I’m going home!!! Just in case you missed the excitement, let me repeat myself: I’M GOING HOME! *Insert wide smile here* Then here, insert a wobbly unsure smile. Why? Because as much as my whole being longs for home, my head is smart and hosts no delusions. I know the reasons I had to leave in the first place, and the reason a lot of others fight to leave on a daily basis. I know of the adjustments to be made upon return which are diplomatically labeled “Returnee Culture Shock”. I know I’ll miss the fast internet connection and the ease of ordering books and having them delivered to your front door. I am also fully aware that returning means starting anew at seeking employment, and probably frustrating attempts at beginning a new career. We all know the reality of life back home. Yes, I’m happy, but scared. Eager but anxious too. And it’s alright to feel all of that and more simultaneously. What I feel above all else though, is brave. Recently social media was buzzing- some in outrage and others in applause- over the word brave being used to describe Caitlyn Jenner, formerly known as Bruce Jenner. Those who were outraged by it put up photos of war veterans who had lost an arm or leg, soldiers on peace missions in war zones. They pointed out that those patriotic people were the brave ones, not Jenner. I’ll neither agree nor disagree with either group, but the debate led me to musing on just what it means to be brave and/or patriotic. Thinking about it led me to this saying: Similarly bravery and patriotism aren’t always found in the daring, fearsome things we may do (in my opinion it is rarely found in picking up a weapon on command). Rather, as this year away from home has shown me, most times bravery and patriotism is to be found in the ordinary, those regular choices we make that speak of self-determination and identity. Bravery is in choosing to venture into a country you do not know, have no one in, in search of a better life. And patriotism is in remembering home all the way. There is bravery in taking yourself so far out of your comfort zone, and there’s patriotism in every journey you make back despite the cost, despite the hassle because you know despite the condition of the soils back home, your root are anchored there. There is bravery in believing in the future of your nation and acting on that belief; as there is patriotism in every time you answer that ignorant westerner and school them on what being a Cameroonian/ African really is. As I go home, I want to acknowledge the bravery of the average diasporan, who plays the role of an ambassador daily representing a nation wherever they are. Who takes risks elsewhere, some good some bad, because their country couldn’t give them what they needed. I also want to recognize the patriotism of the returnees who are increasing daily. Who with the knowledge they’ve derived elsewhere return to invest back home, make their own little corner shine, contribute their own development effort. Those are my patriots. I want to appreciate the patriotism of Cameroonians I have come to know this year. While we may not write “Proudly Cameroonian” on everything and though a lot of us would disparage our underdevelopment rather than recognize and work towards the promise of better, there is need to appreciate those who have and who are. So I may be going home happy and scared at the same time; scared that I believe too much in the possibilities, hope too much. But still I’m going home with joy because my faith in fatherland outweighs the fears. If that’s not patriotism I don’t know what is.
