Awaking communal concern: Researchers unravel trauma of Anglophone crisis victims.

The fruits of the year-long findings were released at symposium at the outfit’s art studio in Douala. The symposium was christened ‘Going Back Through Memory Lane’.

By going back through memory lane, the initiators of the project and their partners, the University of Birmingham, through the "Right to Time", aimed to encourage "a dialogue in response to the current situation of political and social crisis in the North West and South West part of Cameroon, the region commonly known as the English-speaking part of the country". 

The Project Lead, Chantal Edie, said due to the lack of spaces for conversation and information on the issues that led to the crisis, but also the lack of transparency about what is currently happening, they initiated the creation of a digital platform that could serve as a collective digital archive including historical documents collected in different personal and institutional archives, inter and intra generational testimonies that could serve to awaken communal concern on persons affected.

"The goal of this project is to solve the problem of amnesia in relation to the crisis. There is lack of communal concern on the trauma of victims, people don't project themselves towards the suffering or harm that their peers suffered,” Edie said. 

“So, we understood that it was from a lack of knowledge and so this project was for us to kind of gather historical facts but not only that, but also to get the stories of true victims of the war- people who have suffered deeply. It is important that not only do we situate the etymology of this war but in art thinking, we are awakening the concerns of Cameroonians. Do not forget that we are about 28 million Cameroonians and 20 million are Francophones; so if a larger population of a country is not concerned, the path to dialogue is uncertain," she added.

Platform for training, therapy sessions

The project provides a platform for training and therapy sessions, specifically designed for women and children who have lost loved ones in the war. 

Within the broader context of Cameroon’s historical and political dynamics, the project highlights the grievances stemming from the forced merger of the Southern Cameroons with French Cameroon in the 1960s. 

By delving into historical archives and gathering personal stories, testimonies, as well as visual and sonic materials, the project aims to create a collective physical and digital archive. 

This archive serves as a space for survival, conversation, and the translation of untold stories and histories. 

Road trips, field trips, and expert gatherings facilitate critical thinking, intergenerational encounters, and contribute to social and political debates, going back through memory lane to create a national awakening towards the Anglophone crisis. 

"We feel that if we all as Cameroonians have this knowledge and we talk about it, then we can seek the lasting solution," Edie added.

The team spoke with key figures who played a vital role in the reunification of Cameroon, who attended the Foumban Conference, who have knowledge of the plebiscite etc. 

In her presentations, vocal politician, Kah Walla, argued that “creating a better Cameroon cannot only be based on our colonial history, but has to go further than that, as we share more cultural semblance, food, customs, than just linguistic differences brought by colonialism”. 

The project’s main contributions as solutions to the crisis, Kwain Hamlet, a team member, said, will include; expanding understanding of the origins of the war, shedding light on marginalised perspectives, and challenging the dominant narrative disseminated by local media and government authorities. 

Moreover, by documenting the war’s impact on education and mental health, the project advocates for change and offers support to those affected. 

It also aims at establishment of an alternative knowledge laboratory and an open collective library empowers individuals by providing access to knowledge and fostering freedom of expression. 

Odette Mih, a native from Esu in the Menchum Division of the North West Region, sees the symposium as a path towards healing to the victims of the crisis.