What are we doing?

Among the many questions that I’ve been asked in the past few months, some of the most common have been: (1)What exactly will you be doing for 2 years?; (2) What is Cameroon like; and (3) Where will you live? I’ve decided to dedicate a post to each of these questions, starting with a description of what we will be doing. To answer that, there are some other things that need to be mentioned about the Peace Corps in Cameroon in general. So here it is...

Peace Corps was first invited into Cameroon in 1962. Since then, about 3,000 volunteers have served in seven different fields: education, community development, agriculture, aquaculture, health, small enterprise development, and agroforestry and the environment. Over the years, the programs have evolved to better meet the needs of communities. Brian and I will both be working in the health sector, which currently includes community health and community development projects. We will be working to “promote the participation of the community and to encourage self reliance in solving health and development issues”.

More specifically, my job title is Health NGO Developer, while Brian will be a Community Development Agent. A little bit about each position:

Health NGO Developer- This is an “exciting” new subgroup of the Health sector of Peace Corps Cameroon. My primary duty will be to assist health partner NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) to asses and strengthen their organizational capacity. I’ll work with local and international organizations. Specific tasks will vary depending on the city/town/village that I am placed in, but in general, my role will be that of a trainer, consultant and facilitator of the development process.

Typical responsibilities (as found my PC Assignment Book):
-conduct community and organizational needs assessments
-analyze the resource and training needs of NGO staff and community collaborators
-Assist in market research and promotion
-identify and execute activities to ensure community participation in health (particularly participation of youth and women)
-assist host institutions to develop business plans, maintain financial records, conduct financial analyses and incorporate sound management practices into daily activities
-encourage networking and linkages among community organizations and other resources

Community Development Agent- Volunteers’ work in this field concentrates on reinforcing communities’ and community groups’ ability to assess and address their own health and development needs, strengthening partners’ organizational capacity, training health workers/educators and promoting health services. Community Development Agents are local resources for community mobilization and development. While their primary focus is health education, much of their work will fall into the realm of community development.

Typical Responsibilities (as found in Brian’s PC Assignment Book):
-conducting initial community assessments
-assisting communities to develop strategies for successful health related projects and interventions
-facilitating community meetings
-training colleagues in organizations development
-”importantly”, teaching project design and management skills to local collaborators so that they can carry out the process on their own next time (sustainability!!)

The jobs sound similar, no? I’m hoping that we’ll be able to work together on projects and learn from each other’s mistakes (and of course, successes). In addition to the above responsibilities, we are encouraged to work on secondary projects. These include pretty much anything that we think the community would benefit from, or that the community asks us to do.