How do I love thee? Let me count the ways
Somehow, somewhere along the line of modern history February became the month of love. My musings are going with the trend. I was taught the different types of love in form three. Of course it was a Religious Studies class and all we were taught where the definitions to be memorized for examinations: Agape~ The love of God; unconditional, absolute love of a creator for the creation. Philia~ Brotherly or family love Eros~ Romantic, erotic love. Of course this month it’s Eros getting all the attention with prices of condoms now 50% off but that’s not what this post is about. I recently thought of how my teacher could have taught us all a bit more/better if he had included a few other types of love self-love for one but more to the point of this post; love for one’s country. Loving something or someone is always a choice and it would have been nice if that had been instilled into our young minds. If that seed of nationalism and patriotism was planted. On the contrary the trend seems to be: hate your country enough to lie to leave it then begin loving it from far away enough to have your mother sew you “Bamenda marking ensembles” to wear and show off your “cultural roots”. Never mind the fact that we don’t know the meaning behind the Togu designs or the practice. Never mind the fact that each tribe in that region has a different version of the traditional wear or something completely different. We suddenly discover nationalism when in another’s country. The again what love we may have is vacillating and shifty. It depends on whether the Lions win the match or not, on whether the investments we made were successful or if the customs at the port asked to much in bribes, it depends on if the president is going to change or still be the same. Our love for country is the antonym of Agape, anything but unconditional. Yet if we think about it we have made love for country depend on love of people. Else our nationalism won’t depend on a group of men running around a field or a corrupt sector or even the ones leading it. Our love for country should be Agape simply based on the fact that we create this country as much if not more than it makes us. The country is what its people are, what its people says it is. How do you love your country? I invite you to ponder on the ways…
What We Should Be Investigating…
As of the 12thof June, the World Cup kept football fans internationally enthralled. To say some people take their football as seriously as an HIV test (maybe more so) is understating things. Case in point: Cameroonians. The majority of Cameroonians kept the timetable for the World Cup in their back pockets or imprinted in their minds as though it were the timetable of let’s say… their GCE examinations. After what has been termed a disgusting performance (by Finke, the coach himself) which included not only whopping defeat but brawling between team mates and poor sportsmanship against opponents, the Cameroonian players returned to meet very angry supporters. Reports confirm that Stephen Mbia and Benjamin Moukandjo were attacked in Yaounde (http://www.cameroon-info.net/stories/0,61915,@,cameroon-angry-population-attack-stephan-mbia-moukandjo-at-avenue-kennedy-in-yao.html). It is sad to hear that professional players got attacked by people who can best be described as idle over a game of chance, but the most disturbing reaction to the debacle to date has been the president’s decree via state media giving his prime minister one month to submit a report on the Indomitable Lions’ ”inglorious campaign.” A statement on Cameroon radio said: “The President of the Republic, President Biya, instructs the Prime Minister, Philemon Yang, to open investigations on the causes of the unfortunate participation of the Indomitable Lions at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. He should provide results within a month and make proposals for a deep and urgent reconstruction of Cameroon football.” (http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/28035926) Yes, this is very disturbing. Why? I don’t know about you, but I think we have a WHOLE lot more to be angry about than the performance of Eto’o and co. I think we have a lot more people worth mob beatings than Stephen Mbia. And I think we have a great deal more worth investigating than the poor performance at the world cup. Let’s just list some of these shall we? How about an investigation into 1- The truth in Marafat’s letters? Have we forgotten Marafat so quickly? It wasn’t long ago when he acted as a whistleblower upon arrest. Has anyone done an investigation into the allegations he put forth? (http://chronicleinfoline.blogspot.com/2012/06/marafas-1st-2nd-3rd-4th-and-5th-letters.html) 2- Just how many prisoners are in Kodengui and for what crimes? Earlier this year the Cameroon Tribune mentioned there would be an expansion of the the infamous Kodengui Prison facilities. The Post on the other hand has been claiming there are prisoners who have been held there without bail for years to never see the light of day or trial for that matter. Could someone please do an investigation of just how many prisoners we have in that top penitentiary and for what crimes? 3- Where all the embezzled money goes to and was it ever returned? To who? In similar light a damn good investigation to start promptly would be that to find out how much each minister which was locked up for embezzlement in the last 5 years or so stole, where the money is, if and how it has/can be returned. Quite frankly I’ve stopped being impressed by ministerial crackdowns. Catching a thief isn’t enough when the goods stolen are never accounted for or returned. How do those in jail pay for the money stolen? And if the money is locked up in some Swiss account what efforts have been made to return it? 4- How Boko Haram insurgents enter the country and what can be done to stop them? Yes! Yes! Investigate this and please don’t go and disgrace us in France next time saying “The terrorist attack in the night when the security officials are sleeping” (http://globalvoicesonline.org/2014/05/22/cameroons-president-blames-boko-haram-for-attacking-while-soldiers-are-asleep/) Are they supposed to be sleeping? 5- Investigations into why accidents occur on particular roads? Despite their being better tarred/constructed than others? You would think given the number of accidents that happened in 2013 only along the Tiko Yaounde route our esteemed president would have made an extraordinary decree right? But nope, such things are reserved for football #smh These are just five instances, but you get the drift right? To make a public decree announcing investigations into something as trivial as football makes one wonder if the evaluation of national teams’ performance is more important than looking into operations at the Douala Customs and finding out why the hell it’s so expensive for a Cameroonians to ship things into their own country? Or how best to address the long standing problem of brain drain? Or why we need 53 ministries which clearly overlap each other. I mean there’s a Ministry for Labor, Ministry for Public Works, and Ministry for Employment… Errr? Then there is the Ministry for Wildlife, the Ministry for Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, and then the Ministry for Agriculture… correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t Animal husbandry and fishing a form or Agriculture? A department under one ministry would have sufficed no? The list goes on and makes us question the sanity of those we have in government.
