In Africa, there's always something about getting in touch with our roots. Spotlight on Cameroon: its history, its religious background, but more than anything, its people, are brought to you by Thomas Magadji, Ngaoundere, Cameroon.

Ngaoundere has been my home all my life. Situated in the northern part of the country in a mountainous region, Ngaoundere resembles many of Africa's scholarly cities, with its multicultural, multiethnic background. It was a very important city during the English colonial period, because here gathered much of the riches pulled out of the northern mountains. After Cameroun gained its independence, Ngaoundere abandoned its former mining importance, but succeeded in becoming one of Cameroun's finest academic cities.

The social environment in Cameroun, as in any other African country, is very interesting. We have over 250 ethnical group and just as many languages and dialects spoken all around the country. Unlike the other countries, in Cameroun there are no ethnical conflicts or severe animosity between religious groups. This is a result of over 30 years of peaceful dialogue between ethnic and religious groups. The only subject of conflict is the occasional quarrel between witches or other magic practices, trying to gain as much attention to themselves as they can.

In Cameroun there are two official languages, French and English, used in all official acts, in schools and in other activities. They are taught in different schools, but parents get to decide which of the language their children would learn.

The religious background is very complicated and it is related to the political environment. During the German rule over Cameroun, lasting until the end of the First World War the Protestant faith was a majority. Their missionary strategy was to baptize the zones close to the sea and not go further inland. This meant establishing the schools in this regions and sometimes sending the local bishops and priests in Germany to continue their studies. Thus, the major part of the Camerounese diaspora became a reality in Germany and other European states, where the major part of the priests and bishops remained in France to continue their lives.

Cameroun was split between British and French rule until 1960, when Cameroun became independent. The British rule in general was based on the same principles like the German, but they broaden their rule over the Northern part of the country, very rich in metals and luxury wood. Of course, the same problems emerged the same way as during the German rule the local people were only used as labor force and their religion was changed, especially in the newly developed region, where the Protestant missionaries never arrived. So, in Cameroun we have also a very strong Anglican community.

The Protestant Church arrived in Cameroun especially during the German juristiction. It centered its missionary strategy on the coasts of the country. Being a Protestant, I am an admirer of the Orthodox Church and the European spirit, but this includes a critical perspective. During my time in France, I've encountered several Orthodox priests and faithful and what we couldn't understand is why the Orthodox Church didn't develop a missionary strategy for Africa in general, especially after the eradication of slavery in this part of the world.

The major problem for the Africans is to understand the role of their faith now. For several centuries they were told that their religion was the best, until another ruler came to their country and changed the message, telling them another religion is the true one. Also, sometimes the slavery was sustained through a religious discourse; thus, the local Africans were told for a long time they are inferior, because God created them different, meaning "less human" than the white people, this being a reason for having all the times Europeans as priests. Because of all these reasons, sometimes Christianity is associated with slavery and people receiving the mission manifest a certain rejection towards what is actually a sincere message in our days.

My work is in the religious media field, I'm the director of a Protestant enterprise sustaining the efforts towards the evangelisation of the people. Even if the it's a Protestant association, named Saawtu Liinjila (The Holy Gospel), it includes a radio and a newspaper supporting all types of Christian messages and it promotes peace between all religions.

The relations between the Churches are based on the newly discovered ecumenism, because in Africa this conception referring to the understanding of alterity only begins to make its way into people's mentality. Still, there are some problems at the local level between priests and dioceses accusing each other of making propaganda and using financial and material stimuli in order to attract people to their confession. In Cameroun this kind of practice is very rare, but still it exists and it must be stopped.

Being one of the countries in Africa where you can feel safe of the streets and not having the social and political problems existing in other parts of the back continent, Cameroun is also a miracle, because the different languages spoken, the interesting cultural and religious background and the friendly people makes this country worth to be respected and visited.

Thomas Magadji
Saawtu Linjila

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