Mary in Cameroon: Mushroom Cultivation TOT

     At the beginning of April, only one month after PST-Reconnect ended, I found myself back in Bamenda for a training on Mushroom Cultivation. I requested to be at the training because of the women's group that I was working with in Menji; I thought that it would be a good income generator since many people in Menji like mushrooms but no one really grows them. The training was fun because Angelique was also there, so we were able to hang out. So during the mornings we were in sessions and then in the afternoons we were able to explore some of Bamenda.
   The sessions were held at our hotel, in the conference room, and at the mushroom training center. We went over everything from marketing and pricing to the substrate preparation and mushroom harvesting. The training was not too difficult though it was presented in an unusual order; the last thing we learned was how to actually grow the mushrooms. We figured it out though, through many questions, and got through the training. I hope that I will be able to use the knowledge that I have gained. I wonder how well it would work in the U.S.?
   The hotel that we were staying at is situated right at the end of Commercial Avenue. This means that the main market, some major supermarkets, and the main restaurants that sell almost-american-type food were all right there and very accessible. It was fun exploring and getting to know this major road of Bamenda. Though Angelique and I mostly just bought junk food at the gas stations and took it back to our room and watched movies. We did this not because we were not interested in seeing other things on Commercial Avenue or other things around Bamenda but because by the time sessions ended each day we did not have enough time to sit and eat or look around the markets too long before they closed. It was still fun though!