Le pays est gaté réssé (The country is spoiled sister...!)

When you can't dance you blame your trousers! As described in my previous post, the problem is the others, or so they say in Cameroon.

But what if the racist global structures that disadvantage Africans were abolished?

Would our governments practice policies that would benefit their citizens?

And what about us?

Are we not also the ones who make the government, the structures, or do we passively suffer a political system against us?

I ask myself these questions while waiting for the bus with my mother from Bafang to Yaoundé.

We have been at the station for more than three hours. We left my grandmother's house in Kekem, a small town 30 minutes from Bafang, before daybreak, to be at the station at 6 am.

The taxi that took us there, normally designed for 5 people, had 8 people including the driver. Four in the back and four in the front, so one on the left of the driver.?

It is not by mere coincidence that the Cameroonian mascot is a lion, ingenious we are!

But is it really wise?

The car, in a terrible state, had broken down in the middle of the road, in one of those tight curves typical of the mountainous relief of western Cameroon.?

The driver, accustomed to having his engine fail and with the resilience and improvisation that I know my fellow Cameroonians to have, started to wriggle in the engine.

It started again but only for a few meters and then stopped dead.?

We had to stand there in fear of being run over by another speeding car, as is often the case on these roads. Fortunately, another taxi soon came along and took us and the driver of the first taxi to the station. But the broken down taxi remained there in the middle of the road and the curve, waiting for its driver to come back with a more experienced mechanic.

Despite this incident, we managed to be at the station by 6 am, the time the first bus was due to leave. Fortunately or in anticipation, we had planned some spare time!

But who cares? Schedule or not, the bus won't leave until it's full.

And everyone knows that!

Everyone knows that it is better to leave at dawn to avoid traffic jams that would delay the trip.?

Nevertheless, everyone comes when they want: one at 6:30 am, the other at 7 am, 8 am, etc. So 4 hours later we were still waiting for the departure.

When finally all the tickets were sold, we saw the driver getting into the bus.

Krrrra kroummm, praaah...a shrill sound.

Bra broummmmm, Krrra krr krrr krrr, praahhhh... another sad strange sound, this time even louder.

Two mechanics arrived, they took out their tools and we saw them knitting the engine. Then they said to the driver:

"tchouck encore vois, matcham". (press the pedal fully), which he did!

Brrr brrr krrrr praahhh

The mechanics knitted the engine a second time and asked the driver to tchouck again...

Krr, brrr, grrrr......

"Wee, c′est bon!" ( Fantastic), the driver could be heard shouting to the mechanics through his window.

He then turned to the loaders, the people in charge of putting the suitcases on the luggage rack above the bus.

"Quick, quick we have to go!"The loaders, strength in arms, immediately started to do so. The pile above the bus got bigger and bigger. Well, there are no luggage restrictions and you can take as much as you want. In such cases, it is clear that all those who live in the city would bring a lot of luggage, containing the abundant and cheaper food supplies from these rural areas back home. There is even a family relocating who brought all their furniture, chairs, and fridges.....

Then it's the passengers' turn to get on the bus. There are also three more people who came along, friends of the driver. "Friends"! In fact, they are people who wanted to pay less than the required price and who haggled with the driver.

"serrez, serrez là (squeeze yourself to make space), they have to sit down!"

A bus of 3,5 tons maximum ended up carrying 4 tonnes and even more. And this is on the tortuous and sloppy roads of the mountains of western Cameroon.

I hesitated to go on.

My mother asked me,

" what are you doing, are you coming?"

I told her that I wonder what the likelihood is that a bus this loaded will pick itself up after such a turn and not end up crashing into the valley.?

She replied,

"This is Cameroon, are you coming or staying?".

I thought again...

Behind her, I heard someone shouting,

"Le pays est gaté réssé! (the country is spoiled, my sister).

It is the government′s fault. We have to juggle like this. God will keep us, otherwise, it means that it was the date we were supposed to die!"

I know that the government is not making a policy that is favourable to its citizens, that there is much room for improvement,

I also know that the world policies are not necessarily in favour of Africans,

But do we not also have a role to play in improving our living conditions in Africa?

Do we need a government to ensure that we take every precaution to avoid fatal road accidents that affect us first?

Aren't we first responsible for ourselves, before anyone else is?

Are we not also the government?

In my opinion, it does. The government is us too, and all of us, leaders, international communities, and ourselves have a role to play. We should make sure to do so!

Of course, we might not have the power to change the structures and create big changes, but even the smallest river flows into the sea to make it as wide as we know!

Ah, I got on the bus, I had no other choice, but it was only after making a long prayer!

Thank you, Jesus, for having kept me alive!

And you, wouldn′t you have gotten on the bus?