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.
There is only one street in Bamenda that has overhead lighting, and that is the main commercial road. For most of the time I lived there, the lights did not work. Only in my last year there, the lights started to come on at night. There is one set of traffic lights in the entire city, at one end of the same street. They are smashed beyond repair, and I have never known anyone who has ever seen them in working order. Other than roundabouts at major intersections, there are no traffic controls in this city whatsoever. Not even one stop sign. Only the main streets are named, although there are no signs; you just have to get to know the street names by asking around. Some of the main roads in Bamenda were once paved (all of the side streets are dirt roads), but most have deteriorated to a point where it’s impossible to travel more than a few kilometers per hour in some areas. Traffic jams are commonplace, not because there is so much traffic, but because the vehicles have to slow down to a crawl in some areas, due to the condition of the roads.
Power outages are common, especially in the rural areas, although the more remote areas have no power or running water at all. There are very few parks, no publicly operated recreational facilities such as swimming pools or gymnasiums. Even emergency services, such as ambulances and fire trucks, are rarely seen. There are not even any fire hydrants in the city. Several of the shops along the main commercial street are converted metal shipping containers, placed side by side along the sidewalk (the only sidewalk in the entire city).Poverty is what we wish we never had, but it is there, for how long?We don't know.
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