PNT Attitude shared her experience with crime in a recent post describing how her hand bag was stolen from her car:

…I pulled over to buy some mangoes. Mangoes bought, I open the door of the vehicle to put the mangoes on the back seat. Just then I saw this guy loitering on the other side of the car.

I paid him no attention. Suddenly he opened the passenger door, grabbed my red handbag lying on the front seat, and dashed into the market. I initially thought he wanted to do a carjacking, or was he just trying to make me uncomfortable by getting into the car? Could he be mentally deranged? I screamed “voleur” and ran after him with the mangoes, which I threw at him before he made the corner, thereby getting out of sight. Yes, you might be thinking I was careless leaving the bag there, fyi, it was hidden beneath that same seat until when I thought I had finished shopping!”

But the beautiful twist in her story is that some of the thieves in Yaounde could be really “kind”. Even the police know that if one is lucky they can have their personal belongings back by visiting the place where they were robbed (mugged). So she drove there:

I was told that a guy with a red bag came a few minutes after I left asking “where is the lady whose bag was snatched”. Since they didn’t find me, they took it away.

My friend and I searched around the escape route for a little bit and another person advised that we check with the nearby radio station. We went there and the receptionist said: “…yes we received a bag this morning and the contents belonged to…Ntemgwa…!” that was it, I was SOOO RELIEVED that I found the bag, she brought it out, I checked the contents and I said everything was in tact, unless of course the money and fuel voucher. She added “10.000frs, withdrawal fee”. I tried to argue and realised whatever was still in that bag had more value than the amount requested. I however negotiated for 5.000frs and I got the bag, went back home, happily.”

After such an experience here are some of the lessons learned by PNT:

- Not all thieves have evil intentions, some are opportunists who are just hungry;

- There exist organised (petty) crime in the Mokolo market, beware in all you do whenever you find yourself there, organised because all they want is your money, and everyone around knows where you can find your bag after the incident, who knows if there is more to the whole setup than meets the eyes?

- It is normal to be attacked in such crowded markets, the policemen played down the whole drama, wondering y I was feeling bad (at all), yes there is no service to take care of trauma victims in the police station since it is “normal” to be victimised like that…
- I miss those mangoes and I have nothing against them;”

Speaking of buying fruits in Yaounde, a U.S. Peace Corps Volunteer blogging at Adventures of Aubrey seems to have been haggling a bit over the price of apples. The conversations with those selling the apples certainly reveal a lot about the perceptions associated with race which engender misconceptions:

During my trip to Yaounde this week I went to buy apples, twice. The first time I was walking down the street and saw a man with an apple cart. I asked him the price and then told him that was the white person's price and apples should cost this and that I wanted to buy these two apples for this much. He laughed and went down in price but not enough. We talked back and forth a few minutes and finally he wanted 50 more CFA (like 10 cents) and I wouldn't pay it and so I grabbed a plastic bag and bagged my own apples and left the money on his cart while we both laughed and I walked away saying thank you and that I would come back next time (this is a common way to leave a conversation in Cameroon - saying thanks, next time).”

…I saw another man with an apple cart outside of a white person store in downtown Yaounde (that was mistake one, trying outside a white person store). I asked him how much the apples were, went into the store with my friend and her mom, and we came back and I decided I wanted apples and began to bargin. He got angry and started screaming at me that why would I assume the price could change - he told me the price and I should have accepted it and blah blah blah. So I laughed it off telling him, this is Cameroon you discute for all the prices and tried again to bargin with him. He got angry again. Then, I got mad. I told him he was very rude and that I didn't care what his apples cost now I wasn't buying any from him. He yelled back that I was rude to try to bargin with him when I was rich (aka white). I repeated that he was rude and wouldn't get my money today or in the future and left. A year ago that interaction might have upset me but now I simply ran to catch up with my friend and her mom and repeated it while laughing and saying that I guessed it wasn't my day for apples.”

