After a lovely two-week stay in Dschang, followed by a weekend in Bamenda (in the Anglophone region of Cameroon), we're back in Yaounde. I was happy to be back with my Yaounde family, and take a real shower (I haven't felt this clean in weeks!), but I do miss the tranquility of Dschang. So much honking in this city!
A quick update on my time in Bamenda: first we met with Ni John Fru Ndi, the leader of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) political party. He was the one who first introduced multi-party politics to Cameroon; before he created the SDF in the early 90s, no party but the ruling one (of President Paul Biya) was allowed to exist. In 1992, he ran against Biya, and nearly the entire country and international community agreed that Fru Ndi won the election. However, Biya held onto the presidency and continues his reign of power today, 18 years later. It was pretty cool to speak with someone so important; we sat on his porch and heard him talk about his ideas for democracy in Cameroon. Unfortunately, 18 years after winning the election, Fru Ndi refuses to step down as chairman of the SDF, giving many the impression that if he cannot institute democracy within the party, there's no way he would do so as leader of the country. Elections are planned for next year, 2011, so it remains to be seen whether this will have any effect on Biya's stronghold.
Following the meeting, Fru Ndi's son Benjamin (a 20something, British-educated man) invited us to go out to a club with him the following night. So on Saturday night, a bunch of us went to a "cabaret" (like a less crowded nightclub with a live band) with the son of the opposition leader. The place reminded me of a wedding party; the band wasn't the best I've ever heard. Even so, it was a lot of fun, though Benjamin didn't seem too into dancing. We mostly sat around the table and chitchatted. At one point, the electricity to the club went out, so we sat in the dark while the drummer continued to play. Ah, only in Cameroon!
We also met with a representative of the Southern Cameroon National Council (SCNC), a controversial and radical group that fights for the secession of the Anglophone regions from Francophone Cameroon. In the SCNC's opinion, 70% of Cameroon's GDP comes from the Anglophone regions (2 of the 10 regions in the country), but the people there have lower incomes and standards of living that Francophone Cameroonians. The government has cracked down on this group many times, raiding their offices and not allowing them to freely assemble. While I understand their case, I'm not totally convinced that secession is the best option.
At some point, I'll add some of the 60 photos I took in Dschang (my siblings had a good time with my camera).
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