What makes Cameroon so hot?

The day I arrived to Cameroon I felt I was inside an oven…it was really really hot, at the airport Esther was waiting for me, as soon as she saw me, she waved and gave me a big smile…she was outside.

I took me about one hour to get my luggage, then had to go through customs and finally out!!!!

There were tons of people, they tried to help me with my luggage to take it to a taxi or to the car waiting for me, there were kids asking for money, there were women selling food, but most important…it was hot.

I knew it was going to be hot, but I didn’t realize until today what’s the reason for it and I will tell you what I discovered.

I was talking to my friend Eric, a volunteer from Canada here at Reach Out, about Cameroonians, we were talking about how direct and upfront they are (most of the times) and how serious they look.

I was getting my hair braided today and the owner of the place wasn’t talking to much at the beginning, but after a while she was asking me things, she was looking for a Cameroonian husband for me…hahaha..and making jokes…I had a great time, I ended up taking pictures (snapping…how they say it) of me with her and her sister and that made me think on how rare it’s to see people here walking and smiling …or simply smiling, BUT…once you walk by them , they will greet you with a “Hi”, a “Good morning”, “Bonsoir” and if you get the chance to talk to them for a while, you will find that most of them are sooo nice, always want to share something with you, interested on knowing about you,  your life, your country, your family…they are very cheerful people, they need a lot of things to live better, but in the other hand they live so simple, so full of love, so full of God, so full of life…that many of us would like to live the way they do. Of course they are used to limitations, and most of us are not, but still, they are happier than a lot of us and that can only prove that money doesn’t come with joy.

So my conclusion…Cameroonians are direct, kind, simple, happy and WARM…and that’s what makes Cameroon so hot, not the humidity crossed with the heat, not the dryness…but the amazing people who live here.

All you need is there…

Before coming here I realized that the support of your family and friends, plus the willingness to do it and God by your side, is all you need to accomplish all the things you want.

I’ve never been much of “friends’ person”, but having people who cares about you, who encourages you is amazing, it just makes it easy…much easier. I can’t thank enough to my friends from SJ:  Lili, Caro, Dai, Gia, Chino, Carlos, Gargui, Tati, Rebe, Arye…my friends from work: Mau, Lau, Cin… my friends from life: Luis, Javi, Filo…my friends from Zarcero: Leo, Diana, Hermes, Nayu, Murillo, Daniel, Eli…my friends from University: Meli, Andre y Meli …my African friends: Esther , Bruno  and to all those who supported me in any way to pursue my dream.

Family…well family it’s just indispensable, you need , you must have the backing from your own blood…know that they will be there at all times.  Mami, papi, Sil, Rigo, Adri, Emilio, Raquel, tia Benny, Alex, Andrew, Kailie, all my aunties and uncles, grandma and cousins…you are a blessing to me!

Willingness to do it, you just need to find ways, there will always be at least one…it might take one sacrifice…or many…but if you really want to do it…go for it.

And last but not least GOD, it doesn’t matter who your God is…what’s your belief…you gotta have it by your side, because when you don’t understand why things happen, HE is the one who helps you to accept it and deal with it, human beings don’t have the capacity to deal with some major issues.

I’m telling you…all you need is there…you just need to realize it.

Get it done!

It was at Church in Zarcero, Costa Rica where a Priest asked during a mass to pray for a girl from the town whom was going on a trip to Africa as a missionary when I decided I wanted to do the same, go to Africa, not on a religious mission, but on a mission to help others, it became my dream, I was 10 or 12 years old.

After the worse year of my life, five months ago things were finally calmed and I realized that it was time…it was time to make my dream come true, it was now or never.

FIRST COME FIRST. I needed to calculate how much money I could count on (I will tell you later where the money will come from) if I wanted to go as volunteer for at least one year,  then find a serious NGO willing to accept  me as volunteer within my budget and lastly…get it done.

I talked to my sister Adriana and she told me she had a friend whom was in Kenya helping with an organization there, she gave me her friend’s email and I immediately wrote to her.  She gave me the contact at the NGO and after a few emails back and forth I noticed the lack of interest of having me as volunteer.

I was a little sad, but my best friend, sister, confident Rachel, encouraged me to keep on looking and accomplish my goal, so I did it, I started to send emails to a lot of organizations all over Africa, prayed to have what I was meant to be for me, and waited.

Most of the NGOs accepted me, but it a cost fee of 300 or 400 euros a month, plus the plane ticket and all other things, so it was impossible for me…again I was sad...and again Rachel stood by me and cheered me up.

