RUDEC Testimony – Reinoud Vaandrager

I found RUDEC while doing a Google search for 'Beekeeping internship'. Given Joshua's background in Natural Beekeeping and the added bonus of having a good reason to visit Cameroon (with a letter of invitation from RUDEC) sealed the deal for me.

Of course I was a bit apprehensive at first since Cameroon is well known for it's many Internet scams (just search for 'Cameroon pet scam' to see what I mean). Luckily I found some blogs from previous RUDEC volunteers confirming my hope this was a legit organization. Reading the blogs and the RUDEC site before hand also gave me a good insight in the grassroots projects this NGO was running to help improve the community through sustainable means.

I planned the trip to Cameroon 6 month ahead, which gave me plenty of time to prepare and collect donated hardware such as phones and laptops from friends and family. Also I saw this amazing TED talk about this Oxford Physics Professor that had created Adaptive Eyeglasses for developing worlds, so I decided to contact his organization (Google 'global vision 2020') to see if I could bring a batch. Together with a 5000$ grant from Google (my employer) I was able to ship over 220 AdSpecs and another 200 readers, allowing RUDEC to set up an eye clinic, and bring vision correction to those in the Belo region of Cameroon.

By the time I arrived in Cameroon I was overloaded with baggage (around 70kg) so I was really happy to finally meet Joshua. Joshua had arranged everything from pick up, stay and transport from Douala to Belo so I could basically sit back and enjoy the scenery :).

Once in Belo I was pleasantly surprised by the friendly people in this region (the Kom people). They all greet you and encourage you to learn some words of Kom. The kids all yell 'Hello! Hello!' all the time, and while this is nice the first few days, I must admit it grows a bit annoying by the 3rd months. But working with them in the after school project (I taught mathematics on Tuesdays) is a really rewarding experience and you actually get to meet and interact with the kids on a much more personal level.

The beekeeping internship itself was great with Joshua teaching me every Tuesday and Thursday morning, covering everything from theory, beehive construction and installation to honey harvesting and post processing (i.e. beeswax). I also got involved in a bee keeping related project that Joshua started earlier in collaboration with the Wildlife Conservation Society to follow up with 7 remote villages around the Kwagene Gorilla Sanctuary near the Nigerian border. This was a 10 day trek through some of the most stunning nature I've ever seen, meeting with villagers practicing natural beekeeping as a way to generate income while helping pollination and preventing the need to hunt for (protected) bush meat.

Overall I was able to be involved in existing projects and start a few of my own. In no particular order:

• Building a computer lab with 6 computers in the RUDEC office, allowing kids to learn about IT and access information (GPRS Internet, a 1TB hard drive with documentaries and countless ebooks).
• Creating a new RUDEC apiary with the capacity for up to 30 hives in Baicham. The honey will provide sustainable income for the NGO to help pay for the orphan project and field worker salaries.
• Starting a RUDEC eye clinic, with free eye consultations every Wednesday morning. We take eye prescriptions and can also offer them glasses on prescription thanks to the adaptive eye wear donations from Google and the Centre for Vision in the Developing world.
• Setting up a bare-bones Solar power system for RUDEC. Offering between 24 and 30W per day (enough to charge a phone, and provide light for a few hours). And starting a much bigger project with Engineers Without Borders UK (EWB-UK) to bring a 5KW PV system to a school (GBS Belo) in the near future. Together with EWB I was able to take this project from the feasibility study to the fund raising phase.
• Setting up 2 new websites (www.cameroontourist.com and www.africancooking.com) to promote eco-tourism to Cameroon and provide some 'Pension' income to the RUDEC Old Peoples Club by monetizing some of the authentic recipes the club donated to RUDEC.
• Teaching math in the After school Classes, Visiting Orphans, Helping out with the Fuli water extension project etc.

One of the reasons I was able to start and complete so many projects is:

1. Preparation beforehand and
2. The great support and many donations I got from colleagues, friends and family
3. Help from other on-line RUDEC volunteers (thanks Rob!)

I really would have been unable to achieve my goals without their help, so I learned it is very important to keep connected using the Internet. For this purpose I had set up a travel blog (www.travelr.org) where I wrote frequent updates on projects.

During my three month stay I worked together with the other RUDEC volunteers (Brynne, Sian, Louise) who where a blast to hang out with. Also we often met with the other volunteers at a similar NGO in Belo called Berudep so in total we were around 15 volunteers!

The area around Belo is quite beautiful, with stunning hills, cliffs and vista's. It is perfect for hiking and visiting nearby sites such as the Belo waterfalls, lake Oku, the Ndawara tea estate, the huge ranch with over 1000 horses in the nearby highlands, etc. etc.

Belo itself is a cute little town, with all the action happening around the center (called 3 corners). There are 2 bars where they have a fridge (cold drinks!) namely Social Spot and Downtown. Also there is a weekly market worth visiting if you are into fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables (no lack of those here!).

The largest nearby city is Bamenda so we would visit there every couple of weeks to do western style shopping at the (overpriced) New Life Market, withdrawing cash from the ATM (only VISA works) and also buy supplies we might need for projects that are hard to get in Belo (Books, Paint, Rubber boots, Electric supplies, etc. etc.). The ride takes about 90 minutes (900CFA from Belo-Bamenda, plus 200CFA for local taxis to commercial avenue).

In the end it was a unique experience, and despite the obvious shortcomings of living in a developing country (frequent power outages, limited clean water, poor hygiene, lack of choice in food) it has a good vibe. Seeing the direct impact of the projects you work on for the community, their gratitude and happiness really made me feel good about being here in Cameroon.

Make no mistake, RUDEC is a grassroots NGO and has to struggle to keep it's projects running, often at the great personal sacrifice of Joshua (who could easily make more money using his skills in a commercial setting). However this also means there is plenty of room for improvement. So If you know what you want to do, keep it simple and take ownership yourself. You will see your efforts will pay off in spades, and by doing so help RUDEC grow and the community prosper.

Now that my time is up, I leave with a sad but satisfied feeling to use my last remaining 10 days to explore the rest of Cameroon! :)

If you would like to know more about my projects and my time with RUDEC, check out my blog at: http://www.travelr.org :)

-Reinoud