Cameroon and Gabon take steps to fight food cost shock

Source: AlertNet

Cameroon, Gabon take steps to fight food cost shock

25 Apr 2008 13:42:20 GMT

Read the full article

Africa GPS Cameroon video:GPS Mapping by African Hunter-gatherers

coconutwirelessfj has a number of Africa-related videos on YouTube. Here is one from BBC NEWS.

Source:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WSOXEBAtRec

Logging threatens the territory of Africa’s hunger-gatherer societies. Ths project being coordinated by a UK university is utilizing GPS mapping solutions to mark out traditional boundaries and important cultural artifacts like medicinal plants.

Pottery in Western Cameroon, Africa

Source: http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/clay.htm

Another page from Abdou Mfopa. On this page several potters demonstrate their pottery techniques from preparing the clay to firing the pieces. These techniques are similar to those I have seen in West Africa.

Please visit the site for more images and information.

To make a small vessel, a circular slab base is formed, then coils are added and smoothed to build up the walls.

The mouth is formed, then a piece of wet plastic tubing is used to round the lip.		The foot has just been added.	After firing, a varnish-like substance is sponged onto the pots several times to seal the surface and make it shine.

Wood Carving in Foumban, Cameroon, Africa

A nice page of photos showing various stages of woodcarving, with links to other sites

http://iweb.tntech.edu/cventura/wood.htm

Wooden drum.	The beginnings of a carved door.	Helmet masks are carved.

Two million immunised in Cameroon after polio case update 3-4-08

More on this immunisation campaign from APA

Cameroon to launch polio immunisation drive

APA-Yaoundé (Cameroon) Cameroonian authorities are set to launch on Friday the polio vaccination days in the country’s far-northern part, the coastal and south-western provinces, an official source told APA.

For three days, the health officers will immunise some 1.9 million children aged between zero and 59 months against this paralysing disease which sometimes proves to be deadly.

Since January 2007, some 198 cases of paralysis have been registered in Cameroon’s ten provinces whereas one HIV/Aids-affected child was confirmed as infected with “wild poliovirus”.

During these past years, Cameroonian authorities have stepped up the initiatives to eradicate poliomyelitis in the country, but they deplored the lack of commitment of some neighbouring countries in the fight against the disease.

FCEB/od/Dng/daj/APA 2008-04-03Source: AlertNet

Two million immunised in Cameroon after polio case

03 Apr 2008 12:53:34 GMT

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Source: Reuters

YAOUNDE, April 3 (Reuters) - Two million children under five will be vaccinated against polio in Cameroon after a case of the virus was detected near the port city of Douala, the health ministry said on Thursday. A five-year-old was diagnosed with suspected polio in November and the case was confirmed in February. The child, who also had the HIV/AIDS virus, died. The three-day immunisation campaign will target 2 million children in the western Littoral province where the case was discovered, and in the South-West and Far North provinces which border regions in Nigeria and Chad where the virus is prevalent. “Today, just one case of confirmed poliomyelitis is considered an epidemic,” said a ministry statement. Polio, as poliomyelitis is commonly known, is an acute viral infectious disease which can lead to paralysis. Despite the discovery of the one case, Cameroon has reduced the number of districts with polio from 297 in 2005 to 173 in 2007. A backlash against polio immunisation in Nigeria in 2004, which suspended vaccinations for more than a year, allowed the disease to take hold again in parts of the arid Sahel.

(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Reporting by Tansa Musa; Editing by Daniel Flynn and Robert Woodward)

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African Book Review: SOULS FORGOTTEN BY FRANCIS B. NYAMNJOH

Source: Pambazuka News

BOOK REVIEW: SOULS FORGOTTEN BY FRANCIS B. NYAMNJOH.