Suddenly, I got the magic email, one from Reach Out Cameroon, with a blessing from Esther Omam, the Executive Director of the organization stating that my profile was a perfect match to what they needed, they were looking for a Communications Officer, as the one working for them was about to leave, he was a volunteer and he couldn’t stay any longer.

She gave me the costs, and I had to thank her for the opportunity and explained her that it was impossible for me to pay that much, so she told me she could sense from my emails that I had a good heart and willingness to help and they also needed me, so she offered me a great deal and I accepted it.

Next thing…I was calling my mom to tell her that I was leaving to Africa, at first, she was shocked and, she thought I was crazy, I reminded her that it was my dream since I was a little kid and she told me “I know, I just didn’t think you were going to make it happen”, after a few minutes, she understood that I was going for it, so she supported me.

Now, I needed to get enough money to pay $2000 for the plane ticket, one year of accommodation, food, water and everything else in Cameroon, $275 for the six months visa (the other six months will go thru a renewal) among other things I needed to get for my trip…and a loan I had with the Bank.

How was I going to get that much money? How was I going to survive for one year with no payment and having to pay for my entire living costs? Easy!! I had to sell everything I had and save as much money as I could during my last months in Costa Rica (I decided to leave to Africa in December, 2011).

After four weeks I had sold everything…everything I had...was living back with my parents in Zarcero and traveling two and half hours by bus to Santa Ana in San Jose.

BIG SACRIFICES.I had to wake up at 4am to get to work at 7am, then traveled back to Zarcero and was there around 6.40pm, luckily I had a great job at Oracle that allowed me to work from home two days a week, and so I could sleep longer those days...wooo hooo!

I also missed not being able to cross the street whenever I wanted and go to Rachel’s house and chat with her and play with Stephan, her baby, my nephew.

Not having my independency after almost 10 years of living by my self was also very hard, although I love my family and love to spend time with them; I was used to have my own things and my own place.

Never the less, JOY was my main feeling for the three months after getting the invitation letter from Reach Out Cameroon and watching my dream coming true so many many years later. I experienced amazing things during my whole life, but what changed my life, happened from July to December 2011 and I must say…I had to get it done!!

Who is the crazy, sensitive B?

It was November, 1984, in Grecia, Costa Rica, when and beautiful, really light skin, big black eyes and a lot of black hair was born, it was an angel...it was me…Yanin Rodriguez…hahaha

I am the third girl from a family of six, where I have two elder sisters: Silvia and Adriana, and one younger brother: Emilio and my parents: Leidy and Emilio.

I am divorced, since 2004, was married for two years with a guy who never worked, which lead the marriage to failure as I got tired of carrying things out for both…and at the end kind of discovered he also cheated on me…while I was working…funny eh?..hahaha

As a kid I was hyperactive (I think I still am…at least a little...hehe), always running all over the house, getting in trouble and giving some gray hair to my mom’s head.

I was very manly, always played with boys, loved ruff sports, had all kind of boy’s toys and hated dresses, Barbie’s and playing with girly stuff.

During my primary school years I was a very good student…excellent grade marks, student of honor almost every year, but terrible in matters of paying attention to the teacher and not talking or playing with my classmates...and started to have some trouble because I wanted to defend my friends…which caused fighting with some boys.

High school, wasn’t that much different, I was still getting great grades, not talking too much to class mates, but still having trouble for trying to get justice out of any wrong situation.

Much more mature, I started University with all the desire of getting my degree as quick as possible and giving 100% to graduate as a Journalist with a good academic record…but kept on fighting for justice, which lead me to great things, as having the university open a night course for those like me who worked during the day time and went to class at night time and finally graduated becoming the first of my family getting a University degree and making them really proud of me. I love the fact that I caused happiness to them :).

After a short break, I continued with my education, had a really hard time getting my post degree as the university I chose was a very bad one, teacher’s efficiency speaking and as I have always had that little bug who makes me fight for justice, I had problems with some of them and even with the Univeristy Area (Communications and Marketing) Director…thank God there were also great professors, and at the end…succeeded getting my Licentiate Degree on Marketing Communications.

I have worked since I was 17 years old, I considered myself a very responsible, loyal and ethical employee and always giving my best to the company and to the people I have worked with.

I love helping others, putting a smile on people’s face, I have a good sense of humor, I’m very sensitive and honest and hate layers, hypocrites, I get upset pretty easily, but it’s hard to make me really angry  and when I’m really angry, I almost can’t control what I say or think(so don't make me angry..hehe)…I’ve always said that I don’t have good luck at all (also my friends say it...LOL), but thank GOD I have many blessings in my life…I’m making my dream come true…I keep on fighting for others, for me and I will always be that crazy BRAVE girl!