Writing Creatively With Spirit

A journey of psychic discovery

Category Archives: Countdown to Cameroon


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Countdown to Cameroon – 29 days to go

I decided to focus on visa application today. Fortunately the letter of invitation arrived. Next was a look at the Cameroon Embassy website to check the process and requirements. (See below) It’s been a while since I traveled to anywhere requiring a visa. I was more than a little taken aback by the list. There was more that didn’t apply to me, but there was enough that did to make me want to throw my hands up, hold my head and cry. But I’m beginning to do process quite well.

So off I went to the bank to check the state of my finance (internet banking not working) only to find I’d lost my bank card. Well, left it in an ATM last week is a more accurate description. So one more task to add to the list – report lost card.

Then I ordered travel insurance and printed off my travel ticket details. I fear a few trees may have been sacrificed for this application. That was enough for today. All this came on the back of a full workout at the gym followed by a Zumba class. Yes, the body preparation has begun. More about that tomorrow.

Tomorrow I’ll do the photos, check out postal money orders and re-book my yellow fever vaccine.

  • (A)   Documents to be submitted:
  1. A passport valid for at least 6 months.
  2. Two completed application forms.
  3. Two clear passport-size photographs taken frontally.
  4. A stamped self-addressed envelope if you require the visa to be posted back to you.
  5. A legalised letter of invitation with the Cameroon Police from either the host/contact/partner in Cameroon (accompanied by a legalised copy of the Cameroonian National Identity Card or Residence Permit).
  6. Return or continuation ticket.
  7. Bank statement (at least £1, 000), except where a tour operator/travel agency is organising a trip.
  8. Visa application fee.
  9. Travel Insurance.
  10. Marriage Certificate for mixed couple and a letter from the Cameroonian partner.
  11. Child’s Birth Certificate and a letter from one or both parents allowing the child to travel.
  12. Application Procedure
  13. Completed applications should be lodge at the reception desk of the High Commission between 9.30am to 12.30pm, Monday to Friday, except on bank, (public) holidays in England and Cameroon.
  14. The presence of visa applicants at the High Commission may be required for purposes of identification.
  15. Passports are generally ready for collection within 48 hours. Collection is between 2.00pm and 3.30pm every working day. Request for accelerated processing should be justified. If not, it is the normal waiting period, which applies.
  16. Application Fees: 

    1 day to 3 months = £62

  17. NB: In cash or postal money order please. The above amounts are subject to variation.

Sanitary Requirements

Compulsory vaccines:

  1. Yellow Fever
  2. Cholera (If coming from affected area). Proof required at port of entry.

Recommended Vaccines

  1. Typhoid
  2. Meningitis
  3. Malaria protection


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Countdown to Cameroon – 30 days to go

Now that I’ve got Never on Sunday to publication stage I can begin to focus on the preparation for Cameroon. Only 30 days to go and still a lot to do.

I still have to apply for my visa, which I can’t do till I receive some papers from the project. Despite two reminders I haven’t received anything yet. I’m working on the principle that they were leaving me alone to focus on completing the book. Hope the stuff comes tomorrow though. I’d like to start that process asap.

I’m going to arrange to get my yellow fever vaccine within the next few days and begin shopping for things I need to take.

A friend of mine who’s going to work in Liberia said she got a great mosquito net from Sports Direct for £24.99. I’m going to check them out tomorrow.  Please let me know if you know where I can get a better deal.


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Countdown to Cameroon – Drowning in paperwork

After the initial rush of activity things slowed right down while I collected, distributed and received many pieces of paper. These included copies of my police check and passport, a contact form, my CV, my flight details and a letter of intent. I’ve filled in a questionnaire about why I want to go and what I have to offer and sent it to the project coordinator in Cameroon.

I’m waiting for a few more bits of paper to begin applying for my visa, which I’ve been advised to do within the next ten days. I also need to book my yellow fever vaccine. I think I’ll do that within the next ten days as well.

On Sunday I’m going to spend some time with a friend to learn how to make effective video blogs. I may even post some of my practice ones here.

Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some

Of Water and the Spirit by Malidoma Patrice Some

In the lull I read an amazing book by Malidoma Patrice Some, Of Water and the Spirit. It’s given me fantastic insight into indigenous African spiritual practices. It’s also a brilliant history book. Although he’s not Cameroonian I learned a lot from him about pre and post colonial Africa through the eyes of someone who straddled both worlds.

Of Water and the Spirit spurred me on to complete my own book Never on Sunday which is currently at the publication process.


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Countdown to Cameroon – Yellow fever vaccine

14th July 2013

Those of you who know me know that I’m not keen on taking medication. In fact I haven’t taken any pharmaceutical medication since 2007. It sticks a bit in the craw that I have to have the yellow fever vaccine just to get into Cameroon, but I respect the country’s regulations. I called the authorised centre last week (discovered there’s one just round the corner from me) to find out how to go about getting the vaccine.

They have a travel clinic once a week on a Friday. You have to book in advance and pay £52.00 in cash. No cards or cheques accepted. The receptionist said they had no vacancies for the next three weeks (must be the holiday season), then she noticed a cancellation for the following day.

‘I’ll have it,’ my lips said, before my brain was fully engaged. There’s something about scarcity that makes people make rash decisions.

It later occurred to me that my plan was to get my body strong and cleansed before putting the poison of the vaccine in it. I had to call the next day and cancel. I’m now on a regime of getting my body fit, strong and cleansed. It should take about three weeks – time enough as the minimum time before travel for the vaccine to take effect is ten days.


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Henry Morgan and the Oversoul

Thursday June 27th 2013

There’s a line in a Bob Marley song that says ‘Don’t forget your history. Know your destiny.’ (From the song Rat Race).

Sunset in the Caribbean

Sunset in the Caribbean

Evidently spirit thinks I’ve forgotten mine and seem to be setting out to remind me. It’s beginning to feel like my connection with spirit is one big history lesson.

I was at a meeting on Monday night and drifted into a conversation with my grandmother. Remembering Greg’s and Cain’s advice to ask our guides to reveal as much information about themselves as possible I said, ‘Come on Grandma, why don’t you show me your face?’ Strange though it may seem I’ve never seen a photo of my grandmother, and never met her in person as she died way before I was born.

I sat and waited. Nothing happened. I softened my gaze and looked into the glass panel of the door facing me. Nothing. I gazed a bit more. Gradually the profile of a face appeared.

Well, as you can imagine, I was fascinated. It became clearer the more I looked. It was a strong face with what appeared to be a mass of curly hair. The eye (remember I’m seeing it in profile) was deep-set, and the was chin long and curved. But it was the nose that surprised me. It was large and quite straight. Throughout the night I looked up and it was still there.

I wanted to call my friend when I got home to let her know what had happened, but I received a text that a colleague had committed suicide and felt the need to speak to the person who’d sent it to me instead. As A Course In Miracles practitioners we both agreed that he could now find the peace he found it so hard to recognise here. I went to bed still excited.

On Tuesday I went to buy some sage and incense sticks and got chatting to the woman in the shop who’s very spiritual. I told her of my plans to go to Cameroon.

‘Remember to speak to the oversoul of the place when you get there,’ she advised.

‘The over what?’ I asked.

‘The oversoul,’ she repeated. ‘Every place has an energy that takes responsibility for the well-being of the place, from the highest mountain to the tiniest flower. When you go anywhere new, it’s a good idea to ask the oversoul how you can be of help, and also what you can learn from the place.’

Caribbean sunset

Caribbean sunset

Well, (must stop using so many wells) I was intrigued. I’d never heard of this before, and was even more interested when she said that sometimes oversouls use willing individuals to put them in touch with the oversouls of other places that they’ve visited.

‘Can the oversoul contact you before you get there?’ I wondered, as it does feel that Cameroon called me, and that in some way I’m being asked to take something from Cameroon to Jamaica. Maybe I’m being asked to put the oversouls back in touch with each other?

‘Yes,’ she replied, ‘especially if you put out the message that you want to help. Go with the mind that you’re bringing them something, and that you’ll receive something, and you can’t go wrong.’

That night I did some more research the Maroons in Clarendon. I figured it would be helpful to know a bit more about the history of Jamaica before I go to Cameroon for two reasons.

