Bloggeroonians
I’ll start by apologising for the title of this post.
Ok…now we can move on.
While most of the bloggers listed on this site are foreigners living here in Cameroon, Dibussi Tande and Global Voices have highlighted a number of Cameroonians doing the blog thing from overseas.
Dibussi Tande lists: Voice of the Oppressed, GEF’s Outlook and The Chia Report.
Global Voices in its post Cameroonian Female Bloggers on the Go adds Betty’s Pregnancy Diary, Mabi’s World, Rosemary Ekosso, Dulce Camer, Menoosha and finally Our Man in Cameroon regular Bamenda Babe.
It’s a reminder of a sad fact that I had already noticed – so many talented people leave Cameroon.
As ever, the Peace Corps dominates the English language blogs in Cameroon. Tim Hartman, is a brave man, blogging: What’s Wrong with Cameroon. Top PC blog, for my money is 27 Months. I like Hinge of Africa too.
The full PC list is here.
If only VSO “got” blogs the way the Peace Corps do. I found the official VSO blogs this week – in a password protected part of its website. *Sigh*.
Getting VSO turned on to Web2.0 remains my dream job. Oh what they could achieve. Fundraising, recruiting, sharing skills etc etc. Why don’t they do it?
*Pic is another taken from the recent Mbu trip. It’s one of my favourites – not least because it reminds me of an album sleeve but I can’t remember which one. Any thoughts?
Tags: bamenda, cameroon, Cameroon Blogs, cameroonian bloggers, peace corps, vso
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October 8, 2008 at 9:33 am
Definately Maybe?
October 8, 2008 at 10:02 am
Nah – I can see where you are coming from but that’s not it.
October 8, 2008 at 4:34 pm
[...] blogs about “Bloggeroonians”: “While most of the bloggers listed on this site are foreigners living here in Cameroon, [...]
October 9, 2008 at 4:17 am
I am not an expert on how the world of blogging works, but I suspect it is not a very coherent world or cohesive thing, and I also suspect it is oftentimes a luxury thing.
I am sure there is a good reason why Peace Corps volunteers top things out in the “Cameroonian” blogosphere. I wonder if it has to do with, like you noted in one of your earlier posts, the luxury of tons of time, the luxury of isolation, even if only temporary. Speaking from personal experience, ehem. Yeah. Time. Time to think about the places we find ourselves in. Time to consider our feelings and reactions to it. Time to write these emotions and thoughts down. Then, there is the luxury of having a computer and–the big one you have also blogged about—Internet access.
I suspect it is also linked to the fact that Peace Corps volunteers come with an assumption of authority and a role that says they are equipped to do certain things that, say, locals are not. This assumption is false, of course. But it does provide the necessary permission for volunteers to provide the narratives and reports of things on the ground. Anthropologists and other kinds of professionals (development experts?) make use of this assumption, too. Sometimes this is ok. Other times, it is dangerous. The narratives are told poorly. I say this because I almost became…an anthropologist and I used to say things about my own people that were not representative of who they are.
But on the important note of Cameroonian voices, I have to say, we need them. We really do. We need all the Cameroonian voices to pitch in, when and where and if they can. And maybe we need to listen better because many of them may not be speaking through blogs.
But since this is a blog and I have a blog and I believe in it, I will say, YES, we need more Cameroonian bloggers. And these need not be Black Cameroonians, these could Brown Cameroonains like me, White Cameroonians, all who see themselves as Cameroonain, and also Non-Cameroonians like you and any other volunteers, too, doing good work in Cameroon. Basically, people who can write about Cameroon with a voice that does not do violence to the humanity and dignity of the people we write about. I say this because it always hurts me to read/hear something written/said about Africa that is just laden with a bias that does not acknowledge the essential humanity of the people on the continent.
This is a voice I am working hard to discover. I will be happy when I know my voice is up to this standard and when I see other voices out there that raise the bar even higher.
(My response got too wordy, as you can tell for sure, so you can see my complete response at my blog. I really love reading your blog, along with BillZ’s “27months” and a few others. It gets me thinking about lots of things. And gives me the chance to travel home, vicariously, through your words and photos. Thank you.”)
October 9, 2008 at 6:08 am
Wait! Did you say we could “kick arse” over here at your blog? If so, here are the rest of my ramblings. Goodness, I can’t stop. Must be that I miss Bamenda a whole lot. Yeah. And to make matters worse, here is a blog from the heart of Bamenda. AAAH! Don’t worry, I’ll gve you a nice long break before I come back and send more words your way.
