Belo

If you have not heard from me yet about my placement, it is because I still don’t know…. There is a potential placement in the works but nothing has been confirmed so I am still waiting. This is Africa – nothing happens quickly.

In the meantime, I have been trying to keep busy, helping out some colleagues with projects etc. One of these brought Dave and I to a small village called Belo, about 1 hour away from Bamenda. Nestled in the hills, it has beautiful scenery – cliffs, falls, etc. We have two VSO colleagues in Belo: Amy and Simon.

The first day, we arrived at about noon and Simon took us to a local ‘chop shop’ for rice and tomato stew – a staple around here. Afterwards we walked around town in the rain, admiring some of the vistas. We paid a brief visit to Amy’s organization. Then we trudged our way back to the compound where they both live. By this time, the road to the compound was all muddy and rutted – part of the adventure.

That night we stayed at Amy’s house – a nice big three bedroom house. She fed us a very good meal and we chatted away. She has a small balcony from which the view is spectacular. In the evening, we could see the clouds, at our level, wafting through the valley. In the morning we sat on the same balcony, sipping coffee and enjoying the fresh mountain air.

The next day, Simon, was kind enough to take us on the Belo walk. This is a trail that was marked by a local NGO that takes you right around the village. Simon promised that it was an easy walk. Clearly, he is in much better shape than I. Up and down the path went – and it was hot! The surroundings were simply beautiful! We often came upon thatched huts that so many of the locals live in. I only made it about half way before taking the short cut back to Simon’s.

As we headed back home, we passed Nbingo. The reason this is of note is that it is the hospital where our daughter Julie is likely to be working when she comes to visit in September. We are very excited about her visit and about being able to take the opportunity for her to also do her annual African volunteering stint. Couldn’t have worked out better.