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Mandetkene Boutique: Chapter 3, getting to know you

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Beyond watching the construction of the store, we wanted to do more in the town to build trust and raise awareness about the purpose of the store. We decided to go door-to-door to survey residents about what they’d like to see in the store. We also decided to do a summer camp, as Amirah and Jenna had done this two summers ago and it worked well. The following recounts these two endeavors. Endeavor #1: Door-to-Door, getting to know people and concerns I think you can really get to know a person by learning what they buy. The short time we spent going door-to-door in Mandetkene, asking people a set of carefully thought out questions, was the time in which I learned the most about the local people. I could tell you which brand of soap they like, what type of oil they use when cooking, and the types of treats they like. We had a different experience in every house we visited. However, after organizing survey responses in excel, we found many common needs and picked out the pop...
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Surprise Political Meeting: a taste of flexibility and ceremony

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After a four-hour delay, we left Yaoundé and headed for Foumban. During this roughly 6-hour trip, we watched as the countryside changed from dense forest to clearer hills and mountains. We weaved all over the road to avoid potholes.  As dusk approached (about an hour away from our destination, we were greeted by a large group of people in the middle of the road. They waved us over to stop, spoke a few words to Amirah’s dad (who was traveling with us), and we stopped to quickly change and attend some type of meeting. This was our first glimpse into the flexibility and different sense of time the people here have, as well as their sense of ceremony. The welcoming cheers as we arrived Let’s backtrack a little bit. Amirah’s family is very involved in Cameroonian politics. Her mom is a representative in Parliament, and her dad is the founder of a major political party, as well as the mayor of Foumban (the town where we’re working). The day of our travel to Foumban, Amir...
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