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. 

POVERTY IN CAMEROON

My home country of Cameroon, like many Sub-Saharan African countries, struggles with high levels of poverty. From an international perspective, the average gross domestic product per capita is estimated at approximately $2,300, compared with $41,100 in Canada. Unemployment in Cameroon is estimated at 30%, and 48% of the population lives below the poverty line.[i]
These statistics suggest that people struggle to survive in Cameroon, but I do not think statistics really tell a story the way it should be told. I would like to tell you a bit about life in the city where I lived before coming to Canada, as well as the village where my mother currently lives. To help with your perspective, try to imagine your own hometown looking like what I’m describing below, keeping in mind that Bamenda is a city of three hundred thousand people.