How a Snake Rescued Me from My Hell

How I overcame depression serving in the Peace Corps in Africa

Janaka Stagnaro
Alethiology
Published in
5 min readMay 5, 2024

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Artwork by the author.

I opened the pot on the counter. “Qu’est-ce que c’est?” I asked in my poor French, which should have been better by now.

“Duiker. C’est tres bon, le patron,” said the young lady.

Great, a mini deer.

I closed the lid and settled for a hardboiled egg with hot chili sauce to accompany my Beaufort, my fourth liter of lager for the day.

The beer did not make me happy; instead, it highlighted my disgust towards my situation here in Cameroon, for this resort town for French tourists, for my work — if you call it that — for me and my life.

Holding my beer in this off-license bar while sitting on a beer crate, I looked at calendars of years past, with pictures of happy Cameroonian families realizing that Guinness was good for them.

Duiker. I would love to see a duiker, in fact, I would love to see any fucking animal besides the bushmeat in pots.

Here I was, six months in as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Africa, a place I watched for years on the TV show Wild Kingdom, teaming with life. But not here in Dschang. What life there was became dinner. I hadn’t even seen a snake!

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Alethiology
Alethiology

Published in Alethiology

Alethiology is about truths we discover on the journey to know ourselves. The lessons reaped from becomings and unbecomings. Plummetting to the depths of our souls, weaving our way through life — sitting in deep introspection, and sifting through our suffering for growth.

Janaka Stagnaro
Janaka Stagnaro

Written by Janaka Stagnaro

Poetry, parables, articles — spiritual, life-lessons, Waldorf education, artwork. 11 books. www.janakasartandbooks.com