THE FIRST NURSERY SCHOOL WEST OF THE MUNGO

 PICTURE I (top): JESSINTA FONCHA, THE  FIRST CHILD TO BE ADMITTED IN THE SCHOOL

 PICTURE 2: (ABOVE): A GRADUATING PUPIL SHOWING OFF HIS CERTIFICATION AT THE END OF THE 1974-1975 ACADEMIC YEAR

PICTURE 3 (ABOVE): A CROSS SECTION OF THE STAFF LAST YEAR:
Left to Right: Mrs. Tanyi Awuma Frida, Mrs Makoko Njonguo Yvonne,Mrs. bAMGASEY  hYCENTA, Miss Nabola Elizabeth, Mrs. Ikundi Susan, Mrs Teku Margaret,Miss Ngayap Josephine, Mrs Lenya Mbua Julie (Current Headmistress) and Mrs. Isuma Ikome Marion
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THE FIRST NURSERY SCHOOL WEST OF THE MUNGO

Although today Cameroon has thousands of Nursery Schools – some of them combined with a primary section – the first West of the Mungo was established in 1964 in Buea. The school which is marking its 50th anniversary this year is still located where the foundation stone was laid 50 years ago.

It is the Government Practicing Nursery School (GPNS) found between the Catholic Education Secretariat and opposite the Buea National Printing Press. When I went there recently, I was warmly welcomed by the Headmistress, Mrs. Lenya Mbua Julie, her entire staff and pupils.

As one enters the campus, one notices two distinct put in place on the 21^st of April 1964 when the day the foundation stone was laid by two distinguished personalities. One was Mrs. Anna Foncha, wife of the then Prime Minister of West Cameroon, John Ngu Foncha. At the time she was also Head of the Council of Women`s Institute (CWI). The other personality who laid the stone was the Hon. L.M. Ndamukong, then Secretary of State for Education in West Cameroon.

The Headmistress of G.P.N.S. told me the story of the school: “From its creation in 1964, it was a philanthropic institution sustained with gifts from friends and husbands of the CWI. Eager to keep their children in a secure place, working women opened the school with an initial number of 28 pupils, the to be enrolled being Jessinta Foncha, daughter of Dr. and Mrs. John Ngu Foncha. When the government took over the school in 1972, it was renamed the Government Nursery School, Buea. Later in 1997 when it was affiliated to the Teachers` Training College in Buea. The name was changed to Government Practicing Nursery School (GPNS) later. Today it has a staff strength of 14 of which 10 are classroom teachers, two are Nursery Attendants and one yardman.

Headmistresses of the school

1964-1966: Mrs. Nwalipenja Christine

1966-1967: Mrs. Siewe

1967-1969: Mrs. Ekobena Gertrude

1969-1979: Mrs. Nkuku Nwigwe

1979-1984: Mrs. Naomi Epule

1984-1992: Mrs. Menga Rosaline

1992-1999: Mrs. Kaba Margaret

1999-2011: Mrs. Fawthy Martha

2011- ???: Mrs. Lenya Mbua Juliet (current headmistress).

Some former teachers of the school

-         Mrs. Chifen Monique – Regional Pedagogic Inspector for Nursery Schools in the South West

-         Mrs. Motaze – Sub Director of Basic Education for the South West Region.

-         Mrs. Lenya Mbua Juliet, the current Headmistress taught at the school before being appointed Headmistress.

Right now, there are teachers at the school who were also once pupils there.

Former pupils of the school

-         Ms Kah Walla, prominent politician

-         Mrs. Jessie Atogho Ekukole, journalist and communication officer

-         Mr. Ako Humphrey, Manager of Hi TV

-         Princess Grace Endeley of ELECAM Buea

-         Prof. Joyce Endeley, Deputy Vice Chancellor at the University of Buea

-         His Excellency, Hon. Tanyi Mbianyor  Clarkson, former cabinet minister.

Surely, at 50, the school has stood the test of time.

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

EARLY PERCEPTIONS OF A MEDICAL DOCTOR IN MY VILLAGE

EARLY PERCEPTIONS OF A MEDICAL DOCTOR IN MY VILLAGE

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

Among the areas that have seen a marked increase in Cameroon since independence is that of the clergy and our own national medical doctors. When we grew up as little children, the number of Cameroonian priests and doctors were few and far between. Today, the opposite is true because nationals outnumber expatriate in the two domains.

However, when White doctors dominated, we villages of the large Baforchu family had a way of approaching someone who had just returned from the hospital. The first question the patient was asked was:

“A ke docta baghe ze we ke docta firi-e?” which means, “Was it a White doctor who saw you or a Black one”?

