Thursday June 20^th 2013

It’s hard to believe that this time last week I’d just signed up for volunteering in the Cameroon. Having paid my registration fee I was told I’d get an information pack by 6 p.m.

Had I been at home, or had access to my emails, I think I’d have been checking every five minutes. As it happened I was at the Utoxeter Races Ladies Day eating fine foods, drinking more champagne than was good for me, and having a little flutter on the horses.

There was a moment when I looked around me at the beautifully laid tables, the shiny cutlery, the sparkling crockery, the flowers, the food and the drink. I listened to the happy laughter as everyone became more relaxed with the effects of the welcoming Pimms and Champagne.

I looked and thought about how different things were going to be in Cameroon. I took a snapshot of the scene in my mind, and thought, oddly, that I’d need to recall the picture when I’m there.

I got home just before midnight and headed straight to my inbox. There they were; two emails from Original Volunteers. One welcomed me to the organisation and gave me a time line of what to do when. Things like booking flights, completing various documentation, booking vaccines, applying for visas.

It also supplied the link below to Hannah Holtby’s blog about her experiences while volunteering on the project.

The other email contained more information about the project itself. The more I read the more overjoyed I became. This project seemed tailor made for me. I have an interest in education, health and empowerment. The project has a school, health facility and advocacy and women’s empowerment service.

I’m interested in meeting Tikar people. The project is located in Kumbo, which is very close to the main area for Tikar people, (if my geography serves me well). And the icing on the cake – it’s an area that specialises in natural medicines.