Raison D'Etre

I came to Africa to see some of this fascinating continent and to give something back. After working for 10 years in the UK for the same company, it was time for a change.

People have asked me why I chose Cameroon. As with most things I do in life, my decision to visit Cameroon was well researched. Parts of Cameroon are French speaking and I wanted the opportunity to practice my French. Cameroon has a high political stability compared to some other African countries so my chances of being kidnapped and held hostage by a group of anti government bandits is significantly lower. RUDEC, the organisation for which I am working, has no religious affiliations and that was important for me as I do not practice a faith. The website for RUDEC was attractive to me as it seemed genuine and with so much corruption in Cameroon (and Africa in general) I wanted to be sure that I was working for an authentic cause. The ability to speak with past volunteers confirmed that this would be the case. Finally, I would not be paying through the nose to volunteer. When researching this trip I was staggered to learn that some 'volutourism' operators charge volunteers up to £3000 for 6 weeks worth of volunteering time. I have no middle man to pay. I pay RUDEC 37,000 African francs (about £50) a month for my accommodation and that includes the services of Samwell who cooks, cleans and washes my clothes.

I came to Belo with some idea of how I could help but with nothing set in stone. Joshua was clear that he was interested in volunteers who packed initiative when they travelled and not people who wanted to be told what to do. From my first few days here, it is clear that I will be helping Phil with his football project as he has ambitious plans to help 200 students. I am also exploring the option of training the teachers in some different teaching techniques as their style tends to be an authoritive, directive form of recital and not much else. I am also going to see if I can improve the Sponsor an Orphan page of the RUDEC website as that needs some work. Watch this space.