The rain continues here in Douala; almost every morning I awake to the sounds of water hitting the roof and windows of the Procure.  It must also be noted that in addition to the sound of rain, is rousing choral singing coming from the chapel below, every morning at 6:30 a.m.  As I mentioned in an email to a friend just yesterday, ‘c’est pas mal comme ‘réveil’! : it’s not too bad of an alarm clock, this choral singing…

I also had a chance last week to meet and shoot a short interview with one of CBWN’s members.  Her name is Jacqueline Ebene and she is the founder of an Association called MERENSO; Mères et Enfants Solidaires.  It is, essentially, a support network for widows and orphans.  As a mother of six children herself, and widowed at a young age, she found herself completely stripped of resources with which to support her family, on her own.  She saw all around her, in her community, other widows, and children without homes – all vulnerable, all without a means to survive.  So, being a “femme battante,” which roughly translates to meaning a woman who works hard, she decided to get a group of women together to discuss their difficulties, and come up with a way to support themselves.  Mme. Ebene had once been a seamstress, and she decided this would be the best way to start earning her own income.  She involved and encouraged other women to take part, and pretty soon, they were also able to start reaching out to orphans in their community and beyond.

I will skip the rest, as it will appear in the video I am currently writing subtitles for (and Mme. Ebene tells her story better than I), but suffice it to say MERENSO now partners with the likes of the Cameroon Government on initiatives to reach out to orphans in other areas of the country, and is now a very eager and proud member of the CBWN.  All of this out of initial poverty and loss.  A ‘femme battante’ without a doubt.

After our brief interview, Mme. Ebene was eager for me and my colleague, Clémence, to stay and taste a yogurt she had made and is going to also try and start marketing.  Clémence and I were only happy to oblige – and the yogurt gets the thumbs up!

In other news, this past Saturday the CBWN held an all day meeting/training/workshop, which was attended by about 30 of its members.  It was a treat for me, as I got to sit back and listen to each one recount a brief summary of their life, and the work they do now.  I hovered in the background, snapping pictures, taking some video footage, and making many hurried notes to myself about particular stories and interviews that would be of interest.  I also had a chance to give a brief presentation about the work I plan to do here this summer, for the network, and showed them a brief introductory video I had thrown together as an example of what’s to come.  I received many phone numbers and emails afterwards, so it looks like I will be coordinating quite a few one-on-one visits with these women, to better understand what it is they do, how they got here – and how I can help get their story out there!

And that’s my news from Douala-in-the-rain!  I wish you all, my readers, a chance to embody your own ‘femme battante’, whether you are ‘une femme’ or not.  I know I am channeling mine…

Douala is a city rife with activity.  The streets are almost over flowing at times, with vehicles, pedestrians and road-side stalls.  Yellow taxi cabs are rarely hard to find, and zipping in between and amongst them are the motorcycle taxis, carrying as many as three people.

As primarily a pedestrian myself, Douala is also to me ‘the city with no sidewalks.’  Where there should be pedestrian walk-ways are parked cars, stalls and other obstructions.  They do tend to clear out as night wanes, but for safety reasons I am rarely on foot when night falls.

I see Douala not just as a pedestrian, but also as a foreigner.  It is impossible for me to blend in, and so it is to a constant chorus of various cries that I walk down the streets of my new neighborhood.  “La Blanche!” “Cherie!” “Mon amie!”  It isn’t threatening, and having grown up in South Asia, it is something I am more than accustomed to.

Boulevard de la Liberte

While there is of course a wide array of attire throughout the city, in general the women are seemingly far more fashionable than I am!  I have seen everything from power suits, to ‘evening-out’ attire, to the equivalent of blue-collar clothing or even more ‘traditional’ looking outfits.  The women are seemingly quite feminine, and largely quite chic.  Just the other day my colleague Clémence came to the office wearing a dress she had designed herself.  I was duly impressed.

When the World Cup matches are on, all the road-side bars and cafes overflow with men eagerly watching them.  I can often hear their cries through the window of my office.  The women I have encountered are just as passionate about their national team, as well as their fellow African teams, however I don’t see nearly as many of them crowding the corner cafes.

