Cameroon

Cameroon has personality! Watch for the subtle irony – okay sometimes not so subtle. The resources I found to travel to Cameroon while staying at home are sharp! As an example, Behold the Dreamers by Imbolo Mbu cleverly compares economic life in Cameroon to the collapse of Lehman Brothers, and life in Limbe to that in New York City. Neither comes out on top, but each has its importance and value. Like all good literature, making a connection to something the reader knows allows them to see the world as bigger and more meaningful than previously thought. I read this Oprah Winfrey Book Club novel online from the LA County Library and it’s available in all the usual formats. My book club would love discussing this book and we have it on the list for next year.

While you are reading this book, the YouTube channel for Hottest Cameroon music videos 2020 would be great for ambiance. I really enjoyed the several music videos I watched.

Looking for additional resources on Cameroon, I found another great source of free movies! Kanopy.com requires you to pick your local library and enter your library card number. With that you get access to classic films, documentaries, and more. The three Cameroonian documentaries I watched on Kanopy were:

· Africa, I Will Fleece You (Afrique, Je te Plumerai) which discusses the history of Cameroon and the importance of having a national literature. It shows the pictographic writing system that Cameroonians used pre-colonialism and what life was like as a colony, The narrative isn’t always chronological, but I found the original footage going back at least 100 years interesting.

· Chilly on the Lips: A Rapper Speaking Out for Youth in Cameroon. This documentary about giving youth a voice is particularly relevant because the median age in Cameroon is 18.7 years. That’s compared to 38.2 years in the United States (you can Google anything). The youth are asking for change, notably to have less corruption, and I found their request to be articulate enough that I have hope they will get it.

· Felix Moumie – Death in Geneva. This episode of a series on political assassination can be found both on Kanopy and on Amazon Prime. It is amazing to me what we don’t learn in history classes.

Another documentary to watch is Nova's “Master of the Killer Ants” on how the people of Cameroon can use ants to protect their homes and crops. YouTube has it split into four parts starting here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2XOhcXz_zs

The Khan Academy has information on art pieces from Cameroon at the following two sites:

· https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/central-africa/cameroon1/v/elephant-mask

· https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-africa/central-africa/cameroon1/a/ceremonial-palm-wine-vessel-cameroon-grasslands-peoples

I can’t wait until African Chop, a food truck in Los Angeles, and Taste of Africa, a restaurant in Oakland, start serving Cameroonian food again.

Speaking of getting out again, options for a great trip to Cameroon can be seen at https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-visit-cameroon/ and, when this pandemic is over, you might want to plan travel to Cameroon using your local travel advisor. Shout out to my favorite travel advisor, Kaitlin Darnell at Laura's Travel in Redlands. May the travel industry survive and thrive - may we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace and health to flourish in Cameroon and throughout the world.

Photo Credit: Edouard Tamba https://unsplash.com/photos/_37R7CT47Wg