Alice Macdonald

Langaa Publishers. Bamenda, Cameroon. 2008. [ISBN: 9789956558124, 360

pages, Price: £14.95]

The prolific Cameroonian writer and academic Francis Nyamnjoh

continues to delight his readers with the publication of his latest

novel Souls Forgotten. Souls Forgotten is a bitter indictment of the

political and social situation of many African countries. The novel

is set in the fictional land of ‘Mimboland’, a linguistically divided

nation presided over by none other than President Longstay and

suffering from endemic corruption, failing public services and wild

nepotism whose similarities with the author’s native Cameroon are

hard to miss.

Read the full book review 

CAMEROON: Douala burns as taxi strike turns into general rioting

Source: IRIN NEWS

CAMEROON: Douala burns as taxi strike turns into general rioting

DOUALA, 25 February (IRIN) - - Residents of Douala awoke to heavy gunfire on 25 February. Columns of thick black smoke rose over the city as youth burned buses, cars and tires, blocking off major arteries in the city.

There are also reports of widespread of looting.

“We can’t leave our homes,” a man in Akwa, in the city centre, told IRIN. “I live near a school and can see teachers sending home all students that arrive.”

“Rioters are occupying other schools in the area,” he said.

At least two dead bodies have arrived at the city morgue with gunshot wounds to the head, a journalist told IRIN.

IRIN also saw people with serious gunshot wounds being carried to a hospital.

The rioting appears to have been sparked off by a taxi strike planned for 25 February. Many people say they are in sympathy with drivers’ complaints of rising fuel prices and the cost of living.

IRIN saw no vehicles in the city centre other than those filled with security forces.

Political tensions have been high in recent days with the government attempting to push through constitutional reforms that would remove restrictions on the number of terms that Cameroon’s long time leader Paul Biya can be re-elected. He has been in power since 1982

An unauthorised demonstration took place on 23 February in Newtown, a suburb near the airport, at which police reportedly fired tear-gas and water cannons at a crowd of several hundred people. One protestor was killed, according to government officials but eye witnesses said at least one other youth also died.

The following day, Sunday, the city was calm until the evening when gunfire erupted again near the airport.

Then by Monday morning rioting broke out throughout the city.

Accounts of the violence

One of the main bridges to the city has been blocked by burning tires, according to an eyewitness living nearby. “We see smoke everywhere and hear constant gunfire,” she said.

The national radio reported that many government buildings were on fire, including a town hall and one of the finance ministry buildings

The main road between Douala and the capital, Yaounde, is blocked by burning tires and IRIN saw a number of petrol stations being looted along that road.

Youth have also reportedly broken into at least one major retail store..

In the city centre IRIN saw large gangs of youths moving through the streets with no police around. But elsewhere police were seen arbitrarily arresting civilians.

“I saw two people in front of my office being stopped by the police and arrested for no reason,” said human rights advocate Madeline Afite, of the Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture.

People catching flights out of the city had to walk to the airport. IRIN saw youth attempt to enter the airport compound. Some appeared to be armed and shooting at the police. Police also appeared to be returning fire.

“I think what is happening is that youth saw recent events in Kenya and are now trying to copy,” Mary Mballa, a mother in Newtown told IRIN. 

African book:Africa’s Media: Democracy and the Politics of Belonging

Source: http://www.nyamnjoh.com/

Amazon.com

Africa’s Media: Democracy and the Politics of Belonging

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

Review

“An exceptionally rich and thought-provoking work. Nyamnjoh gives us a vivid, well researched picture of the new African media landscape, while asking probing questions about both journalistic practice and the meaning of democracy.”–James Ferguson, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology, Stanford University

