Tuu Here

Moving to Africa in 1979, from rural, small town Mississippi was a leap of faith and a catalyst for great adventure. With graduation from college looming and looking for direction, a Peace Corps flier crosses Mary Duncans path. Mary volunteers to teach Cameroonians how to grow fish for food by building fish ponds in Cameroon. After four months of training, she is assigned to a very isolated post in Yoko. She must adapt to a French speaking, half Muslim world without electricity and plumbing. For the first year, the only other volunteers in the area are a 12 hour bush taxi ride away. Mary gains a unique view of what life is really like in Yoko, where the local tribe, the Bavut, speaks their own patois (language) and are happy to share their opinions on a wide range of topics including homosexuality, polygamy, nuclear bomb programs and whether or not pygmies are indeed human. The first year Mary is occupied with work and survival: learning how to live without modern conveniences, communicate with the locals, and with very little to eat. During the second year, as the locals begin to know and trust her, she gets to look under the surface and discovers not everything is as innocent as it seems. On this journey to the third world, Mary learns as much about herself as she does of the people around her. Marys cross-cultural experience attests the commonalities of human beings on higher levels than the boundaries we build between us, and that many challenges that we face are universal: the need for shelter, friendship, and fish. For those thinking to joining the Peace Corps or those looking to travel abroad on a road less traveled, this book can give you honest insight into what you can expect on your own journey.