I have not doubted for a single instant during my trip to this mysterious country, sharing the day to day life with these warm hearted and hospitable people. The best gift they have given me is their contagious positivism.

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

Atlantic Coast – Fifinda – southern Cameroon

The South province is, together with the Extreme North the most visited area by domestic and international tourists (especially Kribi). The Atlantic coast offers kilometric long sand beaches and the hinterland is covered by large jungle areas. This part of the country is originally home to the Badgeli pygmies, ethnic group that still conserves a life style based on hunting and harvesting. They have to deal with many structural problems due to the general “modernization” of the area and the wood industry. Presently the Badgeli are few, surpassed by various Bantú speaking groups, like the “bakolo”, “mabea”, “batanga”, “bulu” and “fang” (the latter two in the jungle areas).

Apart from Kribi, being a touristic spot and the nearby oil exploitations, this is an extreme poor area whose inhabitants are struggling, day after day, to survive, to feed their kids, send them to school and have an occupation in order to generate some income. In this area French is the language. It’s only a 2,5 hours bus trip from Douala. See map: Fifinda – Lokoundje