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Cameroonian writer yearns for democratic change

In recent times, she is one of the few English Speaking Cameroonian writers to publish with a recognisable international publisher. Makuchi, her pen name, is formally known as Prof. Juliana Nfah-Abbenyi. In this exclusive interview with AfricaNews, she opened her world to us, where she has been, what she has been doing, what it takes to break the circles of international publishers and the relevance of Cameroonian writers to be part of the democratic process of the country. Makuchi: We talked about the reasons for writing, for those who are not writing yet, why do they want to write? We had an open conversation. If you do not know why and what to write, then a workshop on writing will not be helpful. We also talked about editing, revising your work, how to receive criticisms of your work – are you defensive about it? Or are you grateful that someone took off time, read your work and is ready to give you feedback. We discussed the issues that go with the craft of writing and how to proceed with them. People have to learn that editing, a critique and revision are very good things in the process of writing. Makuchi: I have been around the world. I began my varsity studies at the University of Yaounde, where I had a Doctorat d’Etat, from there I taught at Government High School, GHS, Limbe, and later moved to Canada and subsequently to the US. I left Cameroon in 1988 to Canada, where I studied Comparative Literature at the University of Magill in Montreal. From Montreal, I moved to the US for a teaching job. I have been in the US since 1994 and teaching in universities. Makuchi: I am into post-colonial literatures, gender and creative writings. I have published three books; Gender In African Women’s Writings: Identity, Sexuality & Difference, this is a well-known and groundbreaking book. For the first time an African critic used gender as a category of analysis to look at African literature. No other book existed before the aforementioned. It is published by Indiana University Press. When I was in the University of Yaounde, I did oral literature at the Maïtrise, and haven grown up hearing these stories, from my mother all through and so in my teaching career across the US, I have been using folk tales to teach my students. People will ask me if I have a book of mind, hence, I was motivated to do The Sacred Door And Other Stories. Makuchi: The Park scholarships at the University of North Carolina is given to some of the brightest and young American students in the four years that they come to the university. It is an all-paid scholarship. Each class that comes in has two Park Faculty scholars appointed by the Provost. I was appointed as a faculty scholar for the Park Fellows who will graduate in 2013. It is a huge deal to be appointed as a Park Faculty Scholar. You got to work with some of the brightest students in our university.

Gender Across Borders » Blog Archive » Women @ Africa's Tech ...

Rural areas have bigger obstacles in terms of access, but ICTs are poised to make significant improvements to the lives of women in these regions as well. The Women of Uganda Network ( WOUGNET ) works to promote digital literacy, use ICTs to fight violence against women, and support women’s organizations throughout the country in their development of ICT access. Some organizations are using technology to target key women’s issues with specific campaigns. Ghana’s MoTech  gives women updated maternal health information with their “Mobile Midwife” project. Access to mobile phones can supply critical economic   information , such as local market prices, health information for livestock, and weather patterns for farmers.

As technology companies gear up for a push into Africa, they shouldn’t miss the tremendous opportunities for women and the continent as a whole that ICTs can offer, and the innovation that women can bring to them.

Further reading: For an in-depth analysis of this topic, I recommend   African Women and ICTs , edited by Ineke Buskins and Anne Webb. It’s a collection of seventeen essays written by academics and activists who have done extensive work and research across the continent.

Emily Musil Church is a professor of African history and women’s and gender studies at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania.  She currently lives in Los Angeles, writing a human rights book and working with the UCLA Center for the Study of Women for the 2011-2012 academic year.