So right now I am sitting in one of the offices of Sorawell wrapping up my day here. I think I have totally freaked all of the young women out with my incessant videotaping and picture taking. I noticed one girl in particular refusing to smile about 10 minutes ago. I’d probably be exhausted of me right now too!
It has been a long but great day. I arrived at Sorawell in the morning and had the chance to see all of the students going through their daily routine, speak with them, and even talk to some of the graduates of the program.
The students are definitely kept busy and they enjoy it. In the morning they have practical training in cooking. These young women learn all kinds of international dishes. This makes them very valuable to employers in hotels, embassies, and people needing personal chefs because literally no one in Cameroon knows how to cook anything besides Cameroonian dishes. It’s not like America where you turn on the Food Network and learn how to cook something ethnic. This makes Sorawell’s training very unique which in turn puts these young women in high demand for employment.
For example, the US Embassy where I had lunch had such problems with its employees. They had problems with the money, as well as the overall quality of the food. The employees did not understand the concept of ‘fast food’. The embassy heard about what Sorawell was doing and basically begged them to suggest girls to hire. How awesome is that? Four former Sorawell students now run the café in the US Embassy, and I must say I was quite impressed with the French fries!
Something that really struck me was how all of the students kept saying how Sorawell taught them how to live with one another, work as a team, and understand the concept of unity and cooperation. This is definitely something I know I at least take for granted. I mean in America we all think of each other as Americans, united. As much as we have differing views at the end of the day we are one – Cameroonians don’t think this way. How can you blame them… there are over 250 tribes each with their own language!
The graduates I talked to almost laughed when I asked them where they thought they would be today had they not attended Sorawell. Some of them simply responded “nowhere.” How upsetting is that? These girls were hopeless before the program and now some of them are talking about opening their own restaurant up some day. I can’t get over how amazing the transformation is.
During lunch time I was lucky enough to witness a Birthday celebration. It was Flore’s 26th Birthday. They sang Happy Birthday in English, French (Bon Anniversaire), and a local language. It was AWESOME. I took a great video of it. If my internet is cooperating I will upload it. I also got to taste some of the pink frosted Birthday cake the students had baked which was delicious!
After lunch they all had their theoretical training. These classes include Business Ethics – also a concept foreign to Cameroonians as corruption levels are very high, Management, Accounting, and general Finances; a full day of learning.
Despite me totally freaking them out with my camera in their face all day they were so good to me. They kept saying phrases in English because they knew I was American. They are almost tri-lingual people… it’s impressive!
Well I am heading back to my hotel now. Tomorrow is exam day, lunch with the students, and the market!
A demain…
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