motorcycle madness and the mayor of Lomie.
Wednesday September 24, 2003
I am doing a timelapse experiment today. A few hours of Lomie life compressed into a few minutes. I went to meet the Mayor today. That was quiet an experience. First of all, he has a big house on top of the highest hill in town (he is not the most powerful man btw.) There were a few city vehicles parked in his yard, including some sort of land mover. There were a half dozen people hanging out on his veranda, including Benjamin (the VP of the advisory board for GECEC). We all shook hands, and went inside to wait for the Mayor. I heard a little about how most local traditions have been replaced by Western ones, except the power of the Uncle. Apparently the uncle has an estimed position here, and can pretty much ask for whatever they want of the cousins…since it is the uncles that bury the cousin, and in sort of an advance payment type of thing, you are endebted to your uncle during your life. Death and the “deuil” (I guess like sitting shiva) are a big part of the social structure here. There have already been several deaths since I’ve been here of people I am connected to, but I have yet to go to a Deuil. On the way to Lomie, we passed a deuil, where a bunch of people were sitting around two bodies. When they saw us coming they raised a rope across the road. We stopped, and some people in the van gave money. Apparently the tradition in that neck of the woods involves soliciting money from all who pass the body, and well, since the village is on the road, why not stop all traffic for a collection.
So I haven’t even met the Mayor yet.. who comes out in his undershirt, scratching his balls (with the left hand) and shakes my hand as Charlie introduces me. We exchange some pleasantries, and the talk moves from French to the French/Zime patois which I try to follow. Here is what they talked about (from my understanding). The mayor’s son rode his motor-bike to another town in the area to pick up a friend of his…as they were leaving town, the local constabulary pulled them over, accused them of trying to flee, and handcuffed the friend. Apparently the daughter of the mayor of this other town was pregnant, and fingered the friend. After much debate, the police asked/told the mayor’s son to escort the suspect back to Lomie where due process was supposed to unfold. As they passed the friend’s village, he became agitated/tried to jump off the bike while handcuffed. An accident ensued, resulting in the mayor’s son ending up in a coma for a few hours. The mayor (of Lomie) went to this other town to kick ass and take names…the kicker in all of this (as if it needed one) was that the friend had been in town for a month, and the daughter’s pregancy was several months along.
Then talk shifted to business, as we ate… it was around 10:30 am…but it looked like luch to me. They pulled out a plate for me (they were eating on saucers) which I declined in favor of adopting the local method. The food was good. A plantain mush and porcupine (which is a slightly fatty meat with a rich flavor).
Raymond and Dianna, two VSO volunteers in Bertua made a surprise visit, and Jaap (from the SNV, and the godfather of the portable saw project) drove them here. It was good to meet Jaap who is pretty much synonimous with development in Lomie.. as he was here for years, I really didn’t click with Raymond and Dianna. It may be because of the the earlier reports I got on them, or just because I didn’t. I’m not sure if I’m going to go through a “I hate all Cameroonians, they are all theives and liars” stage like they are, but it is ugly to hear. We did connect on the general mess of VSO Cameroon’s office…but they seem to expect something that I just don’t really expect: support. The VSO office is pretty disfunctional, with a total –respond to crisis only- mode of operation. There have been some general requests for help from Caroline, but I don’t want to go down that sink hole. I have enough to do right here for an organization that doesn’t have the resources that VSO has, I sort of laugh (tragically) at the VSO Cameroon situation, and fully expect to have to get help elsewhere, while they (Raymond and Dianna) still expect something which leads to a different response… although I do think that their professional situation, especially hers is bad. They were very kind, and brought tomato’s and oranges, which I will very happily devour.