My Heart is Sore

Fifty years ago, brave people fought for the independence of Cameroon. Fifty years after independence and it appears our forefathers fought for nothing.

Everything is going wrong here and the best explanation you will get for this is “we are in Africa!”

Does living in Africa mean we have to accept corruption and poverty, sickness and death? Does living in Africa mean we have to accept lies or be killed for daring to question? Does living in Africa mean we have no right to live as human beings, with all our rights respected?

I look at the people around me, my brothers and sisters who have been pushed to doing the meanest tasks to survive and I weep. My heart is heavy, more so because I do not know where to start, what to do. Everything is a mess and I do not know where to start fixing. I am only one person. What will I do to make a difference?

My heart is sore.

A wise and brave man once said, “evil triumphs when good men do nothing”, so I want to know, are there good men and women in Cameroon? If there are, are they all asleep? If they are asleep, will they ever rise up and triumph over corruption, injustice and poverty?

I am only one person, yet my heart is heavy, my heart is sore.