“Nyamnjoh’s book is a worthwhile addition to the growing body of knowledge on African communication and politics. It is creatively rendered in a descriptive and critical style that combines the anthropologist’s eyes for patterned behaviour and the journalist’s nose for social criticism. The result is a delicious rendition on the complex role of communication in democracy. This should be required reading in journalism, political science, and sociology.”–Charles Okigbo, Department of Communication, North Dakota State University ‘This latest work by Professor Francis Nyamnjoh raises the level of the debate on the media and the democratization agenda in Africa to a very high level with perceptive and insightful analysis of the problematic. The work is informed, detailed, useful, and meaningful. It serves as an outstanding contribution and source for scholars, professionals and top-level decision makers in the area of media and democracy in Africa. It is a “must” text for all students of mass media and development in Africa.”–Cecil Blake, Chair, Africana Studies Department, University of Pittsburgh
“Nyamnjoh’s analysis innovatively develops a new conceptual framework in assessing studies on, and the state of, African media and how people use them. His theoretical achievement is to critique African essentialism on the one hand, while developing an indigenized critical theory on the other. He speaks from Africa, about Africa, in an engagement with Western theory, assumptions and policies. This study is a breakthrough.”–Keyan G. Tomaselli, University of KwaZulu-Natal and President, South African Communication Association

Book Description

This major study explores the role of the mass media in promoting democracy and empowering civil society in Africa. The author contextualizes Africa within in the rapidly changing global media and shows how patterns of media ownership and state control have evolved and the huge difficulties under which most African media workers labor. The author also explores the whole question of media ethics and professionalism in Africa. The general analysis is supported by a detailed case study of Cameroon.

Africa’s Media: Democracy and the Politics of Belonging

By Francis B. Nyamnjoh

ISBN-10: 1842775839
ISBN-13: 978-1842775837

Available from Amazon.com

Cameroon pays tribute to Manu Dibango

Source: African Press Agency

Cameroon pays tribute to Manu Dibango

APA-Yaounde (Cameroon) Cameroonian culture officials on Monday commence a weeklong homage to their 74-year old compatriot, Manu Dibango, the saxophonist and father of “Soul Makossa”.

This tribute coincides with the golden jubilee celebration of the head-naked musician who recorded about thirty albums and several film musics.

More 

ICT in Education in Cameroon

source: infoDev

Download now (102 KB)

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Excerpted from infoDev’s Survey of ICT and Education in Africa (Volume2): 53 Country Reports

For more information about this project, please see Survey of ICT and Education in Africa.

This short report provides a general overview of current activities and developments related to ICT use in education in the country.

The Language Question in Cameroon

Posted by sociolingo on January 2, 2008

Source:Linguistik online 18, 1/04

The Language Question in Cameroon

George Echu (Yaounde/Bloomington)

Abstract

In multilingual Cameroon, 247 indigenous languages live side by side with English and French (the two official languages) and Cameroon Pidgin English (the main lingua franca). While the two official languages of colonial heritage dominate public life in the areas of education, administration, politics, mass media, publicity and literature, both the indigenous languages and Cameroon Pidgin English are relegated to the background.

This paper is a critique of language policy in Cameroon revealing that mother tongue education in the early years of primary education remains a distant cry, as the possible introduction of an indigenous language in the school system is not only considered unwanted by educational authorities but equally combated against by parents who believe that the future of their children lies in the mastery of the official languages. This persistent disregard of indigenous languages does not only alienate the Cameroonian child culturally, but further alienates the vast majority of Cameroonians who are illiterate (in English and French) since important State business is carried out in the official languages. As regards the implementation of the policy of official language bilingualism, there is clear imbalance in the use of the two official languages as French continues to be the dominant official language while English is relegated to a second place within the State. The frustration that ensues within the Anglophone community has led in recent years to the birth of Anglophone nationalism, a situation that seems to be widening the rift between the two main components of the society (Anglophones and Francophones), thereby compromising national unity.

The paper is divided into five major parts. After a brief presentation of the country, the author dwells on multilingualism and language policy since the colonial period. The third, fourth and last parts of the paper focus on the critique of language policy in Cameroon with emphasis first on the policy of official language bilingualism and bilingual education, then on the place of indigenous languages, and finally on the national language debate.