If the patient said it was a Black Doctor, utter disappointment was expressed by the interlocutor and expressions of exasperation were uttered such as

“Was there really no White doctor to receive you that you were sent to a Balck Doctor?”

But if the answer was that it was a White doctor, then the joy of the relative was overwhelming. In fact such people at that point already considered that their sick ones were already well, just because they were seen by a White doctor.

The next question was: “Mbe ne` rwefu`eh ne be jhum sa`?”. That means, as you were given drugs, were you also administered an injection? 

If the answer was that there was no injection given, then the interviewer was even angrier and would say something like: “If there was no injection to be given, then what was the point of going to the hospital?”

However, that was then and this is now. The wide availability of our own doctors has broken the myth and the stigma that prevailed in those days.

THE END

HAS MINISTER AMA TUTU MUNA BURNED HER FINGERS?

HAS MINISTER AMA TUTU MUNA BURNED HER FINGERS?

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

There is a crisis brewing within the Cameroonian Ministry of Arts and Culture for a couple of months now. The substance is that elections were held to choose the Board Chairman of the Musical Arts Corporation, SOCAM, and a chairman was duly elected and applauded but the Minister of Arts and Culture blocked the victory of the  winner, Prince Ndedi Eyango, to the effect that she had received petitions according to which Eyango had a double nationality and could therefore not be chairman of SOCAM.

The minister acted in writing and addressed a letter to Eyango in which she urged him take the appropriate action so that the way could be paved for fresh elections. The letter was published in the media, although it is not clear whether it was intentionally made available to the media or it was illegally leaked to them.

Among measures taken by the minister are a request she reportedly sent to the Cameroonian ambassador in Washington asking him to verify Eyango`s nationality status. It would appear the Ambassador replied that Eyango had an American passport.

Frankly, this is a matter that could have been sorted out from the beginning. But it was not. Instead, it has escalated. But what is Eyango accused of? It is basically that while Cameroon does not recognize dual nationality, Eyango who ran for the post used his Cameroonian nationality without renouncing his American nationality as required by the law? Did the texts that governed the election specifically say that people with dual nationality were illegible or did they simply say candidates must be Cameroonians in which case Eyango could vote as a Cameroonian?

But another question is why those who complained after the election did not do so before the exercise. Secondly if dual nationality was not allowed, then did the Committee that vetted candidates do its job by verifying the nationality of candidates before allowing them to stand for election? If it did and found Eyango out of order, why did it then not cry foul before the election? If it found out later, then why did it and the minister not accept the blame for negligence and apologize to Eyango?

If it is true that the Minister of Arts and Culture wrote directly to the Ambassador in Washington and the Ambassador replied to her directly, then was protocol not broken? Since this matter is a legal one, why was the Minister of Justice not involved by his colleague of Arts and Culture? Why did the Arts and Culture Minister not contact the Ambassador through the External Relations Minister?

Why did the minister choose to be physically present at the SOCAM election when she should have known that her mere presence as boss of Arts and Culture could create some undue influence? Does that presence now mean that each time an arts corporation is holding elections she will be there? She could have sent a representative.

So far, Ama Tutu Muna has done a good job and a lot of people like her. I believe I personally know her well because like her, I am also a Translator-Interpreter. We were once both special guests during a social evening which the Taxation (I think that was it) Family of the North West held its annual come together in Bamenda, at the time Emmanuel Otteh who later became a cabinet minister was the regional boss.

To say the truth, I think Ama Tutu Muna is spending too much time on only a few aspects of her ministerial department to the detriment of the majority of them. One definition of Culture “the characteristics of a particular group of people, defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Today, in the United States as in other countries populated largely by immigrants, the culture is influenced by the many groups of people that now make up the country.”

So, while Muna has done a lot about music, the other components are still wanting. These include the equitable and regular payment of authors` rights. Also not much talked about are the other arts such as painting, drawing, sculpture, weaving, pottery, carving photography, film and cinema and others.  We have not seen the valorization of the many beautiful royal palaces we have or much encouragement of traditional annual dances.  We have not seen much display of Cameroon`s inordinate number of traditional dishes. We have not seen her really bringing out the unparalleled rich linguistic background of Cameroon – a country which in addition to two official languages also uses pidgin and around 23 national languages. Within the context of a pilot project, some of these languages are now being taught in primary schools. Where and when has the minister really stood up and been counted in the project? Culture is so important that it ought to be taught in schools; it is linked to etiquette and morality and could be used to fight corruption. But is that being done?