***
On Blogging:
Blogging, for some of us, I would venture, is birthed by a certain kind of experience, the experience of being displaced and dislocated, of being in a new situation where so many things are unfamiliar. A tight spot that crushes us. A place that forces us to create communities via the Internet, or via the simple and complex act of Writing It All Down. Stopping time, freezing moments into published words for someone out there to consume. We are in a new world where no one SEES us, but we BLOG and people read our words; therefore, WE EXIST. We also claim/assert power and knowledge. We say, “I was there, I saw it, I know it, I felt it, ate it, drank it, and it was weird and bizarre and hilarious and BACKWARD/PRIMITIVE but, dangit, I was THERE, and so you can believe me, I am the boss of this tiny little corner I visited and loved and hated.” We each have to judge if this is a good or bad thing. It is an OK thing, as long as we acknowledge and remain aware of our tiny bits of arrogance, I guess.
I am sure a good number of Cameroonians out there would be amazing bloggers with stories to tell. I am sure some have lots of time to do fun things. Maybe they even have the money to get a computer or to visit the cyber-cafe for a few hours. And when they do, maybe they just do not care to waste their time on blogs. Maybe they type real slow like I do sometimes and have to check words in the dictionary constantly. I really don’t know. Maybe they have more important stuff to do like check their email, maybe chat with pals on Yahoo, pals who left the country and went on crazy adventures. Maybe they check the news. Maybe they read a blog or two. But then they go home and maybe they have someone to talk to. Business to handle. Church to go to. And it just doesn’t matter if they write it all down. Life goes on. The stories write themselves. People live.
October 9, 2008 at 6:22 am
OK. Last words. A request. On the subject of talented Cameroonians leaving the country, I’d like more of your thoughts on this, as time goes on, and other’s thoughts, too, whenever you have time to devote blogging to this. It’s something I think about.
October 9, 2008 at 9:58 am
BB – wow. Where to start?
Okay – as regards Peace Corps bloggers – i was more comparing them to VSO volunteers than Cameroonians. I am aware that there are few Cameroonian bloggers and I believe you are right in the reasons why.
But I also remembering reading that 90% of movies are about a “fish out of water” and I believe some of the best blogs are the same. The hard part is keeping them going because once your start adjusting, once you stop judging then what else do you have to write about.
I don’t believe many Cameroonians have the time to blog – then again I have been shocked at just how bad computer knowledge is here. People here need to learn it. They will be left behind – blogging is a part of that. So is the fight for human rights.
As for Cameroonians leaving Cameroon – it is problem throughout the developing world – just as it is a problem in Newcastle (my home city) where local kids head for London – taking skills with them. You have to give them a good reason to stay – and personally I can’t blame them for going.
But Cameroon can’t afford to lose these good people. It needs to try harder to retain them. I don’t want to judge this country but its ambitious people that Cameroon needs and so many of them have ambitions to leave.
The thing is – these educated people could potentially have a better standard of living here than in the US. There skills are more prized but there isn’t enough financially to keep them here. Very sad.
October 15, 2008 at 7:36 pm
BamendaBabe, I would be careful saying that “Peace Corps volunteers come with an assumption of authority and a role that says they are equipped to do certain things that, say, locals are not” Perhaps this is true for some volunteers, but certainly not all–generalizations are dangerous
I can only speak for myself, but the reason I blog is because first, I was a blogger before coming to Cameroon, blogging about our eco-friendly wedding and responsible design, so I naturally wanted to continue blogging while in Cameroon, which is why my husband and I created Hinge of Africa. Second, the Peace Corps has three goals: 1. Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women. 2. Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served. and 3. Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
This third goal is one of the reasons why I (and many of my fellow volunteers) blog. It’s just the perspective of two people about our experiences in one small community in Cameroon, but we make an effort to keep it culturally sensitive and non-authoratative, and also personal since our goal with our blog is simply to share our experiences here with our friends and family back home, not to give authoratative narratives on the lives of other people here in Cameroon.
Perhaps some of the narratives are poorly written, but I think you should be more sensitive to the fact that most of these peace corps bloggers are young recent college graduates who miss their families and want nothing more than a way to keep in touch with them.
Also as a side note, my husband and I are actually computer teachers in the West province, and we’re hoping to increase the amount of Cameroonian bloggers over the next two years! Most of our students have no idea what a blog is, and many of them had never used a computer before when the school year started. But we’re helping them create email addresses, use the internet for searching, and a few of our classes will learn about blogs and social networking later this year.
November 10, 2008 at 12:01 pm
i like to learn about diffrent cultures. I think its interesting i really like learning about cameroons.