The Laudable Series Pt. 1: Bloggers
When it comes to our own; our country, bodies, opportunities we often dwell on the negatives more than the positive but it is a known fact that when we dwell on the good we feel a whole lot better. So I’m going to give out doses of “feel good” with this new series I came up with. The Laudables. Each part of this series will acknowledge a laudable group of people of this-day Cameroon, interview them and give them what limelight Musings has to offer. For this month we shall applaud the Bloggers. Blogging by my definition is the easier, informal self-publishing of articles, videos, comics etc using a blog. And what is a blog? The term blogis short for web log, a “log” of diary-like entries published on a web site. This is how it started, people publishing their daily thoughts for all to read on their website. The modern blog evolved from the online diary, where people would keep a running account of their personal lives and opinions and are generally recognized as bloggers. The timeline of blogging starts in the late 1990’s and in the West of course, but almost two decades later there is no doubt a “blog boom” going on in Africa and Cameroon (for once) is not missing out! Why is it so important you may ask? Why is it worth mentioning even? Let me explain: We grumble and complain about the bias portrayal of Africa on mainstream media. During the last presidential elections in 2011 no single major broadcasting station mentioned what should have been a decisive moment in our history…well I guess they already knew no decision worth noting was going to be made. The individual has a voice and the media due to those who sponsor it can’t always tune their voice in. Be it on fashion, or some remarkable event, a home hero/heroine, a new song, your opinion on religion or your personal politics, blogging helps you make your voice heard on whatever topic you wish to talk about. The increase of blogs run by Africans is making it easier for non-Africans to know that Africa is NOT a country; bloggers disseminate information differently and have brought their country and the ways of their people to the limelight. I’m proud to say I’m one of many bloggers in Cameroon. When I started blogging (seriously) I was shocked to note just how many we were! Shocked because for a country who only just recently enforced computer science as a subject in schools and where the internet connection is generally poor at best (and that is putting it mildly) it shows great effort to have so many bloggers all voicing their own side of the story. In no particular order and inclusive of both French and English blogs, here are some examples: Ø I Rep Camer http://irepcamer.blogspot.com Ø Scribbles from the Den http://www.dibussi.com Ø Art Becomes You http://artbecomesyou.com Ø Amanjodzeka http://amanjodzeka.wordpress.com Ø Addicted to Etsy http://www.addicted2etsy.com/ Ø Can Never Be A Skinny Bish http://canneverbeaskinnybish.com/ Ø De Braun Hill http://braunhillblogs.wordpress.com Ø Kamer Kongossa http://kongossa.mondoblog.org Ø PolicyStan http://policystan.blogspot.com Ø Dulce Camer http://dulcecamer.blogspot.com Ø Find Palaver Woman http://findpalaverwoman.blogspot.com Ø Africally Speaking http://www.africallyspeaking.com Ø Bayangi Girl http://banyangigirl.blogspot.com Ø Frisha Gold https://frishagold.wordpress.com Ø No Mami Pikin Left behind http://nomamipikinleftbehind.blogspot.com Ø Letters To Cameroon http://letterstocameroon.wordpress.com Etc…… With all these blogs named you may get the idea that blogging has become cheap. You would be wrong. Blogging requires self-perception, authoritativeness, originality discipline and dedication, attributes which pretty much disqualify most people. Oh, they will try, set up a blog and share something for a few weeks even a few months then something else distracts them. Or there are those (ehem, like me, ehem) who are slow bloggers. In other words do not mark your ovulation cycle by us. You just might have a heart attack. Well, to get down to the point, in this web 2.0 age of blogging there are Cameroonians in the mix laudably, YAY! And more, there are also a few good, serious minded, consistent ones too, another YAY!! I shall without further ado throw the spotlight on some of that select laudable few… the crème de la crème of the Camer blogosphere: I Rep Camer Yes she does! “She” is Yefon Mainsah, a 34 year old Engineer, the lady behind I Rep Camer who is into everything and then some! She is currently based in Houston, Texas where she blogs from and impresses us with how much she knows on what is going on with Cameroonians