The minister could identify some far away and forgotten parts of the country learn a few greetings in the language of that place and when there she could thrill them by greeting them in their own language. She could spend a weekend in a distant village and on Saturday morning she is seen going to the farm with a hoe and using it to till the farm. On Sunday morning she could make breakfast for everyone in her host family before church time and actually accompanying them to church and making her offertory too. Any family anywhere in this our beautiful and friendly Republic would be prepared to host her. Has she done it?

One of the loudest cries from our artists is that of piracy because a lot of people are illegally exploiting their works but they the producers and creators and not benefiting from even the crumbs. This is a serious problem, Madame Le Ministre. There is also need for the minister to limit the amount of foreign music played in our television stations and radios. This would serve to protect and project home music. Do those countries whose music we play so much, also play ours in the same manner?

Obviously, the debacle with Ndedi Eyango is a storm in a teacup that could have been avoided. Nonetheless, it has been blown out of all proportion. What I think the minister can do is try to work with both the Eyango team and the opposing team. It that way we would all be in a win-win situation. But if the minister goes ahead with legal action and Eyango responds with legal action (as he has affirmed he will), then the result may be the great fall of Humpty Dumpty whom even all the kings men could not put back together. We do not want that to happen, do we?

THE END

THE LEFT HANDED CHILD

THE LEFT HANDED CHILD

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

I am a left hander and I admit it
Freely, democratically and willingly
Without coercion or duress or peer pressure
I didn’t beg for it, neither did I buy it
God made it so and he knows why
In his infinite wisdom.

But what haven’t I suffered from mankind
Insults, beatings, torture, persecution and execution
For no crime other than that I used what God gave
Who is man to question God?
How can a tree root question the top?

THE BAD WIND BLOWING OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

LET`S EXORCIZE THE DEMONS OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA (Part 2 of 2)

Now is the time for him to normalize his relations with the Tubah community which has been hostile to him, rightly or wrongly. He must take advantage of the opportunity and normalize his links with the Fons of the four main villages that fall under Tubah Sun Division where the university is located. These are Bambili, Bambui, Kejom Keku (Big Babanki) and Kejom Ketinguh (Babanki Tungoh). It is a fact that since the Vice Chancellor’s appointment his relationship with the Fons and mayor of Tubah have been frosty at best. Now is the time to change all of that and get everyone on board.  

    

The ecumenical service can therefore be used as a period of reconciliation in which those who have wronged the Vice Chancellor say “sorry” and he too says “sorry” to those he has wronged. It is true that he was appointed by the Head of State but the people in the immediate community are those he works with on a daily basis. Traditionally they are also in a position to give him their “blessing” and stand by him and support him and defend him. After the ceremony, everyone should go away looking ahead to the future, and not back to the past. After all, as Becky Ndive used to say, tomorrow is where we will spend the rest of our lives.

THE BAD WIND BLOWING OVER THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

EXORCIZE THE DEMONS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

A few days ago, a double gruesome murder took place at the University of Bamenda. From accounts rendered from the site, a motorbike rider butchered his University of Bamenda girlfriend to death, allegedly for infidelity. The story is told that the boy waited for the girl to return from class and once she came out he rushed at her in broad day light and murdered her Angry eyewitnesses also descended upon the boy like a ton of bricks and stoned him until he collapsed and then they finished him off.

If this was a one-off incident at the University of Bamenda – the latest of Cameroon`s eight State Universities – one could pass it off as just an accident. But it not. In the last three years the University of Bamenda has lost a frightful number of students and even lecturers in manners that were disturbing. Staff and students have even lost close family members incredibly. From that perspective, it would appear that the University of Bamenda has “lost“more members than any other university in the country in the last three years. If that is the case, then the situation is bound to be worrisome.

The aim of this article is not to apportion blame here or there, but to make proposals for a lasting solution. Whatever is the case, it is very clear that the University of Bamenda has a problem it must address. We suggest that an ecumenical service be held bringing together the Catholics, Presbyterians, Baptists, Muslims, Pentecostals. During the service, they will simply pray that the bad wind that has been blowing over the university should pass and never return. They will not blame or judge.

In this matter, the Vice Chancellor of the University does not only have a major role to play, but has to take the lead. Now is the time for him to normalize his relations with the Tubah community which has been hostile to him, rightly or wrongly. He must take advantage of the opportunity and normalize his links with the Fons of the four main villages that fall under Tubah Sun Division where the university is located. These are Bambili, Bambui, Kejom Keku (Big Babanki) and Kejom Ketinguh (Babanki Tungoh). It is a fact that since the Vice Chancellor’s appointment his relationship with the Fons and mayor of Tubah have been frosty at best. Now is the time to change all of that and get everyone on board.  

