KRIBI

I know it hasn’t been that long since my last post; however, I wanted to write about my last adventure to a little town called Kribi.
I have to admit, I have been looking forward to the trip to Kribi since I decided to come to Cameroon. Luckily, it did not disappoint!
Sunday morning we boarded our travel bus and made the 4.5 hour journey from Yaoundé to Kribi. Kribi is a beach town in the Southwest of Cameroon.
We arrived around 1 pm. Our hotel “Atlantic Hotel” was charming and we were all very excited because we had running water, wifi, and for the first time in two months, air conditioning! It’s the little things. We had some free time when we first got there so of course we all went out the back door of the hotel to the beach. Absolutely gorgeous! There were really fun waves to play in and the water was warm but refreshing.
At 4 pm we had a class on the Bagyeli, or the Pygmy group of the area. We went to NGO FAGAPE which works with the Baka and Bagyeli, two groups of Pygmies, in order to give them land rights. So, for those who don’t know, Pygmies are an ethnic group who are defined by their language, lifestyle and most known by foreigners for their small physical stature. By lifestyle, they are a historically nomadic, rainforest dwelling, hunting and gathering community.
There are many threats with which the Pygmies must cope. There is a lot of deforestation around them which essentially means that their home is being slowly taken away from them. Also, they are ostracized from the cities because of ethnic tensions. For example, we learned that one little girl from a Bagyeli community tried to go to school and was abused by her Bantou host family and the people at school so badly that she could no longer stay there; she came back to the village. However, the biggest problem, the problem FAGAPE is working to change, is acquiring land rights. Before, the Pygmies didn’t even realize that they needed papers to claim land, because as I said they were nomadic peoples. Today however, their land is being stolen from them by the Bantou and they have no legal way to fight the issue. FAGAPE works with elites from the Pygmy groups to get legal recognition of their territories.
After this class we went to dinner. Food in Kribi was excellent because I love seafood!
Monday morning we got to do our practical course-- go meet the Pygmies!
The first camp we went to was a Bagyeli camp in the rainforest. We hiked about a mile into the camp, led by one of the Bagyeli leaders. While we were walking in he would call out to the camp, and they would call back in response. This is a safety technique, so they know that whoever is coming close isn’t an intruder. We were able to ask questions openly with the 29 members of the community. What was very interesting was that each time a question was asked, all members would burst into a huge discussion. The community is very democratic and they have to discuss and hear everyone’s opinions before they give a response. What was even more interesting was that the women’s perspective was taken into account, valued, and often times has the last word. This is one of the only egalitarian societies in Cameroon. Out of the 29 people only one little girl had gone to school, the one I talked about earlier, not because they don’t value education, but because of the difficulties it presents. This community seemed very angry by the outsiders that were trying to come in and take away their traditions.
Unlike the rainforest community, the second community we saw did not really seem angry, they seemed hopeless. The reason for the hopelessness is because this community is in the outskirts of the city. Their environment has already been destroyed; they cannot hunt or gather, forced to farm on the very small amount of land that they have left. There are only 16 people in the community, two of which have severe disabilities and medical issues. On the site we saw a tomb, the tomb of the chief’s mother, which was no longer their property, the Bantou had just bought that portion of land... I am not good with numbers, but the amount of land on which they live is tiny. All 16 people sleep in the only house left that the Bantou haven’t bought, which is about the size of a one-car garage.
After seeing these communities we really understood why the efforts of FAGAPE are so crucial. At the same time though, we started asking ourselves if there is a point to their work. Eventually, won’t these communities be forced into modernization, and will they survive that? They don’t speak any official language; they have little practical skills outside of the rainforest; and they are not liked by other ethnic groups. It made us really sad. What is going to happen to these people? It’s a really unfortunate reality that they might all very soon become wiped out.
I have to mention too, because you never know, if you are reading this and planning on visiting a Pygmy camp one day: please do not give them money or alcohol. They have become very used to those gifts from visitors and it has created an intense alcoholism problem in the community. We were yelled at as we left both camps because we gave them food and clothes rather than money and alcohol.
After we finished with the Pygmies we had free time to explore Kribi town, go swimming and then we went to the Lobe waterfall. This was a beautiful place. We met volunteers from Europe and South America who were taking a vacation in Kribi as well and we watched the sunset.
After a wonderful dinner again, we went to bed. The next morning we had time to do yoga on the beach, swim one last time, and then we were back on the bus. We are in Yaoundé for 1 1/2 days. Tomorrow we take an overnight train to Ngaoundéré in the Northern region of Cameroon. I will write about this adventure next time! Meanwhile, everyone have a Happy Halloween!