all over the globe. And I mean ALL OVER. I call Yefon the Queen of Camer Bloggers because she knows them all, and connects them to one another. Following I Rep Camer will keep you up to date on what’s happening with up and coming entrepreneurs, artists, and anyone worth noting in Camer social life. With I Rep Camer Yefon uplifts Cameroonians doing what others say cannot be done. And did I say she does this consistently? Since she began blogging in April 2009, she updates her blog at least once a week and has 54 steady followers for the blog and over 800 on the blogs Facebook page. Like I said, she’s QUEEN ergo a Pro at this. Musings got her to answer some questions for us and here are her responses to the following questions: 1. What was the idea behind the naming of your blog? The name is self explanatory. I Rep Camer! To represent Cameroon and showcase who and what we are to the world. 2. What is blogging to you, and what is the basic content of your blog? Blogging started as an out and escape from a stressful job but now I blog to promote, engage, exchange, share and to have a voice. In essence my blog is your stop for all things Cameroon and Africa plus the random thoughts and musings of an All in One Engineer, Movie/Music & Accessories junkie. With multi-focus on Arts, Culture, Entertainment, Fashion,
Musings On Women’s Day
Happy Women’s month! May we observe the month wisely. In my own little contribution towards the rightful honoring of this month I’m going to share my musings on the various questions and comments which arise regularly during this period. 1- Why celebrate women’s day? This is a popular question asked predominantly by men, who go on to add “Is there a men’s day?” To which some smart-mouthed women would counter “99 days for the thief 1 day for the owner”. As cute as the bi-play is, it is misleading. Women’s day is not to be “celebrated” so much as observed and commemorated. It is not a “fete” as the French say it is like other international days (Commonwealth Day, International Labor Day etc) a day to honor a certain activity, or group of persons usually under-looked. As such, throughout the month of March we commemorate women who despite making up over 50:5 of the world’s population, make up just 17% of parliamentarians (UNICEF, New York: 2006, p.56), own less than 12% of the land globally and constitute over 70% of the worlds minimum wage workers. In Cameroon in particular, women hold 20 of 100 Senate seats, 56 of the 180 seats in the National Assembly and only 09 of 66 cabinet posts. 2- Woman Eh! and Wrappa wahala is all about the International Day of the Woman… No. “Woman eh!” and “wrappa wahala” is limited to Cameroon. We have (with much misguidance from our ministry and leaders) reduced what was to be a month of recognition and concentration on furthering women in development to a day of march-pasts, fashion parades in a variety of styles made from annually distributed fabric and of course eating and drinking. In other countries (if we would care to emulate) during women’s month activities such as round table discussions, Take Your Daughter To Work Day, recognition of inspiring women in history and present among other things are carried out in commemoration of women. 3- Who makes up these themes? This is the funny part. There is a UN theme for each year for us to ponder on while honoring the International Day of the woman. I realized this year that there were actually three themes. That which is listed as the UN theme on their website (Equality for Women is Progress for All), that which is popular spread as the international theme (Inspiring Change), and that which our ministry here releases at last minute and we see printed on the fabric each year (Women as Active Participants in National Integration). In a world which is working towards being a global village, you would think we would all be able to agree on a single theme for a single day right? 4- Isn’t all this talk of Gender “much ado about nothing?” Over a century since the feminist movement took off people may now presume the movement and feminist mantra is redundant. However those people would be wrong. Like racism, sexism and the oppression of women was and has been so deeply rooted in our cultures, belief and thought systems that they cannot be simply eliminated. The feminist movement is responsible for women now being able to wear trousers, go to work, free themselves of abusive relationships, own land, marry whom they wish or choose not to marry at all. The feminist movement is responsible for the fact that a woman who is raped can seek justice; a girl can go to school, the