Instead of nearly running into trouble haggling, maybe Aubrey (or anyone else planning a stay in Cameroon) should use pay-as-you-go mobile airtime credits as legal tender. It seems a much easier way of buying things without cash if one goes by PNTs Attitude:

I almost finished buying the items on my list when I decided to go into a lingerie shop to look for an item that has been on my shopping list forever: a seamless wireless bra.

I was very lucky to find it in this shop, and as fate would have it, it was the last one available and I hadn’t seen it in any other shop. The salesperson said it cost CFA 4,500. Behold I had just CFA 3,500 on me! I tried to haggle the price to the amount I had on me, in vain. I thought of taking a much dreaded along walk to the car and also the possibility of paying partially by a telephone credit transfer. The latter option seemed more likely.

So I asked her if she had an MTN phone so I could complete the payment through a phone credit transfer. She said no, she had an Orange phone. However she added, “I have a friend on the MTN network you can send the remaining CFA1000 to”. Problem solved, I went away with the much-sought-for bra, smiling as I walked away.”

Paul Biya's message to his compatriots stressed the importance of the country's peace and stability in a generally turbulent continent as a major achievement. But Voice of the Oppressed did not quite fancy this argument:

Without much to showcase to languishing Cameroonians, Biya had no choice but to hide under the canopy of inert and sometimes illusive concepts like peace, unity and democracy to present as his hallmarks for the past 27 years, as if a hungry man knows peace or the thwarting of the constitution to enable him rule ad infinitum was a democratic precedence.

The fact that he highlighted the deprivation of basics like food, health, shelter, and education to a majority of Cameroonians, confirms the intensity of the failure of Biya and his Stale Deal policies. He just didnot want to belabour the points on persistent power cuts, water shortages, bad roads and dilapidating infrastructure, which are characteristic of his failed policies, aggravated by the extreme egocentric manner in which he and his associates embezzle state funds

However, Christopher Ambe Shu in a post on the blogzine –the Entrpreneur – thinks it is unfair to dismiss Mr Biya’s 27-year stay in power as wasted years because “his successes in the political, social, economic and diplomatic domains are there for any person of good faith to appreciate”:

Politically, to begin with, when he assumed the presidential office on November 6, 1982, the country was a one-party system. Democracy was barely practiced within the party. But in March 1985, he transformed the lone party – the CNU - into CPDM, introducing democratic reforms within the party. He reintroduced multi-party democracy in 1990, against protests from some learned Cameroonians.

Today, Cameroon has over 200 political parties, with citizens free to belong to any of their choice or even to form more. With the multiplicity of parties came greater freedom of expression. Cameroonians under former President Ahmadou Ahidjo did not actually enjoy freedom of expression.

Since 1992 elections - notably presidential, municipal and parliamentary - have been organized for Cameroonians to democratically choose their leaders and representatives. It is true complaints of electoral fraud and rigging have been alleged by mostly loser-opposition parties such as the SDF, but the Supreme Court has always adjudicated on such complaints.

As if to buttress Christopher's views a Cameroonian who claims to a supporter of Mr Biya's ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party, posted some of the President's achievements since 1982 as a comment on Gef's Outlook:

“When president Biya took over in 1982, the coffers of the country were depleted. Thanks to his reasonable foresight and sharp economic acumen, Cameroon pulled herself from the grim situation majestically. In the BEAC regional block, we have the highest standard of living. Citizens of neighboring countries flock to our shores because the country is economically buoyant.

(5)President Paul Biya took over the leadership of Cameroon with very few all the year roads. But today, even the most far off lands like Akwaya are being dis-enclaved.

(6) On the diplomatic front, President Paul Biya used his great diplomatic prowess to secure an invaluable piece of real estate for the country, the Bakassi Peninsular. This is wonderful. He has instructed his legal team which, I am a member to sue the Biafras, for the return of the Obudu Cattle Ranch as well. We go for peaceful solutions even though we are tough as the lion.

(7) Cameroonians are freer and more secure within and beyond their borders than before. This is a real achievement.

