Away from Africa

The road to Souza While we were in Cameroon in February, I finally traveled to "Abo," the region where my mother-in-law was born. Unfortunately we were not in her village in the northern part, but in Souza (Abo-Sud) to visit the cassava crop farm I wrote about in an earlier post . Sita Behle In Souza, we met Sita* Behle, who welcomed us with a big smile. Not knowing visitors were coming, she had not dressed up or anything, but that was the least of her worries! When I asked if I could take her picture, she readily agreed. By the time we finished visiting the cassava crop farm, it was incredibly hot, and it was lunchtime. Souza's "green house" Sita Behle's house is the original "green" house--the exterior wall is covered with greenery, an unexpected sight. I was standing outside and realized that everyone else in my travel group (5 people in all) had entered the house, so I followed them inside. Palm nuts Sita was in her kitchen...

Ma Emilia was my spouse's maternal grandmother. Unfortunately, I did not get to know his paternal grandmother, as she died when my husband was a teenager. I did, however, have the good fortune to spend many years with Mama Emilia. Emilia was from Abo, a group of villages in the Littoral region. The Abos are of a similar ethnicity as the Dualas. Unfortunately, it was very difficult to get there, and in 12 years, I never visited. She spoke Abo, Duala, and Pidgin English, but no French or English. We communicated through sign language and translators, until I learned enough Duala to get by. She was raised in the village of Besunkan, in the Abo region, and moved to the village of Banseng when she married. Her husband spoke fluent German; at the time, Cameroon was a German colony. After WW I, Germany, having lost the war, also lost its colonies, and the French took over Cameroon as part of their mandate. Those Cameroonians who spoke German were not dealt with tenderly, speaki...