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So I am trudging through the rainforest of Debunscha on my way back from the remote lake whose name I can not remember, and one of the other volunteers I was with said, "hey look, a monkey!"  Well the Rapid Intervention Batallion (BIR) soldiers, from Cameroon's military force, sprung into action arming their assault rifles getting ready for the hunt.  I tried desperately  to keep up with them because it is every little boys dream to catch on video 2 African soldiers shooting a monkey out of a tree with assault rifles for dinner that night.  Well, the other volunteers, being vegetarians, scared the monkey away with a hand drum.  It was still fun though. 

After one of the most stressful weeks I have had here in Limbe, I was offered to join Bantu and some other volunteers in Limbe to go on a trip to Debunscha, the wettest place in all of Africa, for some music playing and hiking and sightseeing.  SO HAPPY I WENT!  It was just the little vacation I needed! 

I got to talking to the other volunteers and we compared experiences and confirmed my thought that each volunteer experience presents similar frustrations as well as some unique ones.  Regardless, it was amazing to get to know some other people and talk about development experiences from different points of view.  It was also great to get to know other people while exploring a new village and taking in some great sights and adventures!  Not to mention playing my harmonica for a bar full of Cameroonians! 

About 6 weeks ago my lovely parents sent me a lovely package.  Inside that package was a group of toiletries that I ran out of a month ago (I received the package 4 days ago) and my favourite brand of cookies that lasted 4 minutes, and an external hard drive filled with my favorite shows.  This package came at the most amazing of times. It was at the peak of my stress here in Limbe. The package included a lovely hand written letter from my parents and  now I can go to sleep after having had a good laugh to Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock.  THANK YOU ALAN AND DIANNE. 

I now have my hands on some coaching manuals that will help me learn more about how I can use football for development in Africa.  Tackle Africa is a UK based charity that published an amazing manual on how to use football to talk to kids about HIV and AIDS awareness.  I plan on taking full advantage of my 3 weeks left here by putting a few of these drills to good use.  I have already talked to one of my players about this and he thought it was a great idea. 

Throughout my trip I have spent an unhealthy amount of time reflecting on my thoughts before and after my departure and also about my experiences here thus far.  I have been thinking a lot about corruption.  Wanting to learn about the field of international development, corruption is unfortunately a big part of that.  Cameroon, being the second most corrupt country in all of Africa, I was warned about social and general dealings in Cameroon because of that.  However, when I am told that Cameroon is a very corrupt country while sitting in the comfort of my Toronto bedroom, it was easy to shrug off.  No one will ever truly understand how a corrupt government really affects all of the people of that country until they get over here and experience it on their own.  We all know what a corrupt government is by definition but we do not know what the affects of that government is on everyday life here.  I now have an idea, and it sucks. 

My relationship with the Delegation of Sport and Physical Education is going amazingly.  I work with Saker Baptist College on Mondays and Wednesdays and Ibolyka Szabo Foundation on Fridays.  I have been helping these schools organize and run their PE programs and am having a blast!  The delegation has also asked me to speak at a seminar on October 10th for all of the PE teachers in this division.  Very exciting! 

I would like to take this opportunity to send a shout out to the Sport Development class at Brock University being taught by Dr. Laura Cousens who has been a tremendous source of support these past 9 weeks.   I am so looking forward to coming to St. Catherines to speak to her class about my experiences! 

Before I end this post, I wanted to share yet another thought about using sport for development that has become evident to me.  Using sport or physical activity to send a message, be it HIV/AIDS awareness or teamwork or trust and understanding, can be extremely effective.  However, if sport is going to ever erect any kind of long term sustainable change, the system and organization needs to not only want to change, but implement and support change.  Tournaments, coaching clinics, grassroots leagues, feeder systems and field scheduling ALL need to be better organized and governed.  Despite the overwhelming passion surrounding all aspects of sport, especially here in Cameroon, there seems to be a lack of effort to really organize any kind of long term system that uses sport to better the community.  For example, when I first arrived in Limbe the AVFAL players were in a tournament called the Paco Melville Junior Football Tournament.  It was a lot of fun and the community support seemed pretty good for a junior tournament.  BUT, a few weeks after the tournament ended I saw a banner for the tournament that said "2012 Paco Melville Junior Football Tournament to end HIV/AIDS"  A tournament aimed at HIV/AIDS awareness is an amazing concept, but no one knew that was the objective.  I certainly didn't and there was not a single event within the tournament that had anything to do with HIV/AIDS.  The opportunity is there, in abundance.  The execution is not.  IF that is going to change, it needs to change at the top with the organizers and coaches and community.  It needs to filter down.  People need to realize the potential of these kinds of social institutions and make sure that the potential is reached.  Football academies that function within a fractured system, within a fractured country can only accomplish so much.  But, like I have learned, we adapt and learn to work with what we have and do our very best everyday.  That will only be enough for so long....

Off to bed now because je suis fatigue.  Bilingualism here I come!!!!!

Cheers and love to all. 

Josh