Where do we act?

Boyo – Land of the KOM – northwest Cameroon

The KOM are an ethnic group originally from North Cameroon. A python guided them to the Promised Land. The land is still quite fertile, it has a pleasant climate and there is plenty of water. KOM allow polygamy and it is not strange to find, even today, men who have several wives. As long as they can maintain them there should be no problems but in true life, there exists rivalry between them. KOM live basically of agriculture. Traditional marriages take place at night and in the case the husband dies, the following brother takes the role of head of the family, replacing his brother as husband of the widow. He thus obtains all the rights in a legitimate way. This system used to work well but nowadays, this generates many conflicts since many of the successors sell the heritage and leave the widow and her children without anything. The favorite number of children used to be nine although the majority of the young couples today are happy with three or four. This is the English speaking part of Cameroon and can be reached after an 8-9 hour bus trip from Douala. See map: Boyo – Belo

typical landscape from Bamenda Highlands