    

The ecumenical service can therefore be used as a period of reconciliation in which those who have wronged the Vice Chancellor say “sorry” and he too says “sorry” to those he has wronged. It is true that he was appointed by the Head of State but the people in the immediate community are those he works with on a daily basis. Traditionally they are also in a position to give him their “blessing” and stand by him and support him and defend him. After the ceremony, everyone should go away looking ahead to the future, and not back to the past. After all, as Becky Ndive used to say, tomorrow is where we will spend the rest of our lives.

JMC 498 PROPOSED RESEARCH THEMES(Part 1 of 2)

JMC 498 PROPOSED RESEARCH THEMES(Part 1 of 2)

By Dr. Tikum Mbah Azonga, PhD Mass Communication

The topics below are really themes intended to serve as a launching pad for you to then build a suitable research topic and frame it in a workable manner. Over the years I have used it as a starting point for my supervisees.
It is always advisable to go through the entire list before making your final choice. I hope this helps.
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1. Communication and the aging process
2. Lead story treatments in newspapers
3. Media literacy
4. Media education
5. Advertising content analysis
6. Mass media analysis
7. Media bias
8. Media and power
9. Media and ideology
10. Communication and bias
11. Communication and ideology
12. Media language
13. Media ownership
14. Media and politics
15. Political communication
16. Media narratives
17. The impact of radio
18. The impact of TV
19. The impact of the print media
20. The impact of the new media
21. Media practice and gender equality
22. A linguistic approach to communication
23. A linguistic approach to media studies
24. Media and society
25. Mass media influence
26. Health communication
27. Diplomatic communication
28. Development communication
29. The functioning of the media
30. Management communication
31. TV and radio audiences
32. Evaluating the advertising campaign
33. Communication pedagogy
34. Communication didactics
35. Communication semiotics
36. Communication and anthropology
37. Communication and sociology
38. Science communication
39. Environment communication
40. International communication
41. New media and young people
42. Violence on television
43. Media ethics
44. Media texts
45. Media and intertextuality
46. Media and discourse analysis
47. Media and translation
48. Journalistic translation
49. Legal communication
50. Media policy
51. Media politics
52. Media economics
53. Media and Press freedom
54. Media and censorship
55. Media and democracy
56. History of media
57. Business media
58. Community media
59. Public relations
60. Media and the global village
61. Marketing communication
62. Public opinion and the media
63. Media representations
64. Visual literacy in communication
65. Media management
66. Media products and consumption
67. Economics of the media industry
68. Influence of the media as a socialization and ideological instrument.
69. Media coverage of music
70. Media and social networks
71. Media coverage of celebrities
72. Media and the semantics of music
73. Media and human rights
74. Media and advocacy
75. Media readership and audience
76. Media as a propaganda tool
77. Media across cultures
78. Media and intellectual property
79. Media and the digital age
80. Digital communication
81. Communication and state control
82. Media and domination
83. Citizen journalism
84. Media and the right to privacy
85. Media and intellectual property management
86. Media and readership
87. Interactive media
88. Environmental journalism
89. Photomedia: from the analogue age to the digital age
90. The video documentary
91. TV film cultures
92. Currents in film theory
93. Currents in media theory
94. Culture and identity
95. Contemporary screen media
96. National Cinemas
97. Continuing Production
98. The documentary
99. Environmentalism and the Media
100. Gender and Sexuality in Film and Television
101. Youth culture and consumption
102. Travel and tourism media
103. The cultural Meaning of Popular Science.
104. Online journalism
105. Media practice and space
106. Media practice and time
107. Media and youths
108. Researching media audiences
109. Dilemmas in journalism
110. The 123. Media and leisure

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111. Public service broadcasting
112. Global transnational media
113. Journalism and multimedia
114. The journalist and social media
115. New journalism and new media
116. Journalism education
117. Online journalism
118. Feature journalism
119. News gathering
120. News writing
121. Challenges in the media in Cameroon
122. Media liberalization in Cameroon ....

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FOR PART 2 OF THIS STORY FOLLOW THE LINK BELOW TO THE APPROPRIATE PAGE OF MY BLOG 

http://tmazonga.blogspot.com/2014/01/jmc-498-students-some-help-with-finding_27.html

http://tmazonga.blogspot.com/2014/01/jmc-498-students-some-help-with-finding_27.html