But his views were countered by Louis who had a direct reply for the President:

“Dear Mr President,
I do appreciate your efford as president of the Republic of Cameroon. But your effords have consistently been proven not good enough. 27yrs of leadership is more than enough time for Cameroonians to be smiling instead of knocking heads. Your leadership and management skills are way below the bottom line of a development framework. Mr president, we all love our country more than you are telling us in your letter to.
All what we want is a leader who can motivate us by applying the values of leadership, management and governance. A leader who can build the “yes we can” spirit among us. Many cameroonians living abroad including myself are very willing to come back home and do something remarkable and benefitial for the country, but lawlessness and insecurity are big hindering factors.
Sorry Mr president but leadership and governance has been proven not to be your descipline. Give up men! If you really love us, then consider this crucial moments as the perfect time to sacrifice power for the happiness of your fellow citizens.
Thanks
Lou »

Present day Cameroon was created in 1961 by the unification of two former colonies, one British and one French. The country’s official languages are English and French but over the years many voices among the minority Anglophones have accused the Francophone majority of marginalization and this has since led some Anglophones to call for a separation of the country.

The debate over Paul Biya’s letter on Gef’s Outlook mutated into passionate, (sometimes) harsh arguments exposing the latent Anglophone versus Francophone quagmire in the country:

Reacting a comment describing Anglophones as nonentities Rene Mbuli commented thus:

Mr Alain Dipoko I have been following your interventions on this network with keen interest and I must commend your consistency in backing the FAILED REGIME of Mr Biya and his veteran team of incompetent, corrupt and uninspired officials. How i wish your intelligence and dedication could be used for a much better course like the Independence of Southern Cameroon which devoted SCNC members like us are reflecting and battling upon. As a devoted supporter of the Anglophone cause , i must tell you that Anglophones are not “nonentities” and we are not being “tolerated” by the regime.We are actually the regime's nightmare. The desire by the Biya regime to ignore the Anglophone problem is a silent tactic to limit the rippling effects of its recognition.
The above presidential address sounds like a broken CD. In order words, its a deja vu version of the 1985 in-glorious memories and a lamentable attempt to recoup the disintegrated particles. We are sorry for this dying dictator who tries to gain currency by selling dreams of what he still hopes to do , while on a dying bed. As a piece of advice . which probably could help the rest of the Francophone people who are tired of their Beti brother but who lack the bile to air their views like the Anglophones; Biya needs to start making a balance sheet of his confused years in power and try to groom a successor who will do the image cleansing instead of hoping to squander more years at the helm of La Republic du Cameroun.

Alain Dipoko responded as follows:

Mr. Mbuli Rene, why are you people so evil? Why do you take delight in showing ingratitude? Mr. Biya has ruled Cameroon with diligence and conviction. We are a respected country every where in the world. You are able to write fine English better than an African Americans in America, the richest country in the world because, schools are free in Cameroon and they are not in the US. What else do you want?

You express yourself openly than Americans do in America because the Patriot Act forbids them to do so. What do you really want? I have written a letter to the leadership of the SCNC, that moribund, focus less, and mundane assembly of TrollVille illusionists trying to sell the Federal System to them but I am yet to receive a feedback.

Let me warn you Mr. Mbuli, you the Anglos are stretching our patience. Did you hear what happened in Guinea? You want that to happen to your wretched lives here? It is easy to do it. We are sick and tired of these ungrateful brats. Let me make myself absolutely clear, if you the Anglophones don’t like it here then go to the Biafras. You shall spare us the inconvenience of squandering our money on ungrateful sycophants like you.

Paul Biya is Cameroon's second President. Cameroon's parliament in April 2008 passed a controversial amendment to the constitution scrapping limits to the terms in office. This means Biya can run for a third term of office in 2011. He succeeded late Ahmadou Ahidjo who resigned on 4 November 1982 after nearly 25 years in office.

