Cameroon
Pygmies in Cameroon and Cocoa
During our recent stay in Cameroon, we were able to visit a "camp" of pygmies of the Baca ethnic group.
It was a long and difficult road, or rather, a dirt track. We got stuck three times in quagmires, from which we only escaped thanks to the planks left around these areas by those who had previously suffered the same fate.
After two hours of dirt road, with many potholes, we reached what was called the camp.
We were very kindly welcomed by the camp's population. They are divided into three large families, for a total of 400 people.
We were able to share with them the contents of our recipe book for eating the cocoa pod shell.
It is important to know that cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate, only make up 20% of the weight of the pod, the fruit of the cocoa tree.
The other 80% is made up of the pod shell.
This shell is perfectly edible, although it is generally discarded or left to rot under the cocoa trees.
It's a fiber-rich and free food supplement for the farmer.
We were surprised to learn from the pygmies that the government had forced them to leave the forest and settle along the paths or roads.
And this in a camp composed of small houses, or rather mud huts.
But the Baca pygmies also showed us two other places.
The first place consisted of round huts made of branches and leaves, which they abandoned when a large tree fell on several huts.
And a second one, which they still use today, is a half-hour walk from the camp, located in the middle of the forest.
They go there to pursue their beliefs and traditions, but also for the initiation of young people.
They also told us that if someone died in one of the huts, they would leave the deceased in their hut, and the entire tribe would leave the place and settle in another part of the forest.
They have taken up growing cocoa, bananas, and tubers, because, settled in the camp and far from everything, they no longer have access to the free food and natural medicine that the forest provided them.
To better understand the growing culture clash, we can cite the example of water.
Pygmies, like other inhabitants of the country, currently often live far from water sources and must therefore walk kilometers every day to fill a 10 or 20 liter container of water.
Before, the pygmies lived in the forest and often near a river.
They also showed us which vine contains water, which is perfectly drinkable. It is not even sweet.
Today, they've been forced to leave the forest and settle along the roads.
So they have to fetch water.
A well had been installed as part of an aid program.
But after a year, it was discovered that the children continued to fetch water far from the pump.
The reason was that the only time the pygmies could have a love affair was when the children had gone to fetch water.
Because pygmy huts, given their small size, do not allow for family privacy.
This shows that Westerners would be better off leaving their offices and seeing for themselves how the populations they impose unrealistic obligations on, actually live.
During our recent stay in Cameroon, we were able to visit a "camp" of pygmies of the Baca ethnic group.
It was a long and difficult road, or rather, a dirt track. We got stuck three times in quagmires, from which we only escaped thanks to the planks left around these areas by those who had previously suffered the same fate.
After two hours of dirt road, with many potholes, we reached what was called the camp.
We were very kindly welcomed by the camp's population. They are divided into three large families, for a total of 400 people.
We were able to share with them the contents of our recipe book for eating the cocoa pod shell.
It is important to know that cocoa beans, which are used to make chocolate, only make up 20% of the weight of the pod, the fruit of the cocoa tree.
The other 80% is made up of the pod shell.
This shell is perfectly edible, although it is generally discarded or left to rot under the cocoa trees.
It's a fiber-rich and free food supplement for the farmer.
We were surprised to learn from the pygmies that the government had forced them to leave the forest and settle along the paths or roads.
And this in a camp composed of small houses, or rather mud huts.
But the Baca pygmies also showed us two other places.
The first place consisted of round huts made of branches and leaves, which they abandoned when a large tree fell on several huts.
And a second one, which they still use today, is a half-hour walk from the camp, located in the middle of the forest.
They go there to pursue their beliefs and traditions, but also for the initiation of young people.
They also told us that if someone died in one of the huts, they would leave the deceased in their hut, and the entire tribe would leave the place and settle in another part of the forest.
They have taken up growing cocoa, bananas, and tubers, because, settled in the camp and far from everything, they no longer have access to the free food and natural medicine that the forest provided them.
To better understand the growing culture clash, we can cite the example of water.
Pygmies, like other inhabitants of the country, currently often live far from water sources and must therefore walk kilometers every day to fill a 10 or 20 liter container of water.
Before, the pygmies lived in the forest and often near a river.
They also showed us which vine contains water, which is perfectly drinkable. It is not even sweet.
Today, they've been forced to leave the forest and settle along the roads.
So they have to fetch water.
A well had been installed as part of an aid program.
But after a year, it was discovered that the children continued to fetch water far from the pump.
The reason was that the only time the pygmies could have a love affair was when the children had gone to fetch water.
Because pygmy huts, given their small size, do not allow for family privacy.
This shows that Westerners would be better off leaving their offices and seeing for themselves how the populations they impose unrealistic obligations on, actually live.
