Patience

The first thing I teach in my business class is the cycle of management. I draw a circle on the board and explain that the first step towards being an entrepreneur is having an idea, the second is planning (including research and organization), followed by execution and finally evaluation. I think it is important that I not only teach this cycle of management, but also show that I apply it to my own life. As I do this, however, I must insert the word PATIENCE with every phase.

I want to start projects, and from emails I have received I know other people want me to start them as well. What I ask of you and of myself is to have PATIENCE. I have been here for two months (In N'Gaoundéré for a little over one) and I have started three programs: I have founded a soccer program, I teach business classes, and I teach English classes. It may not seem like a lot, but in actuality, it is. My idea is to ameliorate the lives of women in N'Gaoundéré; currently I am between the planning and execution stages.

My goal by the end of my business class is to have a group of women who are dynamic, motivated and capable of becoming entrepreneurs. I want to use my "start up funds" for community projects to help these women start their businesses. That way they can ameliorate their lives and the lives of their families. I have been asked if this is SUSTAINABLE? Is it not better that you build something CONCRETE?

First I will address sustainability. The definition of sustainable is “able to be maintained.” I teach the business classes so that I can ensure that these women learn the skills needed to be entrepreneurs. When I am not here and they want to take out a loan or need to sign an official document, I want them to act with confidence. My class teaches women the skills to maintain their businesses successfully.

The average Cameroonian family has eight members. If you teach the mother a business trade, without a doubt, her children will help her in the trade and learn the trade themselves. Family lines here are often blurry. A child does not have to be your direct child to be treated as your child. Cousins, neighbors, and friends' children are often added to the eight making it realistically fifteen. If the next generation learns the business trade, and can use it to support their own families, is this not sustainable?

I chose to teach women because they are not given the same opportunities as men. Frequently, for both economic and social reasons, they drop out of school early or do not attend at all. If I can give them a tool that they can apply to daily life, it will give them power and self-confidence. Women also take responsibility for their families. They typically use their money for family necessities such as food, healthcare, education and clothing. Men tend to spend it on personal and luxury goods. I do not know why this is, but it is an important aspect of culture to consider. By empowering women with the expertise to run their own business and providing the tools they need to get started, the investment and its profits are guaranteed to benefit the family. As it supports the family's survival, it maintains their livelihood and passes the expertise and tools onto the next generation.

What about being CONCRETE? Is it not important to me that my projects are physical structures?

The definition of CONCRETE is: able to be seen or touched because it exists in reality, not just as an idea. For a community to develop, there must be infrastructure. But there must also be people with the capabilities to work and maintain this structure. Whether women are selling boiled peanuts along the road or growing manioc on their farm, they are doing work that helps build a concrete social structure. I have a problem with strict concrete projects and I think after you read my example below you will understand why.

As I have traveled through Cameroon I have witnessed many failed development projects. One example takes place in a village outside of Garoua-Boulai in the East province. As I drove through this village, I saw many women and children bathing in a river. Taguem and I discussed the topic of clean water. In the center of this village there is a clean water pump that was a development project from an outside source. It is free and clean water, but no one touches the pump. Why? During certain hours of the day, women walk together to get water for their households. In their society, women spend most of the day inside their home cooking and taking care of their children. They do not have ample time to socialize. The allotted time during the day when they walk to the river to get water, they are given a free period to socialize with their friends without being troubled by children or having their conversations overheard by men. This is their time. With the pump in the center of town, their time is taken away. Understand that the outside source meant well, however, they did not take the time to understand the community. And now the water pump is useless. How would you feel if someone came into your home and did something for your "benefit", with the consequence of taking away your personal time? I believe we all would do the same thing as these women and continue as we did in the past.

In my opinion, it is important not to lose sight that what we are doing is for the good of the people in Cameroon, be it rebuilding a school or helping women develop their businesses. If we can both teach a skill and follow it with a concrete project, that would be optimal, but this isn't always the case. Understand that the successes of Breaking Ground may not always be tangible at first, but eventually they will be visible. Patience is demanded.

Why is Breaking Ground different? “Development” in both the “developed” and “developing” worlds has become a dirty word. It is trailed with implications of imperialism, capitalism, and outsiders trying to re-arrange a culture into what they know as best. Breaking Ground wants to change this notion. My role is first and foremost to become an active member in the community. This cannot be rushed, and depending on the job and community will take different amounts of time. To do this, I have a "day job". Basically, something that I do daily to make sure I am interacting with the community. For me, this is my soccer program, business classes and English classes. When I feel competent that I understand what the needs and wants of the community are, then I begin my community projects. These project ideas must come from Cameroonians, not just from me. These projects do not necessarily come only from my business classes. I will not begin projects with my business class until they can think through the 4 stages of the cycle of management on their own. This again, requires patience. If I walk into class Tuesday and announce that I have money at my fingertips and want these women to start their business projects now, I will ruin the foundation of trust and education that I am creating. They also will not be prepared to handle the business on their own. I will also not be following the theories of Breaking Ground.

If I find projects in my community outside of my classes, then bring it on. I would love to start projects. I know they will come, but it takes time and patience.

What does it require to make development a functional, positive word again? Listening to the community and most importantly Patience. Americans want results and they want them immediately. It is clear in many cases of American culture. You want to eat, go to a restaurant. You want a new dress, go buy one at the mall. That is America, not Cameroon.

Every Sunday I prepare for the following week. I write lesson plans (literally, I don't use a book for various reasons), translate texts, make drawings, call coaches, read articles and try to organize my life as best I can. Monday is my print and photocopy day. I have to plan an entire day around making 600 photocopies. Here is what I have to do. I take a motorcycle to the Stadium. Once at the stadium I wait until a taxi fills with passengers to drive ten minutes to the university. At the university I wait until a computer is free so I can print out my documents (it is much cheaper to print at the university). I then ask them if their printer is working (last week it was broken). I then cross the street and wait for a taxi to return to town. Back in town, I find another photocopy place. I write exactly what I need done on cards and staple them to the documents. I barter for a cheaper price because I am printing so many documents. I leave for two hours to go eat and attend a meeting. I come back to see that their machine has overheated, but they have a second machine working. Half of my documents have been printed. I look through them and demand 1⁄4 of them to be redone because words are blotched or sentences have been cut off the page. I then work with them for another hour and half to finish. By this time it is getting dark and I must run home. I take the 350 printed documents and tell them that I will return to finish the rest tomorrow. This was my last Monday. It took me roughly 6 hours to just print the materials I needed. I then went home to organize them. Here I can't run to Kinkos and drop of my materials, grab a coffee, go to the supermarket, and return to pick up my copies. Cameroon is not ready for the multi-tasker and until it is, I have to have patience. The patience it takes me to print these pages has to be applied to all aspects of my life, including starting projects.

What I want is for everyone to understand the culture I am working with and to stay on your toes in anticipation. When my projects come, and they will, I will be rip roaring and ready to go, and I want you to be with me. But I cannot force anything or it will be a waste of my time and your money.

We can give a man a fish to eat dinner for one day. We can teach a man to fish so he can catch his own dinner every night. But what if we taught him how to fish and helped him build a boat so then he could eat, catch, and sell fish for money? This takes time, but this is the concept behind Breaking Ground.