drop in women and infant mortality, the representation of women in parliaments etc. There is still a long way to go. While a victim of rape can now seek justice, she is hardly guaranteed of finding it. Just last week a women was killed after being gang raped and it was considered “right” for she led the men to sin. While a a girl can got o school she will still face a sexism in recruitment when entering the job market. While women’s mortality rates have dropped, women still die more from gender violence than any other cause cancer and accidents included. While women are now represented in parliament theirs is mostly a quota representation with barely 18% worldwide. As such the feminist movement and the fight for gender equality is NOT “much ado about nothing”. 5- What about all the privileges women have that men don’t? Isn’t it now an issue of reverse sexism? Recent posts on a group page on Facebook states how women “have too many privileges yet complain”. It lists “the months women have for maternity leave, how men open doors for women, how men are trained to stand while women sit, how society demands that men provide for their women, how more and more women are bosses today and usually misuse their power oppressing men all the more, how women are the targets for more sponsorships, aids and scholarship just based on sex etc” as reasons for this claim that women are more privileged and that most sexism today is bias to favor women. This is false conclusions drawn by someone who looks on the surface and little else. The concept of male gallantry; opening of car doors, sitting by the side of the door in taxis to “protect the woman in the middle”, placing the woman behind you etc is all a mirror trick. While men claim to be gallant they restrict. The nature by which society expects the men to “gallantly” provide for the women is very similar to the western practice of giving 3rdworld countries financial aid but restricting their economic rights such that they can never truly be independent. I imagine that in Saudi Arabia women don’t split wood or dig trenches they are saved from that hard labor as it is “men’s work” yet women are also denied the right to drive and are thus restricted to the home. I’m sure that women in Yemen have been “privileged to have their husbands bring them treats and such from work on
Coming Home
There is a long standing joke that about Cameroonians who leave the country dusting literally dusting their hands off it and till when they die, and of course as per demands they all want their corpses brought “home”. And the punch line of course goes: Is Cameroon a cemetery? This joke holds some truth, most Cameroonians ignore investing back home or give up too easily when they try and face obstacles and most of us are very willing to forget all about “home” till we die. But then there’s December… December is this jokes fallacy. Every time this year our bushfallers migrate like seasonal birds back home away from the cold winters of the west or where ever else that is included in the term Bush. The early birds have already come and by the 25thwherever you go you will hear the American accents formerly confined to your cable on tv. A lot can be and has been said on the periodic in coming of bushfallers; how they act, treat the people they left back in pays like they are somehow less-than, and of course how the men come in have flings and make promises they never intend to keep etc. Yet little mention is given to the way those in the country react to them. So here it is: I don’t think the bushfallers are the problem but rather the people who they return home to; people who treat them with more respect, accord them more favors and expect more from them just because they have crossed the borders. What does it say of ourselves, that the things we would never accept from our own like curse words in speech, the demands for meals “just so”, the abnormally late nights, the inconveniences on our schedule are suddenly “cool” and okay for the two to three weeks when they are done by bushfallers? Then there are the young women who give their all in hope that they way win a bushfallers heart and of course his foreign citizenship… Because of their foreign accents I’ve seen children get away with being rude, abusive and watched the “children of home” who would wake up at 5 am everyday be discriminated upon eating in the kitchen while the bushfallers sat at the dining table. Some would argue that these bushfallers sustain most back at home with the monthly cash sent through money transfer agencies, yet where does the gratitude end and the brown-nosing begin?