That being said, last night I decided to go to a restaurant near where I am staying to watch Cameroon’s last World Cup game.  The restaurant is a popular one, amongst locals and expats alike (although admittedly perhaps more the latter), and has a large open-air patio where they have set up a big screen on which to watch the matches.  As the game started, in strolled a large group of young women, all dressed as if going out on the town – and to say they were vocal throughout the match would be an understatement.  The restaurant itself is certainly on the more expensive side, and my guess is that patrons are largely from the middle class, or above (in addition to the expats).  The places frequented by expats are what I have heard referred to as “pour les blancs,” or for the white people, often indicating a higher price range.  There is definitely an economic, and perhaps cultural, divide present in the city, as in many cities – a fact I simply find worth noting (and keeping in mind).

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I am working on a video interview I just filmed yesterday, and have a full day meeting with members of the CBWN tomorrow, so more Association-specific material will follow soon!

When you pick up a newspaper, or perhaps even peruse a UN or NGO publication, often times the stories that pertain to women are stories of violence, rape and discrimination.

This appears to be especially the case when it comes to women in developing countries, of various religions and cultures.  People the world over have become, by in large, at least familiarized with such terms as ‘honor killings,’ ‘bride burning,’ ‘sex slavery’ and perhaps even ‘rape as a tool of war.’

After a quick scan on Google for articles on ‘women in Cameroon,’ I immediately found a press release by the World Organization Against Torture on ‘Violence Against Women’ which stated, “An analyses of the legal and socio-economic and political status of women in Cameroon shows the link between the high levels of violence against women in Cameroon and their low status in all aspects of life.”  Another report released by CEDAW writes, “…discriminatory administrative policies, practices, laws, cultural beliefs and attitudes hamper the enjoyment of human rights of women [in Cameroon].”

I have spent much of my professional and academic career thus far very much involved in the issues around violence against women (VAW) – and this is something I have every intention to continue working on and highlighting, as it is a problem of global and epidemic proportions (and not just in the developing world).  That being said, since arriving here in Cameroon, and preparing to interview women who have, in large part, strolled past the ‘do not enter’ signs and established their own businesses and networks – I have been asking myself, where are the success stories?  Where are the stories about women’s resistance to violent and discriminatory systems?  Where are the tales that do NOT tend to portray women, especially African women, as eternal victims under the fist of patriarchy?

That is the kind of story I hope to explore this summer.  This does not mean to sugar coat the situation for women, or overlook the traumas some women may have faced.  What it does mean is that we shift to look at what women are doing in response, or in spite of the obstacles they face.

These stories are out there.  I have recently seen several documentaries tracing what various women, or groups of women, have done to stand up to the violence in their countries – my first thought is of the Liberian women who played a fundamental role in ending the civil war in their country.  There are also the mothers of the abducted and disappeared, in countries from Nepal to Argentina, who never stopped asking questions.

These stories exist.  And while the majority of the women I will be talking to, surveying and profiling this summer are not necessarily emerging from conflict or enduring daily violence, they are examples of the success stories that are out there and should be told.  Women need to know they aren’t alone in their struggles, or their successes.  Young women and girls need affirmation that self-sustenance is possible.  And the paradigm of the disenfranchised woman, shrouded in her victimhood, needs to have an additional, more nuanced side, which includes those powerful women who run their own businesses, despite a legal and political environment which may render that difficult.

I have only been in Cameroon for one week, but I am already impressed by the accomplishments and strengths of the three women I have had the good fortune to work with this first week.  It is these stories too, that deserve to be told, and I look forward to introducing them all to you, my readers.

The cover of a South African businesswomen's magazine I spotted in the Douala office

The journey begins on an eleven hour train from Bellows Falls Vermont to Washington D.C, where The Advocacy Project (AP) is leading a three day training.  I am eager to meet the other Peace Fellows and finally put faces to the AP individuals I have been emailing the past few months!

Apart from the training, my initial tasks will involve, first and foremost, securing a visa to Cameroon.  Fingers are crossed that the process will be as painless as obtaining a visa can be; ‘on va voir’, or we will see.  I plan to attend a Vital Voices organized meeting on June 7^th, also in D.C., where I will be further familiarized with the work of their organization, and their goals for the Cameroon Hub in particular.

Having the opportunity to conduct a baseline survey, as developed by Vital Voices, of the Cameroon Business Women Network participants is something I am very much looking forward to – engaging with these women and learning what obstacles they face in their daily lives, as well as what they have overcome and achieved, will not only be helpful for the network itself, but elucidating on a personal and professional level.  I am interested in knowing more about how women are resilient, and eager to depict them in their resilience, as opposed to the image of ‘victimhood’ women are so often portrayed in.  I imagine this summer will be more than a learning experience for me; I look forward to the stories of inspiration and hard work that I will undoubtedly encounter.