Cameroon’s foremost blogger Dibussi Tande chose to take visitors of Scribbles from the Den down memory lane with video images of the peaceful handover of power that was quite uncommon in Africa at the time.

Babygate: trafficking children to cover demand

Malinda, an adoptive mother of two Chinese girls,  writes in her blog Adoption Talk about the lengths some corrupt individuals are going to ensure the steady flow of adoptable babies to people able to pay the pricey adoption fees. In her post Adoption Corruption: Trafficking in the news she highlights recent cases in Cameroon, where children are kidnapped in order to be placed for adoption; Korea, where young parents put their baby on sale on the Internet; Guatemala, where the army abducted and sold more than 333 children for adoption and where recently babies and children were put up for adoption without parental consent; and Ethiopia, where unregulated agencies are convincing families to give their children up for adoption, promising them the children will later return to them or that the agency will help support the remainder of the family. Similar cases have been seen in numerous other countries.

Mothers coming together to secure their human rights

Some adoptive mothers do what they can to ensure one woman's right to motherhood doesn't go against the reproductive rights of another mother.

One such option is open adoptions, a sometimes controversial decision where the child remains in contact with the birth mother and is aware that due to other circumstances, she wasn't able to take care of them.

One woman in the United States, Leigh, writes a blog called Open Adoption Round Table about the challenges of giving her child up for adoption in a semi-open arrangement.

Another blogger and writer Dawn Friedman tells a story in her blog from the opposite perspective of adopting her daughter, Madison, while keeping an open line of communication with the birth mother. Friedman is also an activist for adoption reform in the United States. She believes pregnancy counseling in unplanned pregnancies too easily pushes women towards giving up their babies for adoption without informing them adequately of how difficult it is. Friedman also recommends that the process of adoption counseling should include a post-labor session where women are accompanied through the decision making process and advised of their rights and possibilities after giving birth, in case they are having second thoughts or have additional concerns.

Birth mothers

Lorraine Dusky in the United States, who runs the Birth Mother, First Mother Forum had medical history that made her think that birth control pills she took during pregnancy could have affected the child she placed in adoption, but when she tried to contact the adoptive family through the agency to let them know, they refused to send over the information.

She relinquished her child with no particular coercion, but the laws for “closed records” in adoptions may have cost her daughter's life.

But what about natural mothers in developing countries? Where are their voices? Some of them have written letters to the children they've placed for adoption, as Pam Conell of families.com tells us in her book review of I Wish for You a Beautiful Life: Letters from the Korean birthmothers of Ae Ran Won.

Others are telling their stories through documentaries, or after being reunited with their natural children. And there are some others who tell of women who don't regret giving their children up for adoption, considering it was the best alternative. However some women, like  Malinda in the USA,  adoptive parent of Chinese Girls who writes AdoptionTalk believes that these last representations have to be taken with a grain of salt:

These representations of foreign birth mothers allow us to divorce ourselves from the experience of these birth mothers, to minimize their pain, and to justify how much better off our children are with us than with them.

The Voices of the Adopted:

Mary Grace in China by endbradley

The voices of the adoptees are as varied as any of the other parts of the adoption triad. But in general they share some points of view in common: The desire to know about their origins and the reason for their adoption and the hope that their birth mothers made an informed decision to part with them.  They also believe in the right to know their history if they choose, to know about their adoptee status from early on and have it acknowledged as part of their identity.

For example Susan from ReadingWritingLiving, an adult adoptee born in the 1960's, identified with TV drama Mad Men, particularly in their portrayal of adoptions in that time period, where women hid their shameful unwanted pregnancies until giving birth and how adopted children where seen as discards. She sums it up in her post Mad Men: A Window into my Own Past

Yes, it was painful to hear this but also WILDLY refreshing to have someone just come out and SAY it.

In the I am adopted [es]blog in Spanish, David Azcona writes about his difficult childhood, adoption at the age of 6 and the instability and inability to bond with people [es] he's felt since. It is also a place for other adoptees to post their adoption stories, and to share their experiences. In the comment threads of his about page, stories about apropriated babies [es] with no knowledge of their birth parents, twins separated at birth[es] by nurses who told parents one of the babies had died[es] and requests from birth mothers trying to contact their children as well as the other way around.

