Nous suivre au Cameroun

Hi everyone !

Here's a short update of so that you're informed of the events of January…
For technical reasons, no photos this time, but we'll give you some soon.
All Cameroon is following closely the steps of the football players in this time of the Cup of African Nations (CAN 2006) ! The player Eto'ofils has become a national hero, the song about him is played everywhere… We don't really follow the games. I'm writing not 'really', because with all the shouts, emotions, applauses, each time the Cameroonese team is playing, even in our rather calm neighbourhood, we follow the match !
Great news this month : I have a job, and we own a car !!
Yet, since we don't have our Cameroonese drinving license, and we've been here 3 months already, we can't drive it… We are expecting our Cameroonese driving license quite soon. With this car, life is going to be easier for us : no need to be waiting for taxis in the burning sun…
And, other great news : I have a job!! I'm working 3 half days a week in a shelter which welcomes street children. I'm in charge of several administrative tasks, especially the foolow-up of our fundings. The main funding project is to build a house to welcome the children who are here for a rather long stay. The aim of the shelter is to enable the kids to go back to their families after a short stay in order to settle down. But going back to their families is not always possible, and more and more children remain several months, and go to school in the neighbourhood. That's why we need this house built. The kids are from 10 up to 21 yearsold. I have good relationships with the team. All my colleagues are Cameroonese, except for an Indian sister, and the director, a Spanish Jesuit. The kids are very funny, and welcoming. They make me laugh a lot, and they have a great imagination ! I'm also working 2 days a week in a very posh secondary school. This is very close from my other job, but the atmosphere is quite different ! I'm counseling the children who are in the last grade, and who are going to be students next year. An important number of these children are going to study abroad, and some of them in France. I haven't seen them lots so far, since I'm just starting. I'm not as happy with this job as with the other one, but I'll tell you more once I'll know the to-be students more !

Arnaud has finished to write his course "Socialisation and Identities" which will start next week, at the beginning of the second semester. He'll tell you more about all that soon.
We are still looking for a new house, the houses we visited so far were not really finished, and we didn't feel like taking them. For now we still live in our student-room. The great advantage, is that we have very good relationships with all our neighbours, and all the people we know in the neighbourhood.
This can be extremely helpful : recently we forgot a bag in the boot of a taxi. Well, thanks to the help of all our neighbours, we were able to find the taxi and the bag only 2 hours after ! Impossible in Paris ! another example : one of our neighbours brought me to the wedding of her cousin 2 weeks ago. I was lucky enough to go to a family gathering, very dancing and very colourful !

So, this is for today !!
Arnaud and me send your all our friendship from Yaoundé !
Caroline