ninehillsRAMBLE in the JUNGLE
Broken Self-Esteem?
By Wanaku Verdzekov · · The Cameroons
Date note: Estimated (October 2011): written a few days after the results of the October 2011 presidential election.
Tags: self-esteem, bamenda, kom-pride
Just yesterday, a few days after the results of the presidential election were announced in Cameroun, someone's car was set on fire in the town of Bamenda (in the North West Region) by an angry crowd gathered to see the top opposition leader, Fru Ndi, who had come to town.
Various reports confirm what sparked the rage. When the car owner was told the crowd could not make way for him, because they had gathered to see Fru Ndi, he replied: "Fru Ndi, c'est qui?", meaning "Who the hell is Fru Ndi?"
Growing up in a Camerounese culture where you are told in several ways (in words, in policies, through systematic "abrahamism", corruption…) that you are a nobody can be very damaging to one's SELF-ESTEEM. It takes a lot more energy to fix a broken self-esteem than to build one from scratch (when a baby is born). It is something to think about.
Kom Kingdom
If the pride of our people (the Kom people) is not instilled and cultivated in our young, it will disappear before they become real men and women in such an abusive environment.
In my humble opinion, it is the kingdom's responsibility to ensure that all mukomangoh can walk tall anywhere on the globe and speak their minds freely, knowing that they speak no evil of anyone, but only want the preservation, survival and development of the Kom Kingdom for the children of tomorrow.
Every human being comes from somewhere: mother, father, family, community, tribe or kingdom. It starts to get murky when Western-style pseudo-states (created by Western cartographers) come into the picture. From then on it is a slippery slope. Before the West came into the picture, there was Kom. After the West is gone from the picture (if it ever goes), there WILL be Kom.
This is a message to all mukomangoh: walk tall, straighten your backs, and do not bow to anyone who treats you with disrespect. The pride of being a mukomangoh is a self-esteem booster. And there is ample supply for everyone.
A broken system is like a broken calabash: it cannot carry any water. Compare this with a broken self-esteem. Repairing a broken calabash takes grandma's expertise and the precision of the kingdom's expert weavers. In the West, it could cost a fortune in psychotherapy sessions.
iBoisɨ
~wv
— Wanaku Verdzekov
Reading & grammar
Reading level: Gr 9–11
Understand
- What event in Bamenda does the author describe?
- Why does the author say broken self-esteem is harder to fix than to build?
- What does the broken calabash represent?
Grammar focus: reported speech. The car owner said, "Fru Ndi, c'est qui?" In reported speech: The car owner asked who Fru Ndi was. Tense shifts back, and the question becomes a statement.
Try it: Rewrite two quotations from the post as reported speech.
Discuss: Can a community rebuild the self-esteem of its young people? What would it take?