An adoptee answers a question asked on a website regarding love between adoptees and adoptive parents:

I was adopted as a baby by the two most loving, caring and supportive parents a child and young adult could ever wish for. I also have a younger adopted brother.

I don't think my biological parents could have loved me more than my adoptive ones.

Other adoptees with similar experiences chime in, some with relationships with both natural parents and adoptive parents and others who have only known their adoptive families. In this particular thread, the experiences are overwhelmingly positive towards adoption.

Some adoptees advocate against adoption. Lost Letters, an adoptee herself who writes in the Anti-Adoption livejournal community believes that instead of using so much money to aid in adoption processes and fees, it should be spent in improving the conditions of the birth parents so they can take care of their family. She adds:

I understand that my actual position on adoption is going to piss people off because people want to believe that adoption is a win/win/win situation for everyone, because people think that middle class white women deserve children no matter what, because people think that our western society is so wonderful that all children should be bought up here.

AmyAdoptee who posts in the Adult Adoptees Advocating for Change forum writes:

The adoption industry intentionally pits us against each other.  We are letting them do it.  In fact, the adoption industry gets a wonderful kick out of this.  Here is an article that supports generally our point of view but they ask that we refrain from attacking adoptive parents.  There is nothing wrong with a healthy discourse.

PhilM, in the same forum thread discussing how adoptive parents perceive them, clarifies:

I’m angry at a society that ignores the problems of adoption, and the harm it causes. I’m angry that when I try to talk about these things, I am marginalized and dismissed with comments along the lines of “well, everyone experiences it differently” and “most adoptees I know love their adoptive parents” and others. I am angry that, because I speak out about adoption, people question my love for my adoptive family. And, I admit, I get angry when individuals parrot these messages.

I don’t need a lecture for how to behave in dialogue. I need people willing to engage in it.

The way forward

As with any delicate issue, it touches a sensitive chord for all those involved: adoptive mothers, birth mothers and adopted children. However, it seems they all meet and agree on one important point: Transparency in the adoption process is vital to safeguard the human rights for the mothers and the children, and discussing adoption openly encourages transparency.

EDITED TO ADD:

We have removed a reference to a blogger who didn't wish to be quoted or mentioned in this post. To her, our apologies, it was in no way our intention to infringe on her or offend, but to provide a multiplicity of visions regarding a sensible subject.

GLO-1 is Africa's newest submarine cable.
Map via Many Possibilities.

In late July, damage to the SAT-3 cable — which until last weekend was Nigeria's only link to the global communications system — crippled bank services and Internet access throughout the country. Approximately 70 percent of the country's bandwidth was affected.

According to the Chief Operating Officer of Globacom Limited, which financed the GLO-1 project, the new system will be able to meet all of Nigeria's broadband needs for the next 15 to 20 years. Bloggers are looking forward to faster speeds and cheaper and more reliable access.

From Cameroon, Bill Zimmerman writes:

The cable is expected to drive down broadband costs and provide faster and more robust connectivity for voice, data and video services. The technology sector in West Africa stands to benefit from Glo-1 as companies will be able to communicate more easily with clients and partners overseas. It equally holds promise to open Internet access to individuals and small businesses who’ve been unable to afford connections of their own.

For Yomi Adegboye of Mobility Nigeria, the improvements GLO-1 promises can't come soon enough:

Before now, the entire country depended on only the SAT-3 cable under the monopoly of NITEL for cost-efficient high-speed access. Industry watchers have been in expectation of Glo-1 for months now, as its launch will undoubtedly impact on the cost and delivery of high-speed internet access in Nigeria.

Now that Glo-1 is here, when exactly do we begin to enjoy the services?

