Cameroon’s Neighbors
Cameroon’s neighbors leave a lot to be desired. No one is stopping by for tea and cookies or lending sugar when someone else is in need, rather, the nations are trying to survive in the midst of massive atrocities that have become daily talking points for Peace Corps Volunteers. Sandwiched between Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon struggles to stronghold their borders.
If you’re not up to date on the latest between the CAR and NIgeria, catch up. The people of those nations, our neighbors, need all of the political support, and attention, they can get to end what is going on.
We all know of Darfur and Clooney’s ‘Save Darfur’ movement. Quoted in this article about the hell on earth taking place in the near-genocide capital of the Central African Republic, the situation in the CAR is more grave than Darfur. “Both men [Peacekeeping forces] served in Darfur and agreed it was a model of simplicity compared with the mayhem they’ve encountered in CAR since their arrival in January.” If Darfur, who had masses of media attention and political intervention, was considered simple in comparison, more help needs to be sent to Cameroon’s eastern neighbor.
Now, if we shift to the northwestern neighbor of Nigeria, we are faced with a terrorist hot spot operating under the name Boko Haram, loosely translated to ‘Western Education is Forbidden’. This is the organization that was responsible for Peace Corps having to remove all volunteers from the Extreme North region of Cameroon after they abducted a French family and their children within Cameroon’s borders. Since they, they have organized and have carried out multiple attacks within Nigeria’s northern states and on the border. Lately, they have been responsible for a large bombing in the capital of Nigeria, Abuja. And, last but definitely not least, they kidnapped over 200 girls in mid-April as they prepared to take a school exam, threatening to ‘sell’ them into marriage on the market. On Sunday, Boko Haram added to this number and kidnapped 8 more. You can read about this insanity here, and this madness has to stop.
While blogging about it doesn’t do much, nor does reading a few articles, it is one step in the right direction. Read, become aware of what is going on, and you our fellow blog readers who live in nations that carry political clout – speak up and speak out. We are left hoping for a day where Cameroon, and its neighbors, can truly live in peace.
27 months in Cameroon 