I fell in love with Cameroon Past Review
By A student (Middlebury College) - abroad from 08/27/2018 to 12/21/2018 with
Middlebury Schools Abroad: Middlebury in Yaoundé
My experience abroad was incredibly worthwhile. I gained perspective (being a minority for the first time, but also a privileged minority as a white person in an very poor country that is still impacted by its colonization). I gained a lot of language skills. I also gained good friends, especially in my host family and another American student in the program. I gained perspective on Africa as a whole and its relationship with Europe and the U.S. I learned aspects of cultures that are different from my own.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 2 weeks - 1 month |
Review Your Program
|
* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
Honestly the academic rigor of the Middlebury courses was pretty challenging (there was a decent amount of homework), but the courses at l'UCAC were challenging in different ways (completely different expectations, cultural differences, etc) and not in the intensity of the courses. I didn't do this program for the academics but I enjoyed some of my classes! |
|
* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
It's a very small operation but the people were great. |
|
* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
My host family was amazing and made my semester amazing. I loved talking/hanging out with/playing with all my siblings and my parents were supportive for me as well. |
| * Food: |
Some parts of the food are amazing, some get old really quickly. The fruit is incredible! I also loved a lot of the fish and various sauces with couscous or plantains. Other favorites included beignets and beans for breakfast. The never-ending supply of starch got repetitive and there weren't enough vegetables but if you make an effort you can find that! |
|
* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
It's somewhat impossible to be integrated when you're a white person living in a city where it's rare to see another white person (and you always receive attention in the street if you're a white female). However, I felt very very integrated with the local culture, thanks to my courses and my professors and my host family and Cameroonian friends. I also walked around the city practically every day, discovering new things and getting to know the people/places around me, and this made me feel very integrated. |
|
* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
I went to get a cholera vaccine at the hospital during my semester and the process was a little challenging because of Cameroon's systems of waiting rooms and processes, but it worked out. Other students in the program had more health issues and saw a doctor more than once and got tests done. The Cameroonian healthcare system is terrible compared to that of the United States, however it is decently cheap in comparison. You need a decent number of vaccines to come to Cameroon, but rabies is unnecessary in Yaoundé (there are not stray dogs in the street despite what the Travel Clinic people who had never been there told me). |
| * Safety: |
I felt extremely safe (despite the common expectations of dangerous conditions for women in African cities). Overall, Yaoundé is filled with men who will call out to you in the street, and in the two very busy markets in the city, they will sometimes touch your arm. It's good to not have your iPhone out in public, but this is the case with all cities. Additionally, the motorcycles and taxis in the city (the most common form of public transportation in Yaoundé) are not super safe coming from a U.S. perspective, given a lack of seat belts or caution while driving, but the taxis are actually pretty safe because there is always a traffic jam so they never get into big crashes. In general, I felt safe (and way safer than everyone thought I would) but this definitely depends on your tolerance/courage for a new/sometimes hostile/extremely different environment. |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
I had an amazing semester with this program and fell in love with Yaoundé and Cameroon. (I want to go back!) Of course, there were hard cultural aspects/conditions to adapt to (cold showers or people staring at you in the street) But for me, I was open and ready to adapt, and it served me really well. I loved Cameroonians, coming new things every day, and the spontaneity of life in Yaoundé. |
Finances
|
* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
It is extremely easy to live on a student's budget in Cameroon if you don't go out and buy imported things (all of which are expensive) or go on lots of trips. Food and other expenses are cheap in comparison to American prices. |
| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | between $10-$40 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Don't buy a Cameroonian phone! You can just buy a SIM card and stick it in yours (but don't let anyone steal it). Also, don't take taxi depot (a taxi that you don't share with others) because it's very unnecessary! Also, negotiate prices well (you can negotiate almost all things you buy in the street) and you will save money! |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | Yes |
|
How much did the program encourage you to use the language?
0 = No encouragement, 5 = frequent encouragement to use the language |
This program fostered a really encouraging language pledge environment and I never spoke English except on the phone to friends/family. (Of course, there were some students that broke it occasionally). |
| How would you rate your language skills at the beginning of the program? | Advanced |
| How would you rate your language skills at the end of the program? | Fluent |
| What was the highest level language course you had completed prior to departure? | ***I'd like to clarify that I am near fluent but you could not mistake me for a fluent French speaker. I indicated that I was fluent at the end to show the huge jump of improvement in my French. I had completed FREN 230 at Middlebury, but I also did language school level 3 in addition to that the summer before leaving. |
| How many hours per day did you use the language? | 10+ |
| Do you have any tips/advice on the best ways to practice the language for future study abroad participants? | It's helpful to know how to say every-day things. Honestly, it's also helpful to be mentally prepared for the language pledge and only speaking French. |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
|
* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you live with?
Select all that apply |
|
|
* Who did you take classes with?
Select all that apply |
|
| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
|
| * What could be improved? |
|
| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | I wish I knew to trust myself in making the choice to not go to France and do the typical study abroad experience, but to go to Cameroon instead! |
Individual Course Reviews
| Course Name/Rating: |
Human Rights |
| Course Department: | Social Sciences |
| Instructor: | Prof. Bata |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | This course was terrible, mostly because of the professor. He was not often prepared and we often learned by copying what he was reading to us in the front of the classroom. I didn't really participate because I was intimidated by the large class of about 50 students. We were assessed by writing two group exposés- one in the middle of the course and one at the end. We had homework to prepare for debates, which was actually a highlight of the course. Overall, the professor was beyond frustrating, but it was interesting to take a course on Human Rights in Cameroon. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Human and Economic Geography of Central Africa |
| Course Department: | Social Sciences |
| Instructor: | Prof. Olivier Iyébi-Mandjek |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | This course was not challenging at all. It was however very insightful and I'm so happy I took it! The professor was not well-prepared, except for the last class, where we all took a bus to the cocoa plantation of someone he knew who lived in the village of Okola (north of Yaoundé). This field trip was a highlight of my educational experience in Cameroon. I participated in class because the professor often asked us questions, often even comparing/relating to the United States. He was very welcoming and understanding of non-fluent French students. We were assessed by one final exam, which was an oral exam that took less than 20 minutes (our only grade in the class!! It was a little shocking). |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Medumba language |
| Course Department: | Middlebury |
| Instructor: | Prof. Betnga |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | This course was not very challenging. It did however introduce me and engage me with so many different aspects of the culture of Medumba speakers and Cameroonians in general. The course made use of the location and offered relevant field trips more than any other course you'd be able to imagine (we went to the market, we went out in the street, we went to meet interesting people, etc). The professor was very knowledgeable and somewhat well-prepared, but he could have provided more structured homework or structured class time to be able to master more of the actual language (although this did allow more time for other amazing opportunities). I participated in class way more than I would normally (specifically because there were only two people taking the course and because the professor is so easy-going and engaging and because the course material was very interesting). I was assessed by three exams throughout the semester, and some performances at the end of the semester, along with a couple of written homework assignments. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
| Course Name/Rating: |
Cameroon Literature and Film |
| Course Department: | Middlebury |
| Instructor: | Prof. Ngabeu |
| Instruction Language: | French |
| Comments: | This course was challenging because there were so many written assignments. The professor was very knowledgeable and well-prepared and often offered so much of her knowledge to us through conversation during the class. I participated in class much more than I would normally because it was small and I felt confident in my French and sometimes with the works that we were reading or watching. We were assessed by one page reactions to books/films, two longer papers, 3 exposés, a presentation at the end of the semester, and page-long journal entries. |
| Credit Transfer Issues: |