The Arm-chair Activists
We see them everyday, at least if you frequent Facebook, Yahoo, Twitter and the like. Calls to action reports about how bad the government is and how “Enough is enough” and “Paul Biya Must Go”. There are multitudes of Facebook pages and yahoo groups with Cameroonians ever increasing to serve as forums for what? Internet activism or Virtual Advocacy as it’s called. I first took notice of them in 2011, in the hubbub of the pre- presidential election period, maybe these forums had always been there but at that time they just went into noticeable frenzy. Either way, they cropped up sending out messages every day, and the messages would read like mission statements or manifestos or at best/worst Project proposals criticizing the “regime” or demanding that Cameroonians stand up march and demand that “power must change hands” . Cameroonian in diaspora appealing for aid in ousting President. Should They get it? At first when reading these, I would be enthralled by how impassioned the writers seemed, and it delighted me that Cameroonians wanted to act towards change, I would love to read all the details of how the “regime” is exploiting the nation and is at the root of all our problems.With time however like a song that has remained on replay too long I began to not only to “listen/read but analyzes the words of each of these message, and they got on my nerves! You may ask me why? Let me tell you · It occurred to me that these calls to action were written mostly by those out of the country. Out of “marching and demanding distance” so to speak. So here is the image I have of them. Someone sitting back in a plush office chair their Victorian home in Virginia or apartment in New York or even on night duty at work writing and spreading info as to how their fellow Cameroonians who are back at home should march up to Unity Palace and demand that the President should step down, or something to that effect. And of course I wonder why this fellow who has all these brilliant ideas isn’t here or doesn’t come and lead that marching band t o Etoudi It also occurred to me that the people writing these “Drive the Dictator” articles are actually less oppressed than the average Cameroonian in a rural area in Cameroon who will not have access to that article. So hell, who are you to demand action from the person on the ground, when you are comfortably online? · In another turn of events, those who write all the calls to action, our internet activists or virtual advocates, what do they do other than write the long winded manifestos and critiques against the “regime” Do they vote? Do they attempt at social work in their communities as their own contribution towards improving the country? What change do they make? And so while it’s the norm of our time to discuss A-Z online, and while tweets can effect our state of mind and facebook posts can carry news faster than cable tv, When next you receive (or think to share) a “Paul Biya Must Go” manifesto, ask the sender how he suggests the change should occur? And if the nation will change with him in his arm-chair.
