I say JAMNA, You say JAM!

So, as I briefly mentioned in my previous post, I am learning Fulfulde as well as French now. You may wonder why I am learning Fulfulde so let me rewind a bit.

About a week and a half ago, we received our post announcements (post is the place I will be living & serving for two years!). I will be living in a village called Nyambaka which is located in the Eastern part of the Adamawa region. According to my brother, you find Nyambaka on google maps! I will be working with a health center that has staff of 6 and serves an estimated population of 10,000. One of the villages served is Nyambaka in which about 4000 people live. The main health issues are malaria, parasites and water-borne illnesses.

Although the Adamawa region is Francophone, Fulfulde is actually the lingua franca (French will be language I translate through as needed and speak with the health center staff). Here's a quick Fulfulde lesson...

Jamna! (Hello)
Jam! (Response to Hello)
Jam bandu na? (Is your body healthy/are you well?)
Jam coo du mae. (I'm well)
Oseko (Thank you)
And my favorite, "Kenya" means yesterday!

Anyways, I am very excited about my post! I will have a post mate in the same village and there are many other volunteers within a few hours away. I also have electricity and cell reception (aka RESO). I am just 60 miles outside of the regional capital, Ngoundere, which I'll be able to visit at least once a month to do my banking. 60 miles sounds like it would be an hour of transport, but it is realistically between 3-4 hours because the road isn't paved. They are however in the process of paving it and expect to finish in a year and a half, which means when I go to leave Cameroon at the end of my service, transportation will be easier :D.

This Friday we leave for our site visit and we'll be spending a whole week just getting to know our community host, other Peace Corps volunteers around the area and will have time to set up things to make moving in December an easier transition (like setting up a bank account and ordering a bed). I am reopening this post after it has been closed for 10 years, so I will have a lot to do!
A la prochaine !