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full text

Cameroon: Orthography and Identity

Source: Cogprints

Orthography and Identity in Cameroon

Bird, Steven (2001) Orthography and Identity in Cameroon. [Journal (Paginated)] (In Press)

Full text available as:

Preview	PDF - Requires a PDF viewer such as GSview, Xpdf or Adobe Acrobat Reader 168Kb
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Abstract

The tone languages of sub-Saharan Africa raise challenging questions for the design of new writing systems. Marking too much or too little tone can have grave consequences for the usability of an orthography. Orthography development, past and present, rests on a raft of sociolinguistic issues having little to do with the technical phonological concerns that usually preoccupy orthographers. Some of these issues are familiar from the spelling reforms which have taken place in European languages. However, many of the issues faced in sub-Saharan Africa are different, being concerned with the creation of new writing systems in a multi-ethnic context: residual colonial influences, the construction of new nation-states, detribalization versus culture preservation and language reclamation, and so on. Language development projects which crucially rely on creating or revising orthographies may founder if they do not attend to the various layers of identity that are indexed by orthography: whether colonial, national, ethnic, local or individual identity. In this study, I review the history and politics of orthography in Cameroon, with a focus on tone marking. The paper concludes by calling present-day orthographers to a deeper and broader understanding of orthographic issues.

Cameroon: Education policy

Source: CAMSU

EDUCATIONAL POLICY IN CAMEROON

The Cameroon educational system may be structured as here below:

PART I: KINDERGARTEN

It is unclear if early childhood education is compulsory in Cameroon. However, parents who can afford to do so generally send their children to kindergarten at about the age of three.

In the Anglophone sector of the country the kindergarten is known as a “nursery school” and in the Francophone sector it is called “l’ecole maternelle”. Children attend these schools for about two or three years, until the age of five or six, when they are deemed ready to start attending elementary or primary school (” l’ecole primaire”, in French). The vast majority of these “nursery schools” in Cameroon are privately owned, but there are also a few run by the Government.

PART II: PRIMARY EDUCATION

The duration of primary education is usually seven years The approximate age for graduation from primary school is twelve. This is the only part of a child’s education that is compulsory in Cameroon, and most pupils tend to be a little more than 12 years of age by the time they graduate.

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Cameroon: Renowned Cameroonian artiste Tom Yoms dies in Paris

Source: African Press Agency

Despite a ‘false alarm’ when the death of Cameroonian musician Tom Yomswas precipitously announced in September 2007, this report from Paris appears to be confirmed by ‘official sources’.

Renowned Cameroonian artiste Tom Yoms dies in Paris

APA-Yaounde (Cameroon) The renowned Cameroonian artiste Tom Yoms died of leukaemia Tuesday morning in Paris, APA learned from official sources.

Tom Yoms initiated the Cameroonian Day of Music (JCM), which second edition was held two weeks ago.

He also created the “Age d’or” (Golden age) concept, which produced Cameroonian music, in medley form.

An arranger, the deceased scoured European studios for a long time before settling down in his birthplace, Douala. He set up a well known music studio in this city.jus

His wife, Dinaly, is among the artistes he promoted.

Tom Yoms founded the first commercial radio of Douala, Real Time Music (RTM).

Cameroon: contract teachers

The problems described by this teacher from Cameroon are typical of the problems faced by teachers throughout Africa. Note that this teacher already had a degree in law, and yet was unable to find work. In order to attract good quality teachers, better pay and conditions are imperative. (I have to admit this is a problem in the UK too, particularly for primary school teachers).

Source: UNESCO Courier no 10 2007

Vincent Bikono: contract worker and not proud of it

© UNESCO/D. Ekwè
Pupils at the Melen school in Yaounde (Cameroon).

In Cameroon, contract workers make up 53% of teaching staff at primary level. Systematically paid less than those with civil servant status and sometimes better qualified, contractors are in the process of founding a union.

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At his makes