La Motivation

Cameroon has for years been rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world (in fact it was #1 for two straight years in the late 1990's). But I didn't realize that this would encroach so heavily in my personal life here. While traveling to my post, my bus was stopped no fewer than 10 times by a checkpoint. At these checkpoints, the Gendarmes approach vehicles and check everyone's IDs. If they find something wrong with your ID, such as its out of date or smudged, they will tell you "Tu me gardes quoi?" or "J'ai faim" or "Ou est ma motivation?". This means pay me a bribe or I will haul to off to jail. Luckily, I was harassed little but they have been known to take Peace Corps volunteers out of vans to try to get some good money. However, we are not allowed to pay bribes. Therefore, if this happens to me, I have to call the Peace Corps, have them talk to the Gendarme and then hope that he isn't stupid enough to take me in (I doubt this would happen because it would be a huge hassle for the Gendarmes). The corrupt economy of Cameroon is strangling its people and preventing developement, but I don't know how such a concrete institution can be fixed without massive external interference.

Hunter