a Volunteer in Cameroon. Packages and envelopes that appear to contain valuables still go missing with disheartening frequency. If you are going to regret something if it is lost or stolen, don’t send it.
2. Cell phone service will soon cover the entire country – although many volunteers will still be posted to areas where the network may not yet be available. With the ubiquity of telephone and email, volunteers and family members may want to set up schedules for communication to prevent unnecessary worry when systems go down.
3. In the case of an emergency, Families should contact the Peace Corps/Washington Counseling and Outreach Unit. Please see specific instructions below. This will ensure that family inquiries are handled in the most efficient manner.
4. All inquiries concerning Volunteers, mail, conditions in Cameroon, other non-emergency inquiries, etc. should be directed to the Cameroon Country Desk in Peace Corps Washington (see below). This will insure that family inquiries are handled in the most efficient manner.
5. Cyber cafés now exist in all the larger cities and many of the smaller ones in Cameroon. However, due to infrastructure problems and the limited service, e-mail is not totally reliable and often slow.
Mail
Few countries in the world offer the quality of postal service that we consider normal in the U.S. Volunteers, family and friends who expect U.S. standards for mail service will be disappointed. Mail takes a minimum of three weeks to arrive in Cameroon and may take several months. Some mail may not arrive at all (this is not a frequent occurrence, but it does happen). Some letters may arrive with clipped edges because postal workers have tried to see if any money was inside (again, this is rare, but it does happen). We do not want to sound discouraging, but when we are thousands of miles from our families and friends, communication becomes a very sensitive issue. We would prefer you be forewarned of the reality of mail service in the developing world.
Despite delays, we strongly encourage Volunteers to write to their families regularly. Family members will typically become worried when they do not hear from their Volunteer, so parents, friends, and relatives should be advised that mail is sporadic and that they shouldn't worry if they don't receive their Volunteer's letters regularly.
In the past we have noticed a common Volunteer letter writing pattern that particularly disturbs families and friends. During training and their first three to six months at post, Volunteers write home frequently. They are adapting to a totally new environment (which can be very difficult), and writing helps them process the new sights and sounds. However, once Volunteers feel at home with their surroundings and their work starts to take off, many simply forget to write home for long periods of time. Please don't be overly concerned if there is a break in correspondence three to six months after your Volunteer arrives at post!
However, if a family member or friends does not receive mail from a Volunteer for over three months, then that person may contact the Counseling and Outreach Unit (COU) at Peace Corps Washington (1-800-424-8580, extension 1470). COU will then send a "health and welfare” inquiry to the Peace Corps Country Director in Yaoundé and ask her to check up on the PCV.
Typically, Volunteers are in regular contact with the Peace Corps/Cameroon office in Yaounde. However, as necessary, to respond to a “health and welfare” inquiry, the office in Yaounde will contact a Volunteer at his or her site by making a series of phone calls, radio contacts, or even sending a staff member to the site (which means several days travel in some cases). The PCV will then be asked to write home and the Country Director will inform COU with information to pass on to family members. As you can see, this is a time-consuming process that affects quite a few people. Peace Corps asks
Volunteers and their families to try to avoid both heartache and headaches by maintaining a regular pattern of writing to loved ones.
Most packages sent to Cameroon arrive (sometimes a few months late).
Nevertheless DO NOT send things that have important sentimental or monetary value. Don't send expensive items, such as the Volunteer's favorite pair of one-carat diamond earrings. Items such as food and clothing have usually arrived with no problem, but it's expensive for the sender and receiver. If sending packages, "bubble envelopes" work best. If sending any food items, put them inside a ziploc bag. This will reduce chances that bugs or rodents will devour them.
For the first 3 months after your Volunteer’s arrival in Cameroon, mail should be sent to the following address:
Crystal Kazik, Peace Corps Volunteer
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 215
Yaoundé, Cameroon
Once Volunteers complete training and are at their posts, the quickest way to send mail is to send letters and packages directly to your Volunteer's address at post. Remind your Volunteer to relay their mailing address at post as soon as they know what it will be. If you do not know your Volunteer's address at post, mail can be sent to the Yaoundé address above the entire time the Volunteer is in Cameroon. Please realize that mail sent to this address will be held in Yaoundé until sent out on a bi-weekly basis to Volunteer posts (thereby delaying delivery for up to several weeks).
The following suggestions and postal regulations may be useful:
1. Mail should be sent directly to the Yaoundé address, OR directly to your Volunteer's post address once training is finished.
2. Both Volunteers and family members should number letters sent so that the receiver can determine whether any letters do not arrive.
3. Packages should be sent via air, not surface mail (surface mail has been known to take longer than two years to arrive).
4. Sending packages to your Volunteer in Cameroon is a risky proposition. Theft of packages is not only a problem in the Cameroonian postal system, it also occurs on the U.S. side. Although occasionally a package arrives quickly and without problems, it may take months or it may get "lost" along the way. Therefore, it is not advisable to send valuables this way.
5. If you do send packages, bubble envelopes seem to work better than large boxes. They are less tempting to would-be thieves. The sender should clearly and honestly mark the contents on the outside of the package, but a general description of the contents is sufficient: "clothing and candy" rather than "Nike high top sneakers and 2 lbs. Godiva chocolate."
6. Express mail is an expensive option that may take just as long to get to Cameroon. Perhaps a more secure option than regular airmail for documents, checks, etc., it is subject to more scrutiny by Cameroonian customs than regular mail. For items other than documents, Peace Corps staff has to submit import licenses to customs, and clearance can take up to 10 days. Thus, you may not necessarily save any time by using Express mail. DHL and UPS operate in Cameroon for those important documents. Note that current prices for these services run around $100.00 for one pound or less.
7. There is a tax which Volunteers will have to pay on all packages received before they can retrieve them from the post office. This tax varies according to the size of the package. It might be a nice gesture from friends or family to send a six-pack of Mountain Dew, but it may cost a Volunteer up to $10.00 to get it out of the post office.
8. Packages sent to the Yaoundé office are sent regularly but not immediately to Volunteer posts. This may delay delivery to the Volunteer by up to several weeks.
9. If Volunteers wish to send a package from Yaoundé to the States, Cameroon postal rates are high and insurance is not available. For this reason, many Volunteers wait to send packages with returning PCVs (whom they ask first, in country) or wait until their Completion of Service (COS) date to send home gifts and souvenirs. Letters going to the States through the Cameroon post have been quite dependable.
10. US postage-stamped letters can be put in the "next traveler" box at the Peace Corps office in Yaoundé, to be hand carried by the next person going Stateside. Note that this is a courtesy, not an obligation, and Volunteers shouldn't expect any traveler to carry more than letter mail, unless special arrangements are made with the individual. Air travelers may be required to open letters and packages and/or submit them to X-rays, especially when they don't belong to the traveler.
11. The Cameroon Desk in Peace Corps Headquarters, Washington, is available to answer Volunteer & families' questions about mail. Due to staff and budget constraints, they cannot, however, facilitate the sending of personal mail for Trainees and Volunteers.
Telephones
All major cities and increasing numbers of remote towns in Cameroon have access to telephone and FAX services. Almost all volunteers now have cell phones (GSM). This has greatly improved Volunteers’ ability to communicate with their family and friends in the U.S.
The cost of calling the U.S. can be expensive. Often a Volunteer will place a short call to a friend or family member and have them return the call.
