Ekona women say nothing to celebrate on March 8th

By Shanta Sih

The women of Ekona have sent out words to the government of cameroon about this year’s women’s day celebration. The women say ever since the Anglophone crisis started in 2015, they have known no peace.

Most of these women say women’s day celebration used to be of great value to them because they could celebrate with their husbands and children but today, most of them have lost these loved ones.

“My husband would buy me the women’s day fabric and even choose my design and give me much money for my hair. Today, I have no husband to treat me nice. He was killed in 2017 during a shoot out in Ekona. So why should I be happy about the day? Each time the 8th of March is approaching, I cannot stop having memories of how my husband treated me when he was alive,” Mary Ndive recalls.

“My children used to make sure on women’s day I did nothing at home as chores. They were always in charge of the entire kitchen and cleaning of the house. In fact even my dresses they washed and made sure I enjoyed the day. After the march past, I would buy edible things for them and their father and later would join my meeting groups for more fun and meals. I cannot even have that experience anymore because we have been in hiding for years and living in the bushes. We only just returned and are still scared of the environment,” Sophia Menchem who is a mother of 5 explains.

“I had 6 sons and a girl. They have all been killed. Sometimes I feel like I started the war because I got all the casualties. The last child I had was in Yaounde. Out of loneliness I invited her to visit me but unfortunately she too got killed here in Ekona during a shootout. I have no home anymore, no children and no husband. My husband died at the start of the crisis through a gunshot wound. We kept running from one forest to another and lack of medical attention took my husband’s life. I see just no need and reason to celebrate women’s day and for as long as the crisis is still on, I know I am not safe. Women in Ekona, Muyuka, Banghem, Ekondo Titi, Bole, Mbalangi and Kumba have suffered severe pain. We have become widows and childless women,” Miranda Ketchem laments.

These women on February 21 sent words pleading with the government of Cameroon to help bring back peace and insist that if nothing is done, more women will lose their children and husbands and even their lives.