Open letter to women of the English Speaking Regions of Cameroon

Dear sisters

This period when the world celebrates peace with focus on climate change as well as action, we women of the English speaking regions go further to look at it in relation to armed conflict, refugee or internally displaced life. I salute your endurance for more than 36 months dear sisters with no one listening to you, what you want and how you want it.

Peace seems like an illusion or a commodity reserved for some and not for any woman. This is so pathetic because the armed conflict has been so gender biased and so many of the battles fought on our bodies as women. I acknowledge that women are being silenced either with sexual abuse, trauma (physical and emotional) or effects of caregiving on victims of the conflict

This day I come with a reassurance that together as women we can raise above this situation. We cannot command the guns but we can change the course of things by using a couple of nonviolent approaches. Many of us have been using some to call for peace but our efforts seem slow. Please sisters let’s not undermine our contributions in the peace building process. We have the moral obligation to bring peace to our people for if we educate the people on compassion and love for humanity in leadership, we will have a just society where sustainable peace will be guaranteed.

It is my hope that as women of the English speaking regions of Cameroon in particular and women around the world in general, we should raise above fear, pain and suffering and seize existing spaces or create enabling spaces to contribute in solving the current crisis as well as championing the reconstruction process that will obviously follow. If you are truly not comfortable with the crisis in Cameroon, speak now and act collectively to change the situation.

In sisterhood

Sally Mboumien