I lost A Dear Friend in The Crisis

It was exactly 2:32 p.m 15th July 2018,my colleagues and I were in the office finalizing a task that was given to us by our Coordinator, when my phone rang.I rushed to answer the call and it was Boris, Boris was a friend.We lived in the same neighborhood during our university .He was dark and his great body build made him stand out wherever he goes.His teeth were as white as snow and his well shaped gap-tooth made him to be nicked name "Mr Clean ".Despite all these feautures, onlike other young men, he was gentLe,friendly and has intergrity.

I picked the call and as usual, I blamed him for haven't checked on me for some time.He apologised and said the reason why he is calling is because he want's to find out about a professional school I attended some years ago in Yaounde.He said his town Muyuka like other Anglophone parts of the country is plagued with insecurity.He said he want's to relocate to Yaounde with his 2 children,enroll in the school and  start a new life.I encouraged him to move and the call ended with both of us telling each other to stay safe.

After 3 weeks, I came back from work and after preparing dinner, I decided to log on to Facebook.Behold as I was going through some posts,I saw a picture of Boris with the caption "Rest in Peace Bro".I screamed for a while and threw my phone on the ground.I couldn't believe what I had just saw.After some few minutes, I picked my phone to confirm the news.I called Stella his junior sister who answered the call in a soft vioce"Evelyn, Mr Clean was shot.We lost him".I stopped the call and wailed uncontrollably like a baby.I couldn't sleep the whole night.I prayed for the crisis to come to an end .

As children, up to adulthood,we grew up in a peaceful surrounding.We have watched killings in other countries over the television and had pity for them but today, we live with it.The Anglophone Crisis that started in 2016 have led to the death of many persons,many people have become refugees and some are internally displaced.There is an increased rate of Maternal Mortality as women are giving birth under precarious conditions,gender roles have been switched as women are now digging Graves to bury their love ones,something that was unheard of.Some women living in bushes are using leaves during their period because they don't have acess to sanitary pads.Increased rate of teenage pregnancies among adolescent.The future seems bleak and hopeless We sleep with out eyes open because of fear of the unkown.What amaze me the most is like the Global Community has given a deaf ear to our cry.

I applaud the efforts of women in the 2 Anglophone regions who have organized public campaigns calling for Peace and Security but they played no direct role in the negotiation.

Women have a role to play in Peace building and security but we are docile because we lack the knowledge,skills and resources to be adequately represented in discussions about security.I strongly recommend that women and girls should  be empowered through Capacity Building workshops on leadership,Peace and Security and if they are given the resources, more women will be represented in discussions about security in their community and they will build resilient communities.At an early stage, we should teach our daughters to have confidence and self-esteem.While we continue leaning on God, we continue to pray for Justice,Peace, Security in our country.