GLO-1 is unique in that is the world's first privately owned submarine cable. Theresa Carpenter Sondjo of Appfrica explains:

Most undersea cables, including the SAT-3 that currently connects West Africa to the rest of the world, are built by consortiums of private and public (national) companies. Glo-1 is unusual because it was financed entirely by Nigeria’s GlobalCom…. Nigeria currently depends on the NITEL monopoly for access to its own SAT-3 landing station and buys extra bandwidth from neighboring Benin.

Munashe Gumbonzvanda of TechMasai adds:

The interesting thing about the cable is that unlike other ventures like Seacom [Editor's Note: Seacom, a cable connecting the eastern African coastline to Europe and Asia, went live in July 2009], this venture was entirely financed by Glo alone. The consequences of the Glo-1 are major, but will probably take a while to take effect. This as with Seacom is a great moment for African technological innovation and development.

The speech was published in its entirety on Up Station Mount Club which is fledgling one-stop-shop of Anglophone Cameroonian blogging. The comments give the impressions of a people appreciative of the bright speech but wary of rhetoric.

Augustine S, a Cameroonian based in Canada seems pleased with the speech's direct attack on corruption and bad governance but wants more:

Speech well delivered. It was above expectations. He struck on corruption and good governance, what i wanted to hear. African leaders are stifling the progress of their own nations. I wish his administration goes a long way to exposing corrupt African leaders, punish them by freezing their assets and issuing traveling bans on them and their families. Obama is the kind of leader we need in this world.

Still on the issue of tackling corruption and embezzlement by African leaders Oyez has some advice to western leaders like Obama:
Just two more things are required, and it will go a long way:

1) Deny African rulers, their families and their lieutenants the right to foreign bank accounts and foreign property of any kind.
2) Deny African rulers any kind of medical care outside of Africa.

Those are the only two things we ask the West to do, and we will take care of the rest.

A comment left by Nnokko Johnson brings the Obama speech to Cameroon's door-steps by reminding the country's President, Paul Biya, who has been in power since 1982 and in 2008 oversaw the amendment of the constitution to cancel limitation of presidential terms:

Africa doesn't need strongmen, it needs strong institutions.
MR Biya please take note of this phrase and learn,we dont want u out,but we need strong institutions,please please…

However, reading from many of the comments posted one may come out with the view that Cameroonians see Obama's speech as “good talking” that cannot solve their problems. Emmanuel says:

Home run. Talk, talk, talk, all of it old crap, and ghoulish, to boot.
It does take two to tango. And, Africans are silly to listen to lectures on corruption from the leader of the hegemon of financial, moral and political corruption; it took two to tango with the slave trade, colonialism, and now the era of “partnership.”
Look, this talk of “partnership” is a lie. Only subststantive, not notional equals, can enter into partnerships.

Reex adds:

The same rhetoric… I wonder when people stop believing and start acting… We don't need speeches on hope and pledges -they serve to anesthetize the population, that their problems shall be solved -they should hope for the solutions. When the financial crisis hit the US, the President said something similar about the responsibility of Americans to take the charge…Well contri pipo, most Americans are not even in control of their financial lives, lest responsible for the financial collapse, which were created by a greedy clique of bankers….
Well, Obama's speeches are well-written by an impressive staff to do a formidable job. What else do we expect from him? Speeches from his heart about the realities of our current world?

The trend of thought seems to be that, it is for Africans to solve their own problems. As Reex says,

…let us Africans work out our solutions. We may afterward invite Obama to share roasted corn and groundnuts at the fire side and discuss the politics on the ground - neither Ivy League stuff nor the usual double-talk demonstrated by the Western World, those speeches could be reserved to later occasions, when every hungry stomach in Africa has been filled!

