Changes come to this culture in interesting ways.  With the advent of satellite TV and internet a few years back, the Western world is closely watched.  The younger generation is quick to pick up on fashion, style, the newest and latest from Europe.  The latest technology is discussed and eagerly awaited.  And when it eventually arrives, those who can possibly afford to, rush to acquire and catch up with the West.

One of the newer things to arrive here in Yaounde, Cameroon is police on bicycles.  For many, many years bikes were exceedingly rare.  Frankly we thought they would be utterly dangerous in the traffic patterns that are a normal part of life.  But eventually bikes and biking has come into the culture.  And here come the traffic cops on bikes.  At the busiest intersections in town you can now find one, two, or even three bikes just standing there in the middle of the road.  And two to four policemen are fanned out from the bikes, blowing their whistles, waving their arms, directing traffic.  It used to be when a policeman blew his whistle at a car and motioned for it to pull over, a driver with something to hide would hit the gas and go careening out of there.  But now all the police have to do is jump on a trusty black bike (with "POLICE" painted on it, of course) and go zipping off after the offending car.  With the atrocious traffic jams busy intersections are now famous for, catching a runaway driver is as easy as can be.  

Not all new things are bad.  We heartily endorse this new innovation in Cameroonian culture here in the big city.