Predencia Dixon

Sketches of Cameroon Predencia Dixon

In February 2017 I visited Cameroon for the second time. Landing in Douala, I stayed overnight at a hotel near the airport before making the nine-hour trip up into the hills of Kumbo. I had intended to work as a volunteer teacher with the students of Self Reliance Promotors Academy, as I had done on a previous trip three years earlier. That trip was undertaken as a result of discovering, via a DNA test, that my maternal African ancestors were taken from that region, from the Tikari people, from the current day Nso Kingdom. Unfortunately, all the schools were on strike as part of widespread civil disobedience, designed to force the mostly French speaking government to address the underdevelopment of the mostly English speaking north west region. On Mondays, the whole region was on general strike, known locally as 'ghost town'. With more time on my hands than I had bargained for, I found myself sketching my experiences in poems. The poems presented here were all written during my three weeks visit. Towards the end of my visit I was surprised by being given the royal title of Yaa by Shufai Tsenla, the reigning Fon's (King's) brother. It is a privilege and an honour to be invited to be part of such a distinguished family. I very much hope you enjoy these sketches of what is a rich, vibrant, and often challenging culture. Predencia Dixon (AKA Yaa Bonkiyung)