Foumban, Cameroon

We were so relieved to have made it through the vast trackless wasteland that we decided to treat ourselves to four days in Foumban. Scenically, this town is one of the more beautiful that I have visited on this trip. It is nestled in a mountainous region, in between peaks and valleys of green rolling hills. Surprisingly, there are pine trees. In fact, entire pine forests, which I could not have predicted for this part of Africa. Pine forests have always calmed me because they remind me of Finland. They also seemed appropriate for the approaching Christmas season.

We spent four days here not just for the beauty but also because we made friends with some young AIDS peer educators. Thierry and Sabine informed us that an important festival was going to take place the day that we had planned to leave and that we should stick around for it. They were responsible for entertaining the crowd with a skit about HIV/AIDS. During a night of drinking together, it occurred to me that it would be great if we could prepare a brief skit about sex tourism and its dangers for the festival the next day. Every one seemed very enthusiastic, so I grabbed a notebook and worked with Thierry and Sabine to create the scenes.

We decided that Nate and Sean should play white tourists who come to Africa and become sexually involved with young girls. In tourist areas such as Foumban, this type of incidence is typical. It is not uncommon to see aged white men with young African girls, out for a night of fun. But while this might shock some of you, I should explain that a large age difference in African relationships is very common, so this is not actually the issue. The point we wanted to drive home with the skit was that tourists often produce false hopes in the young girls who they become involved with. We planned three scenes. In the first, Nate would promise Sabine a passport to America, a way to travel outside of her country to achieve the American dream. She would fall in love and believe his promises. After she is inevitably left behind and forgotten by Nate, she loses her self confidence. Next, Sean would arrive and shamefully exploit her. She would accept his demands for sex because of a hope to make enough money for a plane ticket to America. Eventually, Sabine would contract HIV through her reckless behavior and her inability to demand protection during sex. Thierry and I would play a interracial couple who had decided to get married. But I would explain that I had insisted on protection during premarital sex and an HIV test before marriage.

While it was already really fun to create this little skit, it was more fun to actually perform it in front of royal dignitaries and townspeople the next day. The townsquare was filled with people, all in a festive mood because the festival marked the triumphant return of the town's football team from a national championship. The sultan of Foumban, the traditional leader of one of Cameroon's largest tribes, had organized the party in order to crown the football players as warriors. The sultan had also agreed that it was important to discuss AIDS at such a large gathering. As we performed the skit, many people cheered and expressed lots of surprise and emotion. Later that night, I was approached by several people who told us how impressed they were about the subject matter. One man who worked with the sultan's health department, told me that although the sultan had not yet arrived to the festival when we performed, he had heard about the skit and remarked that he thought it was impressive. The man also said that the skit marked the first time that anyone had broached the subject of the problems associated with sex tourism in their community.

He also expressed surprise that white people would be willing to show ourselves in such a negative light. I explained that we were humbled by our experiences in Africa and motivated to share our impressions and experiences. The truth is, some exchanges with people, especially those of a romantic nature are colored by distorted perceptions. I am often approached with marriage proposals and questions about how to get married to a white lady. Although I can't speak for the boys, I can see that they too, are frustrated by false hopes from the ladies that they wish to become involved with. I explained these points to the health minister with the hope that the sultan would also hear them. I think that he was impressed by the fact that we willing to get up in front of his entire community and openly demonstrate why some exchanges between Africans and foreigners should be recognized as damaging and dangerous. I think we created quite an impression and encouraged a lot of dialogue through our stunt, so I am happy that we stayed in Foumban the extra days. Read more about the experience in Sean's future article about the youth group we worked with during the skit.
* posted by Tuuli at 3:50 AM