Advocacy and story telling Conference:

Female victims of Crises in Cameroon narrate horrible personal Experiences

 Female victims of the crises in Cameroon from Kumba, Bamenda, Esuh, Ndop, Wum, Kwa Kwa in Meme Division, Buea and Kolofata in the North of the Cameroon have narrated their sordid personal experiences in the crises going on in the North West and South West Regions as well as in the northern segment of the country.

  This took place during the Advocacy and story telling Conference of Women in the Crises Regions on Non-violence Communication and peace building organised by Mother of Hope Cameroon MOHCAM in partnership with the Canadian High Commission on Tuesday January 29 at Hotel Franco in Yaounde. All the victims concerned said it was time for Cameroonians to put war behind them and look for ways to rebuild peace in these parts of the country.

Adah Mbah Muyang

Speaking during the conference, Adah Mbah Muyang, the Executive Director of MOHCAM said her organisation had already trained 200 hundred mediators in four council areas. This peace building initiative she said was hatched against a backdrop of violence, kidnappings, rapes, killings among others. She said, thanks to the support of the Canadian High Commission in Cameroon MOHCAM was doing everything possible to change the narrative by adding the voice of the woman in the peace building process in Cameroon.

One of the high points of the conference was a presentation by Limen Gladys Foncham on the impacts of the crises on Women and Children. Among many other things, she mentioned the rise in maternal and infant mortality, the increased gender based violence and the increased stress on woman managing large numbers of children.

The apotheosis of the conference however was the victims’ story telling session. One of the victims from Widikum who requested anonymity lost 5 children who were all shot dead in Bali. He wasn’t even allowed to collect his children and was asked to pay 450.000 FCFA to be able to collect his kids for burial. Meantime another lady from Kwa Kwa in Meme Division recounted how her house and business center had been burnt to ashes. Presently she is a high blood patient saddled with a sick mother and was forced by circumstances to stay in the bush for eight months.

Another heartrending story was from a young girl whose names we withhold who lost 13 family members to the crises. These people among others include her parents, brother and pregnant wife, paternal uncle and two nieces. Meantime, she said she was still searching for the missing children of her brother.

The heartrending stories were aplenty but with common characteristics. A lot of suffering, despair and the sheer vulnerabity of the women and children was shocking. All of them wanted means of sustainability and peace in Cameroon. They were tired of continuous gun shots and the disastrous consequences that it was having on their lives.

The occasion was graced by the presence of the representative from the US Embassy and the Political Adviser at the Canadian High Commission partner of MOHCAM.  

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