Week 2 / 3 Update

After successfully removing our container from the port of Douala on this past Saturday, all nine of us completed a 9 hour journey (broken into 2 days) to our new home in Kumbo which is in the North West Province of Cameroon.  It is wonderful to report that we made this journey riding in our own vehicles that were donated to the project by some wonderful people in Madison, Wisconsin and Chicago, Illinois!

Kumbo is lovely, the townspeople have been very hospitable, and we are all getting adapted to all of the new climates associated with this sort of venture.

Since Sunday we have been working hard at all of the necessities of forming a full fledged NGO in this country.  As you can imagine there is an infinite amount of plans being made, necessary items being purchased, contractors in negotiations, and local government agencies being visited.

We have chosen one large space in the building to become the launching pad of our activities for now.  The room will become a virtual microcosm of the work that we will be doing in the early stages of this venture.  The space will have workstations for up to 12 apprentices in our Sacred Link Jewelry making and marketing apprenticeship, shelving for Himalayan Institute books, Varcho Veda herbal elixirs, as well as provisions for all sorts of other items that can be set out for display.  As of now we are calling this room the Himalayan Institute Cameroon Community Center because in addition to all of the items on display listed above we will also have a nice public relations desk set up so that our public relations officer can offer an orientation to the HIC and all its’ programs and even take people on a tour of some test plot gardens that will be set up in the adjoining courtyard.

As you can tell, this truly is an exciting time for us.  Things are literally being created from scratch.  It is so wonderful to have such a dedicated and motivated team of people here pushing to realize this dream.  There is not a chance for failure, and it will not be long until the impact of the HIC is being felt on a large scale.

Tomorrow we will all travel to the palace to meet with His Highness, The Fon (king) of Nso (the area in which we are working).  There is always a big celebration at the palace, and it is an amazing cultural experience.  We are excited to return.

The future is very bright!