Hello from the Northwest Province of Cameroon and the town of Bamenda! We've had such a busy and exciting few days that we haven't been able to pull ourselves away to post. Luckily, now we have much to report. We spent our second day in Yaounde learning from experts from the Ministry of Youth Affairs, as well as those working on issues of monetary policy and Central African coordination. The American and Cameroonian participants then spent a relaxing afternoon exploring markets for crafts and art.

On Thursday morning, we left the busy capitol and headed north to the lush valleys of Bamenda. Some of the participants woke up early on Friday morning and ran up a steep hill overlooking a waterfall. We spent the day exploring some of the rich local cultural aspects of the Northwest Province, including meeting the faun (king) of the Mankon Kingdom, one of the prominent kingdoms of the regions. This provided a unique perspective on how important local culture is to community development.

It's now Saturday morning, and we are meeting with several local NGO's and hearing a presentation from our partner organization CAMYOSFOP on Small Arms Week, an international week dedicated to the ending the proliferation of small arms.

Early tomorrow, we get another change of scenery, this time heading to the Atlantic coast to see the towns of Limbe and Beau. All are healthy and happy and say hello to everyone out there in the blogosphere!

Note: We have thousands of pictures among us, and as soon as we return to Yaounde and a faster internet connection next week, we will get them up in this space.