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| Simonie A. Achu-Mpondo |
I call her home. Home, not because
I have made her a place of residence, but home because she gives me my fondest
memories. I go away from her for as long as I always do, but I sigh with
contentment each time I drive in. Her picturesque view from the station hill is
unique. I can actually see my house from there and how that makes me excited.
Somehow she seems to have stayed the same. At least I still feel the same
warmth that comes from her bosom. Her lights still glow at the same spots like
time never changes. She is familiar territory; very little beats that. Today, I
dare call her home.
Over the last 2 years, I have made
more than ten trips to Bamenda. Looking back, it seems my trips were all
planned like a fast track routine.
It’s a four to five hour drive from
Douala, where I now work and stay. That
means leaving Douala by 4 a.m. gets me to Bamenda by 9 a.m. at the latest.
Usually, it is an event to attend that brings me to Bamenda in the first place.
After attending my event, I may ‘hang out’ that evening for a couple of hours
only to leave again by 4 a.m for Douala the next morning.
Now that I look back at these
marathon visits to my beloved Bamenda, I feel embarrassed and so self
conscious. How come I make so little effort to spend more time back home? Does
anyone feel guilty of this as I do?
Well, this is not intended to come
across like someone looking for partners in crime, but it is for a fact that so
many of us in this generation are guilty of “home negligence”. True, we have
our jobs to protect and families to take care of, but if we can take a Friday
off to go to Kribi for the weekend, we can do same for Bamenda. What is it we
are afraid to see, do or meet that is so horrible if we stayed longer? If we
had to accuse this town of something, what would that be? No “classy” places to
hang out in? No recreational spots? Too many people seemingly just lined up to
ask for help? What? Sad to say but our generation can take very little credit
for the growth of Abakwa. If anything, we should be charged! We can get out of
this Bamenda town only as much as we put into it. As one of our age old
politicians once said, “Scratch ma back I scratch your own”.
Let’s talk greener pastures- how
greener can it get elsewhere when we have a home with endless, unexplored,
untouched possibilities. Projects our parents started that have all been
abandoned. When a legacy passed down is broken at some point, the chain of growth is severed automatically.
The probably boring cliché “many
hands do light work” suits this situation. It is rather sad that Bamenda youths
living away from the town, have tried and are actually succeeding to change the
image of “the Bamenda” in terms of our fashion style, social behavior and even
professional achievements. It is now rare to hear the common slangs “le Bamenda”
as an insult. We have succeeded in changing the image of our town from outside.
We need to take this a step further; bringing that growth and positivity back
home; change Bamenda from what it is now “a town of necessity” to a place to be.
We should want, need and look forward to going back home. It should be our very
own heaven. And we are to make it what we want it to be.
It is tough call to those who have
settled in other parts of the world and even a tougher call for those of us who
live in other towns in Cameroon – so close and yet the farthest. It all begins
with that thought.
“Just think it and you‘ll
definitely get it’’. Rhonda Byrnes. The
beloved Bamenda waits with open arms.
Simonie A. Achu-Mpondo.
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