A comment from a visitor called Isat is less diplomatic:

What we should really keep as a reminder are these words:”Africa's future is up to Africans.”
And take note: Obama is not African. His grand-father who cooked for the Brits and his father were Africans. He is American and his country's interests rule supreme - no matter how many songs we sing in his praise.
Man wey yi get ear make yi hear.[In Cameroonian pidgin this means: A word to a wise is sufficient]

The Up Station Mountain Club, collective blog also carries a post - Barack Obama in Africa: “Beyond Yes We Can”, yes we must, from Cameroonian blogger Aloysius Agendia in which he exhorts Africans to make a change:

Yes, Africa can revolt against current misleading leadership and their shady deals that have impoverished the continent. Beyond the yes, we can, yes, we must implement the said changes to move forward

This blog also gives a rythmic flavour to this visit as the video of a Cameroonian musician hailing Barack Obama on his election is posted there. The song was released by Tata Kingue just before Obama's inauguration in January 2009 and Gef's Outlook had done a small translation at the time.
Barack Obama Cameroon Song

Two times before, Late Pope John Paul II visited The Cameroons and the effect on the already impoverished populace was nothing more than a religious euphoria at the expense of their personal financial contributions and the public treasury. The unanswered questions of the Biya's repressive acts were still unanswered.

Aloysius Agendia, a journalist and ex-seminarian in a post entitled Pope Benedict XVI visit to AFRICA : Going beyond spiritual rhetoric seems to suggest that the Church should denounce acts by states and politicains that harm the people's interest instead of being clothed in diplomatic robes:

We understand the Church and the Vatican as a state, and as a religious body, though with political connotations, sometimes has to be diplomatic in its approach. In my opinion, true religion must not be indifferent to injustices, oppression, exploitation, colonialism in all its forms and other vices. The Catholic Church has done much and is still doing a lot but a lot more still has to be done.However, diplomacy though good in its own ways, must not be of too common usage in the Church because, a spade must be called a spade. In trying to always use “subtle” means to explain burning issues, the message is either lost or the meaning/importance, seriously minimized. Church leaders must not choose to dine only with those in power, the rich, and the powerful. They must not necessarily be with the opposition, but, they should stand beside the weak, the oppressed, the sick etc.

He is clear about what he expects from the Pope:

As a spiritual leader who represents hope, he must not only tell us to just keep waiting and hoping. We expect him to be courageous enough to tell those thwarting the hope of Cameroonians and Africans to at least, have some feelings for human beings and or their fellow citizens.

On the other hand, Voice of the Oppressed wonders if the clergy particularly in Cameroon has the moral high ground to demand change from those who govern the country when they themselves are not shinning examples:

What lessons can an already morally impoverished society learn from a bishop or priest who fathers children haphazardly in his community?
What lessons can that society learn from a priest who has numerous ‘girlfriends' in his community, under the excuse that he is only as human as everybody else?
Or sponsored a girlfriend's trip abroad, away from his community, so she can bear him kids, and when he takes his vacation or study leave, he's welcome abroad by ‘his wife' and ‘children'?
Or a Principal of a school,who is a priest, who embezzles school money through fake bills and accounting?
Or priests that have become predators to vulnerable children put at their disposal?

To Aloysius Agendia should Pope Benedict XVI of the perceived waywardness of Catholic prelates in Cameroon:

As the Holy Father visits Cameroon and Africa , he should note this. First and foremost, the Catholic Church and most of its (shepherds) in Cameroon in particular, need serious “redressing” or “overhauling”. The numerous stories about promiscuity, extravagance and gallivanting attitudes of some of our priests including some bishops, some even go as far as bearing children, others fornicating with their students, peoples’ wives, parishioners etc must be addressed…

This blogger belives if these issues of corruption within the Roman Catholic Church in Cameroon are not handled by the Pope then the visit would have no meaning to him:

Mortgaging the Church and its assets for “loans”, as if to sell Jesus Christ again for FCFA 950.000. 000 as Judas did for 30 pieces of silver. Tis follows using a famous Cathedral in Cameroon as a security for a loan taken by one of its bishop. The serious and terrifying cases of embezzlement among others, merit papal attention. These are issues which if the Pope fails to address even in private with his priests, then his mission to Cameroon, I must admit, must have fallen far belowexpectations, and why not, a non-starter.

