ABSTRACT
During a 2010 visit to the Peace Corps offices in Yaoundé, the author spoke at length with then-Peace Corps Country Director LaHoma Romocki about the state of the Peace Corps in the post-Cold War era and the nature of study abroad programs in Africa. Typically referred to as “Africa in miniature,” Cameroon was annexed by Germany in 1884, and remained a German colony until 1916, when Germany was pushed out of the colony. The nation of Cameroon mirrors Africa’s complexities in terms of climate, vegetation, people, geography, culture, and languages. A culture of gender inequality was rooted in Cameroon, and its legacy remains present. In many places, women do not inherit property, do not have an independent source of income, and are sidelined in all areas of their lives. In Cameroon, the government is responsible for public education, while many private groups including Christian missions operate private schools. One important issue in the Cameroonian saga was the marginalization of Anglophones.
