To say ‘Oh Ombe’ to the village I’ve been in for the last two years, I threw myself a little good-bye party. The party was a way to get everyone I’ve lived and worked with in the last 2 years at once, thank them all for welcoming into their community and to tell them that it’s not a good-bye, it’s “Au revoir”.

A lot friends came and it really was a great party. The Chief even came and gave a little speech. Afterwards, some of my other friends said some nice things and then we ate and drank, surely part of the reason they came in the first place. A few even presented me with gifts, Dr. Tchengue gave me a banana leaf picture, Yvette gave me some nice traditional things, and the representatives for the mayor of Bangou and Bangangte also had nice gifts for me.

It was a fun time had by all, which hid the sadness that most of us felt. I will Bangou and my friends there a lot.

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My colleagues and PC admin voted me SED PCV of the Quarter last quarter and I got a certificate as well as dinner at the Ambassador’s house as a reward.

As a non-strategic country, PCVs in Cameroon are a lot more in the forefront of the American community and the Ambassador Janet Garvey has been very attentive to the needs of Peace Corps Volunteers since she arrived in Yaounde in September. As well as the Ambassador’s attention to Peace Corps, the Deputy Chief of Mission, Mr. Stephen Fox is an Returned Peace Corps Volunteer, and is very welcoming to volunteer inquiries.

Ambassador Garvey received myself, as well as two other volunteers, the PC Country Director and the Country Desk Officer, Jennifer Brown, for the dinner. She was very welcoming and warm in receiving us, and I could see how she makes an excellent representative of the United States government in Cameroon. After dinner, Ambassador Garvey and James Ham presented us with certificates from the US Embassy and the US Peace Corps to commemorate our awards. This was a pretty cool way to finish my Peace Corps service… just one more thing missing…

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The business classes are finished, thanks to AADB of course, as well as 5 community leaders who came an spoke on the last day of class. For the last day, after 11 weeks of learning about marketing, management, accounting and project management in the class room, we invited 5 community leaders from the area to speak about what these business principles really mean and how to apply them in the real world. This Leadership round table was the first of its kind in Bangou and the first one done in the Peace Corps context of business classes. It was a great success and I hope that it will be adapted by other volunteers in the future. Congrats to the students who passed the class and received an AADB business class diploma, which include our own Aladji, General Manager of AADB.

I don’t currently have a phone right now, so don’t try to call me at my Cameroonian number. Please send me an email if you need to get in touch with me. But don’t worry, I’ll be home soon. I should arrive back in the States August, 26th, but I’ll be in the NJ/DC area until late September. In the meantime, I’ve uploaded a few more pics to the AADB gallery: picasaweb.google.com/VelardeAADB

Anthony, one of AADBs founders and Vice President, has been supporting AADB since I arrived in Cameroon with his generous donations. At his request we have been doing a scholarship since 2008 for the best 20 students at the Bangou high school. For 2009, thanks again to his donations, We were able to give more to the students. Along with a 5,000 CFA scholarship for the best 20 students, they each received school supplies such as pens, pencils, notebooks and calculators for their excellence. This scholarship will continue to grow as AADB funds also grow so that excellence is rewarded and students in Bangou never have to worry about paying for school.

Congratulations again to the 20 recipients of the Anthony Rodriguez Scholarship.