Will the Pope dare? That may be the next point of interest of the Cameroonian blogosphere.

Note: Part 1 of this post is found here.

1 All small shops, houses, vendor's stalls that don't look nice enough are being destroyed with a large caterpillar. The truck comes by, looks at your stall/house/whatever and if the driver doesn't like, he just destroys it with all its content. It all started about a week ago in the city centre. Suddenly the streets did not house streetvendors anymore, all the local shops at the post office disappeared etc. Now it's been extended all the way to the airport.
2 The road to the airport has brand new streetlights. But then ONLY the way from the airport to the town centre.
3 Tuesday (for sure, other days to be confirmed) the road between airport and town centre will be blocked. Note: the pope arrives in the evening, but the road needs to be blocked from EARLY MORNING. Hence nobody can get to/from work, school etc.

This post also links to another blog by an expertriate family Sander Elke en Milan that has has photos of the destruction to roadside shops in the streets of Yaounde.

This demolition has sparked a debate on the blogs of two expatriates in Cameroon. Συγκακοπαθησον a blog maintained by a missionary in Cameroon posted on the changes to the outlook of Yaounde as a aresult of the Pope's coming.

So what’s my take on the whole thing? It’s nice that the city is getting a face-lift - it sure makes things look a lot nicer, and the big street lights make driving at night or trying to get a taxi along the main route so much easier and safer - but it’s sad that this clean-up has to mean the destruction of people’s way of life. Unfortunately, these people were simply ignorant of the “rules,” some willfully so, and are now facing the consequences. The sad part is that it seems the government was content to just let things be (possibly for as long as 10 years or longer) until something big came up, like the Pope’s arrival. If they had taken these structures down as soon as they went up, there wouldn’t be this kind of destruction of people’s livelihood now. Then again, I guess the law is still the law even when it’s not enforced.

This point of view wasn't really shared by British-born VSO volunteer blogging at Our Man in Cameroon. His reaction in a post entitled Impossible Missionary was simple:

Street stalls are a way of life here. They are everywhere. It’s easy just to say they are illegal but they can be pretty solid structures. What’s more, if they are illegal I’d imagine that they have only been allowed to remain because someone, somewhere is taking a regular few thousands Francs in bribes.
People here struggle. You can bet these structures don’t turn over much and in a country where enterprise and entrepreneurship is so minimal…well what a way to reward it.I ask you, if you are in general agreement with what I have written and also find the missionary’s take as ignorant as I do, to leave a comment. Not below but instead on the missionaries own blog.

However, readers still commented on this story on the Our Man in Cameroon blog. The reactions got to a point that, Karis, the wife of the missionary stepped-up in defence of her husband:

Wow! I never knew my husband could cause such a stir. I think sometimes we think that only people that know us read our blogs and those people know how to take what we write instead of tearing it apart line by line without knowing us at all. Trav, thanks for putting in a good word. Dad A, thanks for the humor. You always put a smile on my face. I just wish all of you that commented here and on his blog knew my husband — you wouldn’t be so harsh as you pull apart sentences.
He and I have had many conversations about how horrible it is that people’s livelihood is taken away from them and all for a few days visit from the Pope. When we were in town on Monday and saw stuff being thrown into trucks, it made me sick to my stomach. More than once, we said, “But how are people going to eat tonight? and the next day and the next day?” It goes even beyond that in…
And then today, I saw him helping people move their sewing machines, their tables, their bags of stuff farther down on our road as the government came through with the bulldozer. No, that was not emphasized enough in this post to show all of our conversations and actions, but wow… that doesn’t mean that my husband doesn’t feel for the people here! Maybe I can convince him to write another post, but I’m not sure because it may be best just to leave this rather than getting things torn apart again. I’d better just stop. A wife sticking up for her wonderful husband isn’t much of a mind changer.

The exchanges did not end at that. This Papal visit has quite some twists to it on the blogoshpere!