  1. If I’m asked about my birthplace I won’t appear totally ignorant.
  2. To see more clearly what it is I need to take from Cameroon to Jamaica.

I found that one of the first and biggest uprising of slaves happened in Clarendon, and that Henry Morgan, a British Governor was based there.

That’s when I remembered that my grandmother’s maiden name was Morgan, so I looked up Henry and WOW! The face in the glass was his – the curly hair – the straight nose – the long chin.

Of course I wanted to know more about the man, his Welsh origins and his buccaneering.

I really am fascinated by this process, and although I’m not sure where its leading me I’m prepared to trust it.

I’ve looked into the oversoul. The only references I’ve found are to an online game and to an essay of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Have you ever heard of the oversoul in this context? Would love to know if you have and what you make of it.


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Further down the rabbit hole

Sunday June 23rd 2013

Caribbean beach

Caribbean beach

On Thursday, during the meditation in the development session the facilitator said he could see a woman wrapped in a maroon cloak standing behind me holding an umbrella made of cane over my head. See the full story here.

I deduced from this that I was being told that there is a connection between me and the Maroons of Jamaica. I also wondered if I was being given a message to look at the link between Cameroon and the Maroons.

First I checked out the meaning of the colour maroon. There were two main meanings:

1)      It is symbolic of courage, bravery, heroism and strength.

2)      The colour is red-brown, like that obtained from clay and is associated with healing and power to repel malevolent spirits.

The Maroons in Jamaica represents all of the above. They were the runaway slaves who fought the British for their freedom 100 years before the official abolition of slavery.  They were, and still are, a very spiritual people. The current Maroon community in Jamaica still carries out a ritual in which they speak to the ancestors using MSL – Maroon Spirit Language.

But it wasn’t till I typed in ‘link between Maroons in Jamaica and Cameroon’ that I got the information that the original Maroons were made up of slaves taken from what is modern day Ghana and modern day Cameroon.

I just sat and stared at the screen. Not so much flabbergasted by the connections but by the means that I’d been made aware of them.

When I spoke to my sister-in-law tonight she said there is a Maroon community in Clarendon, which is where my mom is from.

I feel a trip to Jamaica to make connections with the Maroons coming on very shortly after my return from Cameroon.


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Countdown to Cameroon – Reality check

Friday June 21st 2013

Post elation and the reality is beginning to sink in. Volunteering is not a holiday, it’s a job, and preparing to volunteer overseas is like starting a job abroad.

First there’s the CRB or police check, then there’s booking the flight, booking in with the surgery for immunisation – yellow fever and cholera are compulsory as are malaria tablets. Add visa application (which is not a straightforward affair with the Cameroon embassy) and all the people who have to be informed this end and in Cameroon and its way more than starting a job here.

On top of that the blurb states that it’s approximately a day’s travel by bus to the project from the airport, (and the flights I’ve looked at so far are anywhere from ten hours to thirty-one hours).

I have to buy a sleeping bag. I’ll need it for the volunteer house as bedding isn’t provided. I have to buy a pair of wellingtons because it can get very muddy between April and November, and warm clothes as the altitude of project means it can get quite chilly in the evenings.

By Monday I was beginning to wonder whether this was such a good idea, but after speaking to one of the staff at Original Volunteers on Tuesday I was all fired up again. Filled in and posted the police check form. First job done, about twenty to go.

 


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Countdown to Cameroon – 20th June 2013

Thursday June 20th 2013

WP_000345

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.

Entrance to Utoxeter Race Course

Entrance to Utoxeter Race Course

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.

WP_000349

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.


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A month in Cameroon

Having traced my African ancestors to Cameroon, I’ve just signed up to go and do some volunteer work in a project out there. I’m going with an organisation called Original Volunteers. The project runs a school, a health facility and a women’s empowerment service.  I’m planning to go for a month later in about ten

Crotons. Just wanted to brighten up this post on a cold and grey day.

Crotons. Just wanted to brighten up this post on a cold and grey day.

weeks time.

I’ve never done any volunteering of this kind abroad, so already its feeling like a massive adventure and I haven’t even left home yet.

I’d love to hear about your volunteering experiences and whether you’ve ever heard of Original Volunteers, or used them.