We Need New Heroes
News of Georges Bwelle the Cameroonian Doctor nominated for the CNN Heroes awards spurred me to think of our heroes. If someone was to ask me who my heroes or role models are I would name a bevy with no difficulty. · Eleanor Roosevelt for her diplomacy, her leadership skills, succeeding in NOT being overshadowed by her husband despite his being President! · Maya Angelou, her writing style her palpable dignity and self confidence · Chimamanda Adichie for her bringing fresh air to African writing and as a contemporary feminist · Helen Keller for overcoming disability and inspiring so many · Ghandi for his stance for peace · Mandela, for his strength of character and perseverance… the list goes on Even as I list them I notice that none of my heroes are Cameroonian. None of them had similar heritage similar cultural oppressions or starting point from which they began their dream. And none of them can inspire me to believe in my own nation and the ability of my own people (well maybe my mother for making it from scratch with only what she had?) The more I thought about it, the more I realized that our history, our schools our culture doesn’t really celebrate our own. We don’t make our heroes known, our patriarchs Um Nyobe, Duala Manga-Bell, are only known in history books and their names only limited in our memory for as long as we need them to write the GCE. Our Matriachs like Therese Sita-Bella are only known if you research them. Our elites like Bernard Fonlon, Calixthe Beyala are known only to those who had to study their work. Our celebrities Petit Pays, Lady Ponce etc. are more infamous than famous. Where are the role models the people who inspire and make us want to be like them when we grow up? Where are the heroes who show us it can be done- you can live your dream? Where are those who would give us hope in our own talent, ability and people? Well I saw that we needed new heroes and I looked for them. People of today, who are doing what they love, making it with what they have. People who are living the CAMEROONIAN DREAM! Most of all though, people who are making a difference in their own way for their people or the world in general on their own volition, and putting the Cameroonian name on the map for something other than football, corruption and drinking! So here are just a few really noteworthy Cameroonians I found …. 1. Georges Bwelle; General Surgeon, Founder of ASCOVIME Let’s start with him since he inspired this blog post. Dr. Bwelle is a surgeon at Hopital Central, Yaounde. Because of his experience with his father and the medical system in Cameroon, he was inspired to make a difference in this field. On weekends he assembles a team of medical volunteers, buys medications, equipment, and surgical supplies and goes on missions to rural areas offering free medical services, setting up temporary field clinics, operating rooms, and pharmacies for the villagers and neighboring people. At these clinics he provides free consultations, examinations, medications, and operations if necessary. He plans out the entire year with specially selected destinations where he and his team. I respect this man beyond what words can express because most Cameroonians with his experience would condemn the system that they had suffered through and leave the country at the first possibility or just keep grumbling about it. But he is DOING something!!! We are just grateful CNN is bringing his effort to the spotlight. Find out more about Dr. Bwelle @ ascovime.org/ascovime/about-dr-georges 2. The Patcha’s of the Patcha Foundation What happens when one family loses members to cancer? Do they go on a rampage seeking out all the gifted prophets or all night crusades? They could have, but this is a family with a difference. Mauritia Patcha a social worker in Cameroon and once cancer survivor who finally succumbed to the disease founded the Michael and Mauritia Patcha Foundation before her demise. Her children took the cause to heart, and today the foundation has become a beacon of cancer awareness, education, and treatment in Cameroon. This is what we call making lemonade out of lemons! Mrs. Stella Patcha Adamu; President of the Patcha Foundation 3. Ebenezer Essoka, CEO, Standard Chartered South Africa Ebenezer Essoka is currently the CEO of Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) South Africa, and area general manager in Southern Africa. This born and bred Cameroonian worked as a waiter at a restaurant while going to school but has climbed up the banking ladder to one of the most influential bankers in Africa. He joined SCB in 1986 and has managed several of the Group’s core subsidiaries in Southern, East, Central, and West Africa. Every banking students dream…. 4. **** 5. Kibonen Nfi, Designer Kibonen New York Nfi was formerly a co- designer of the ground breaking clothing line KiRette Couture, but when Nfi decided to focus on bringing intrinsic Camer-Couture (Cameroon Couture) to the world’s fashion capital, it was under a fresh new brand, Kib onen New York. This brand has put the Grassland traditional established as a force to be reckoned with in the fashion industry. 6. Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang We can’t mention Cameroonians putting the nation on the map without mentioning Dr. Joyce Ashuntantang who has garnered several titles in her time; actress, screenwriter, film producer, poet, non-fiction author, short story writer, University Professor, etc. Dr. Joyce as she is fondly called exemplifies the Cameroonian who made it on from the ground up
