Cameroonian Labor Day - May Day

I know I said I would be better at updating everyone, and I do have the best intentions of doing so, but it seems to me that lately something better always comes along :) With that being said I made a promise to myself that I would blog about the Labor Day party before I left for vacation... Guess what, I leave in 5 hours... I am the master of procrastination.

The story of the Labor Day party commences 2 weeks before the actual event. It was late on a Friday night, my friend Chloe and I had consumed quite a few beers, and well we somehow managed to volunteer ourselves to put together a party for 200 people in under 2 weeks... Lets just say we woke up Saturday morning wondering what we had got our selves into.

The next 2 weeks were the busiest weeks I have had for quite some time now! We had the location we needed to secure, caterers to interview, menus to decide, beverages needed to be sourced, cloth needed to be distributed, presents for all the children needed to be purchased and assembled, we hired a children's entertainment company to come out with toys and games, etc, etc, etc...

It is a tradition that all the employees and their families get to attend the party. It is also tradition that Tidewater gives them enough fabric (Tidewater themed of course) and everyone has outfits made! Let me just tell you that 200+ people all dressed in the same fabric is quite snazzy looking :) At the beginning of the party we got everyone together and took a group photo. We look great!

Chloe and I had worked so hard in the limited amount of time we had to make sure that our party was a success. We reserved a beach in Limbe to host the party, we arranged for transportation of everything and everyone to the beach, and on the morning of, all we could do was cross our fingers and hope that all went according to plan!

It is the managements idea that if the families of the workers are happy, then the workers themselves will be happy. With that in mind we thought what better way to make the families happy, then to cater this party as much as possible to the Children! So we set up a carnival type area for the kids:

We had Face Painting.

We had a Giant Bouncy Castle.

We had Group Games.

Most important of all, we had a table full of candies, cookies, and other yummy goodies.

Even the Adults decided to get in on playing games!

The only part of our party that did not go according to plan was the catering. First they showed up an hour and a half late. (That is even late according to Cameroonian time!) The other problem was that we just barely had enough food... Luckily the food was really good, and we had just enough to feed everyone!

After Lunch it was time to swim and play in the ocean! The funny thing is that most of the Cameroonians cannot swim, so we brought along some life jackets to make them feel more comfortable!

All in all, the Labor Day party planned by Chloe and I was a big success! It was stressful for us, but at the end of the day it was nice seeing how many people we made happy. As for next year, I think that with a longer time to prepare, we can have an even more successful party :)

As for me, I must sign off now! I have to finish packing and get ready to head for the airport! Hope you enjoy the post, and until next time, Happy Wanderings and Wonderings!