After turning in my master’s degree in psychology in November 2011, I decided to go on
an internship through AIESEC. I thought this would be a good opportunity for me get some
relevant work experience, as well as living in a completely different culture for a while. When
choosing my internship, I focused on finding an interesting project description, as I was open
to go to almost any country. I ended up choosing Cleverland Foundation in Yaoundé, the
capital of Cameroon. The job description included teaching various subjects in a primary
school, conducting workshops and planning a project on HIV/AIDS and malaria awareness in
villages. The internship ended up consisting of only teaching in the school, but this was okay
for me, as it was teaching I was mainly interested in doing. I also chose Cameroon as they
speak English and French, and I would then avoid any communication problems (although
I’ve now learned that you can absolutely have communication problems even when speaking
the same language).
I arrived Yaoundé airport two hours late, but found my pick-up team waiting for me
there. When interns come to Cameroon they go through an integration week, to learn how
to “survive” in the country. My TN manager was experienced in this, which made the first
week go by very smoothly. I already knew before leaving that I would have to share a room
and bed with a local student for the first week, as I had contacted interns that were already
there. I would absolutely recommend doing this, as it is easier for someone coming from a
similar culture to inform you on what to be prepared for.
After the integration week I moved to my host family, who was also the administrator of
Cleverland Foundation. I started working at the school, and was there every weekday for
the rest of my stay. There was no training provided (I’ve never worked as a teacher before)
and no tasks were prepared for me. This bothered me a little, as I had to ask the teachers if I
could teach in their classes. At times I felt that I was disturbing the normal teaching more than
helping. I understand that most interns in other schools have to teach very large classes, but I
was in a new school with small classes. Class 5 and 6 had only five children combined. This
probably made it a lot easier for me than if the classes were of normal sizes. I really enjoyed
my time in the school, and even stayed there a little longer than my internship period.
During my stay I got the chance to travel much around the country. Cameroon really has a lot
to offer tourists, with impressive nature in all parts of the country. In Waza national park in
the north I saw lions, giraffes, gazelles, monkeys and warthogs (Pumba), while sitting outside
in the back of a pick-up truck. In Kribi in the south I spent several days on endless beautiful
beaches, almost all empty since there are virtually no tourists in Cameroon. In the west I
went to a local farm up in the hills and picked avocados straight from the tree. Although
the transportation is not exactly safe or comfortable (try sitting four people crammed in the
backseat of a small car, driving in an average 100 km/h on unpaved humpy roads for several hours), it is definitley worth it!
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