THE CAMEROON FOOTBALL/ SOCCER TEAM.

The Cameroon football team or soccer team was founded in 1959 and at that time, it was managed by Denis Lavagne. They practise at the Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaoundé. The league at that time was the Confederation of African Football. Cameroon football team is known as the “Indomitable Lions of Cameroon.” It is under the control of the Cameroon Federation Football. This team has qualified six times for the Fifa World Cup more than any African team, the first time being in 1982. Cameroon was the first African team to reach quarter finals of the world cup in 1990. However, they lose to England during the extra time The Cameroon team won the first African Cup in 1984 by beating Nigeria 3-1. This team has won the African Cup of Nations four times.

 The Cameroon Football or soccer team will not be going to the African Cup of Nations in 2013 as they lose to Cape Verde a country that qualified for the tournament for the first time. One of the reasons for this team failure is that it has been poorly managed for the past ten years and the players have not yet received all their due payment for the past matches.

Even though, this is a big disappointment to many Cameroonian who are football fans, they hope one day, the Cameroon football team or soccer team will become one of the strongest teams again in Africa.

NSO PALACE

The ”Nso Palace” is where His Royal Highness Sehm Mbinglo I resides with his family. The palace is known as a home for all and it is where most events in Kumbo take place. The people of Nso are from the North West Province of Cameroon, about three hours driving from Bamenda Town.At the entrance of the “Nso Palace” is a statue of one of the first royal people of Nso, who was a woman. There, you will find a door to a path that leads to the back of the palace.

Here there is a small court yard where events regarding the Fon (the traditional ruler) and his advisors and a few others are often held. There is also a throne in the middle of the court and other royal art that have some traditional meaning to the Fon and the people of Nso. The Fon sits on a wooden caved chair and a lion skin is placed on the chair, draping to the floor, where he will place his feet. This symbolizes power and authority of the Fon in the Nso land. Advisors to the Fon will sit on one side, everyone else on the other side.

VOLUNTEERING IN CAMEROON

I met my husband when he was involved with an international organization that sends volunteers overseas to work in developing countries, such as Cameroon. My husband is a Canadian who volunteered to spend 18 months in a rural area in northwest Cameroon, working with the local Council in the area of capacity building. The organization he was with was called VSO (now Cuso International), which works in over 40 countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. The North American volunteer recruitment office is located in Ottawa. Cuso International focuses on certain key areas of development, including governance, health and education. (http://cusointernational.org/volunteer)

During the period my husband-to-be was in Cameroon, I found myself learning about the volunteer experience, while seeing my husband learn about the local customs, issues and people of his adopted home for 18 months. I had always thought the purpose of volunteering was to provide services to communities that could not afford to pay for themselves. However, what I learned from the many international volunteers that I met was that their intent of being there was not so much to provide a service, as it was to help the local people develop the skills they needed to take care of themselves.  For example, in the education sector, volunteers would spend some time with students, but the majority of their time was used in training teachers and helping improve the way the school system operated. Of course, the purpose of this approach is to help improve the school system to a point where it is no longer dependant on international assistance.

"CRY DIES"MEMORIALS IN CAMEROON

“Cry Dies” or death memorials celebrated after a year in honour of the love one that passed away. Cameroonians are well known for the way they celebrate their cry dies. This is a memorial festival that is organized and celebrated a year after a person dies. This period is always very emotional as family members and friends turn back to those sweet memories they once shared with this loved one. Weeks and even months before the day of the event, several family meetings are held to raise funds for the occasion and to plan for the day activities. Some families go to an extent of designing and printing invitation cards for the events outlining the activities that will be done the day before the day of the ”cry die” and the day of the “cry die” event. For some families that have other relatives in distant places, travel will be required. Some relations out of Cameroon, travel back home just for the “cry die” because it has a huge meaning in our culture. The man in the picture below has to wear his mother’s dress every year on the day she died to emphasis his love for his late mother who passed away in 2008.