Women Tasked With Involvement in Nation-Building

Ahead of celebrations that marked the 29th edition of the International Women's Day in Cameroon on March 8, 2014 on the theme, "Challenges and Achievements in the Implementation of the Millennium Development Goals for Women and Girls,"

Dr Bernadette Atanga, specialist in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, organised two seminars in Bamenda, chief town of the North West Region.

It was to sensitize the public in general and the women in particular on their rights and prerogatives in society. She stated that women should participate in nation building without having any inferiority complex.

The first seminar held on February 28, 2014 at the premises of the North West Regional Delegation of Public Health. It brought together participants from various walks of life: traditional rulers, teachers, policy-makers, health practitioners, business people and people from other sectors of the society.

The second seminar held on Friday March 7, 2014 at National Polytechnic, Bambui bringing together journalism students while the third held at PC Bastos for Christain Men Fellowship Movement, CMF, to educate, enlighten and empower them on eradicating negative actions that affect women and children. The seminars were organised within the Atanga Peace Project.

According to Dr Bernadette Atanga, the first seminar was aimed at seeking lasting solutions to problems emanating from emotional health and cultural diversities, problems which in a greater part have negative impacts on the lives of women. In order to arrive at workable solutions, participants asked rhetorical questions as, why are women blamed more than men for childlessness? How important is a male child?

What if a man had only girl children? Is it ever justifiable to beat up your wife? Why did you get married to your wife? Was it your choice of wife? What reasons do people give for burying the dead either in church or in the family compound? Does it matter? Is polygamy and monogamy lawful? After posing these preoccupying questions, Dr Bernadette Atanga led the participants at the seminar to brainstorm in order to seek for answers that could alleviate the effects of emotional health problems emanating from such situations.

In this wise, participants were given the opportunity to speak out, sharing their childhood experiences, experiences from polygamous homes, experiences of early marriages, experiences as a result of bringing up members of the extended family and all other experiences that often lead to physical and emotional violence.

Most of the participants, especially the traditional rulers, intimated that since the inception of the educative seminars by Dr Atanga some years ago, their attitudes towards some societal ills have changed because of the education they have received.

At the end of the first seminar, certain home truths emerged to the bewilderment of participants. It was established that there is nothing right or wrong about polygamy as it was a matter of choice. It was therefore recommended that conservative societies should stop holding women responsible for not making male children as the sex of the child is determined by the man's chromosome.

According to Dr Bernadette Atanga, the Atanga Peace Project was established as a dedication by the children to their parents: Mr. and Mrs. Atanga Joseph when they celebrated 50 years of marriage. It focuses on values and virtues of society such as humility, patience, tolerance, vigilance, love and forgiveness.