Back in Maga, the bad news and the good new
on Mischa in Cameroon (Cameroon), 21/Sep/2010 07:47, 34 days ago
 The bad newsThe junction between my street and the main roadThe rains in Magawere terrible this year, much worse than usual, and have left a trail of devastation in their wake. I've beenhopping over puddlesto get to schools, hoping the hole in my roof won't leak, and the end of my road has been cut off by a large irrigation ditch, but others are suffering much more. Thousands of houses were destroyed by high winds or collapsed because they got so wet (mud houses are not compatible with a lot of rain). Some of the rice crop was ruined when it was crushed by hail. Of the five schools I work with three have suffered surious damage. The school at Malka has lost its roof and now the money they were saving to build a new classroom in mud bricks will have to be used to buy a temporary grass roof. The schools at Sirlawe and Simatou were completely flooded. The villagers in these two villages are particularly angry because they were forced to move their current location by SEMRY, the rice growing co-operative, when they created the lake at Maga. Now their villages, which are among the rice fields and have practically no flood defences, are flooded almost every year.Attitudes towards those affected by the floods have not always been helpful. One Muslim friend in Maga told me that Simatou, a mainly Christian village, had been badly affected because there were too many pigs in the village.On top of this there was a cholera outbreak in the Extreme North this year and a handful of cases around Maga, delaying the start of school (for those who have a school to go to) by a week.The good newsSome aid has been dispatched to the affected villages by the President of Cameroon, the Ministry of Basic Education, and the Cameroonian Red Cross. There are a few (although not nearly enough) extra school books, and the Red Cross have been building latrines. When I was at the Sultan's palace at Pouss this weekend the regional Prefect was visiting to give out gifts (and eat a very sumptious lunch chez le Sultan).The headmaster of my problem schoolin Maga is worrying because when the school hands in their school registration lists to the Inspector they artificially augment the number of pupils to try and get more resources for the school. Now the Inspector wants to use this list to check who has paid their school fees, but obviously the made up students won't pay. Why is this good news? Not only did the headmaster explain the problem to us instead of hoping we didn't notice, but it also shows that the collection of school fees is being taken seriously this year.The mothers group at Sirlawe have bought a rice field which they're going to cultivate. They will then use the profits to support the school.I've arranged to sell my sister into marriage with an elderly neighbour for the excellent price of 12 cattle. I'll be setting up my cattle ranch soon.Also, a short look at how far the Extreme North of Cameroon is progressing towards achieving UN Millennium Goal 2, achieving universal primary education: http://blog.vsointernational.org/index.php/2010/09/10/will-mdg-summit-help-asta-complete-her-schooling/