Thursday, March 10, 2011

Malima : A Visitor's View - Part One



Newsletter - December 2010

This August Anna Reilly, a Year 2 teacher at Cambridge House and long-standing member of the Malima Support Group, went to Gouria as a representative of the Malima Project with her daughter, Luisa. It was their first visit to Africa.


I remember reading Lorianna´s newsletters last year and thinking, wow, I can’t believe a simple journey can be so epic, so different from what we’re used to here in Spain or the UK. I didn’t realise this feeling would begin as soon as we left the plane. The run-down airport, the commotion, the lack of trust, corruption, poverty; we saw it all in the first half hour. It was definitely a baptism by fire. However, although the journey was long, tiring, difficult and incredible at the same time, I want to tell you about the village and people of Gouria.

The village of Gouria, home to Malima Primary school, is not what I expected. I have seen photos taken throughout the year and not appreciated how the land would change during the rainy season. As August is the rainy season in the north of Cameroon everywhere was green and blooming with produce. Corn and potatoes were the main plants I recognised but there were others growing. This gave an impression of the countryside bursting with life and colour. To say the area is beautiful in the rainy season is an understatement. The first few days we were there Luisa and I did a lot of walking to get our bearings and appreciate the scenery. There are volcanic peaks, hills and valleys, mountains, fields, trees, and the natural beauty of the area is breathtaking.


We lodged with a Muslim family near to where Judith’s boys stay with their elder brother, Vandi. The home, as all homes are in the area, is a compound with various simple rooms built around a central outside patio area. The rooms are not joined and therefore there is no sense of being “indoors”. The compound comprises of a store room, a few rooms for sleeping, a room for cooking using open fires and sometimes, depending on the means of the family, a room with chairs or a sofa which is used at night for socialising. There was no electricity or running water.

There were 10 people in the family we stayed with. Sadu, the man of the household was lucky enough to go away every now and then, for a few days at a time, to the cities and work as a driver. Most families in Gouria depend on subsistence farming and selling their produce or animals at market. He has 2 wives, his sister and mother living with him as well as 5 children. The children were teenagers and very hard working, helpful and polite. But at the same time once the working day in the fields was over, most of the family would come together in the evening and have fun chatting, laughing and making jokes or even dancing and singing. Luisa and I were lucky enough to enjoy many evenings with this family, as well as Vandi’s family. I was taken back to a distant memory that my father used to tell me about, when his family simply “made their own entertainment.” Even though these families endure lots of hardships, it’s good to see they are still able to come together, put their difficulties aside, and enjoy themselves.

We ate a family meal every day at 6:30 in the evening just after it got dark. Men and women with children eat separately. As we were guests, we were sometimes asked to eat with the men and older male children but also had the opportunity to eat with the women. Meals are eaten on the floor with a special mat or tablecloth placed down. The meals are communal with one plate of rice or maize dumplings and a bowl of sauce. People sit around in a circle and take what they want. Meat is a luxury and not often eaten. Some people only eat once a day if there is nothing left over from the evening before.

Many local visitors came and went from the two homes we spent our time in and it’s not uncommon to have people staying to share a meal if they are there at that time. Often, other friends or family members would pop around in the evenings, making the gatherings quite large. Both Luisa and I are very grateful that we were made to feel so welcome and had the opportunity to stay with and experience life with families in Gouria. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Judith’s boys, Tenema and Koda, for their assistance in many ways during the trip, as well as recognise the warmth and care given to us by the two families we shared our time in Gouria with. It will be a memory and feeling I will never forget!

Anna Reilly







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