A Woman’s Might and Yet Her Plight
I was helping a friend’s daughter with her homework the other day, and she all of nine years was defining the word apartheid. I had the notebook, with the teacher’s definition on it which this little girl is expected to memorize and reproduce, whether she understands it or not! (let me not get into that just yet). Well as was to be expected the little darling forgot some words, the latter part of the definition which linked it to South Africa. But what she stated “Apartheid refers to a discriminatory system which gives privileges to and allows the minority to control the majority…” Now lets not concentrate on whether or not this definition is correct text-book wise but it gives the idea, and it gave me an idea too, that apartheid as per that definition was not secluded to South African and still prevails. It could even be said, the original apartheid was men’s control of women- and it still goes on. If genetics is understood we see that with the crossing of the female XX chromosome and the male XY there is a 2:1 likelihood of having a girl than a boy. IF this serves, women have ALWAYS outnumbered men. Why then does this ever increasing majority remain the underprivileged, plight-stricken and pitied image we see every day? A befitting issue to ponder on don’t you think? Looking back at that definition let me support the claim that gender inequality was the original apartheid. It has already been biologically proven that women have and probably always will be the majority, now about privileges? From culture to culture men have through norms and values of their time reserved certain things from themselves, be it the right to eat eggs, to wear trousers, to drive, to vote, to marry more than one spouse, to flirt- without being scorned-, the right to education, a particular type of education, and the right to be religiously ordained. These privileges prevail, some hold strong till date. Gender inequality is a universally accepted fact and some people would say it is rightly so “men and women can never be the same” they say; they only expressing their ignorance. Equality does not mean sameness; we can never be and shouldn’t even try to be the same, yet we should agree that a kilogram in feathers and a kilogram of rocks though so different are still equal in weight. So if it is agreed that discriminatory system exists as a result of gender inequality, and also that though women have always surpassed men in numbers, the men enjoy privileges by this system, then fitting the definition above, women have been victims of an apartheid for ages. That proven; a modern mind would wonder why? I mean we are of a time when we have heard enough of women’s feats to know that women are not “weak” The feminist movement has done enough to show just how much women toil and extol their might. What a man can do a woman can do better is a modern day idiom extolling a woman’s might. They feed the masses care for the elderly, the sick, they carry heavy burdens emotionally, psychologically and physically, she can endure where a man cannot- we have been told this. We have been convinced that woman is indeed mighty. Yet ironically no matter how mighty woman is she has yet to overcome her apartheid, despite the majority she holds, despite her endurance (or perhaps because of it) she has yet to free herself. She is still pitied, with e quarters of the poorest of the poor being women, with ever increasing reports of sexual abuse, violence and are still denied privileges entrance into holy orders, say in state policies, even a right to wear certain clothes and drive in some countries. Why I wonder, despite the woman’s might is such discrimination, suffering and abuse her plight? Here’s a theory: one can only be as strong as their mind. As such women can never be that strong. Our minds you see are controlled by men. From the way we dress, to the jobs we should do in one way or the other, indirectly or directly, men control us. Now someone may say here that I’m tooting the feminist horn and women have come far from the old days, I would agree yet say that is limiting, I am doing that and more. Feminist may say women are controlled by men as to the opportunities given, but the thing is feminist themselves have begun being controlled by men in the opportunities they are hunting for. In the quest for equality some have veered off to seek to prove sameness that they too can be “men” and thus imitating them we fall indirectly to the old trap of following the path set by men being what they are rather than what they want us to be, yes, but still not being who we are meant to be. Our society from time immemorial has called on the female to be attractive to the male, whether it is by being able to cook and run a home as in the olden days or look like a playboy pin-up as is today, women have been reared with the idea that they are only as good as men think they are. You are only sexy enough if when you pass a guy lets out a wolf whistle. And you are only brainy enough if you can outsmart the guys in your class as well. It goes to prove the saying that when you belong to a minority you have to be better in order to have the right to be equal. Women are further reared with the idea of what would be ladylike, what they should or should not do, we have so ingrained these ideas in us that though today you may not hear a man say that is unladylike, or that is not, we have