POVERTY IN THE VILLAGE

My mother lives in a rural area that has no electricity or running water and is only accessible by “bush taxi” over very rough roads that can become impassable in the rainy season. That is how the poverty level seems like. Some people have gas-fired cook-tops, although many others, including my mother, have to cook their meals over wood burning fires. Almost everyone in the area has dealt with typhoid and malaria at least a few times in their lives.

Believe it or not, Cameroon is not even one of the 50 poorest countries in the world. People are not starving in the region where I come from. In fact, food is abundant in this part of the country, and beggars are more common in downtown Toronto than in Bamenda. Shelter, education and health services are available (with varying levels of quality), and with the exception of remote areas, such as my mother’s village, there is reasonable access to clean water. 

Cameroon is rich in resources: petroleum, minerals, and agriculture. There are many reasons why the people do not benefit from this, although the most obvious is that distribution of wealth is close to nonexistent. In addition, Cameroon is known around the world, as many African countries are, for its corruption. I believe it is the biggest problem faced by people there, although the poor infrastructure is also a very big problem.

I need to stress that I am not complaining about life in my home country, nor am I trying to get you to feel sorry for people living in Cameroon. The reason I write this is that I think it is important to understand how people manage in other places in the world. Cameroon is not a popular tourist destination, unfortunately, mostly due to the expense of getting there and the lack of infrastructure to support tourism. However, Cameroon is rich in culture (as I will tell you about in a future blog), the people will always go out of their way for their neighbors’ and strangers alike, and the scenery is incredible. I hope that in the future, people will visit Cameroon to explore this amazing country, meet the beautiful people, and tell their friends about it.Until then,our people will still be living in poverty.