Ngome Cynthia: “Life Has Regained Meaning For My Family!”

Ngome Cynthia (her real identity is concealed for safety reasons) is 29. But does not look like one! Not at all! Probably because of her little stature. The trauma the family underwent in Kupe Muanenguba Division in South West Region. And more importantly, the extreme hardship the Ngome couple and their five children have been living - ever since.

Four years ago, Cynthia, the husband and their three kids (at the time), had a narrow escape from their little home in Kupe Muanenguba after being caught up in the Anglophone Crisis. Fighting had spread right to their doorstep! And within the twinkle of an eye, the home was engulfed by fire. “The only document I managed to pick was my National Identity Card. The other papers, including our birth certificates, were lost in the inferno,” Cynthia recalls, with a forlorn look.

After trekking through the bush to safety in neighbouring Loum in Moungo Division of Littoral Region, the family finally resettled in Douala, the regional headquarters. “When we just arrived in the city four years ago, I would move from home to home, soliciting food. Ever since, life has not been easy for us, especially as I delivered two other children. The youngest is only two months old,” Cynthia explains.     

Today, the Ngome family lives in a little crammed room often under threat of being swept away by rising ocean tides. The monthly rent is 10,000 FCFA, but they cannot afford anything better. “The first child is in Form Three, but we cannot afford her tuition. She has been attending classes though, but without being registered by the school. Three other children are in primary school because the proprietor enrolled them for free. Unlike other pupils, they do not go to school in uniform because we do not have money,” Cynthia narrates her woes.

Back in the village, she hawked prepared food. While the husband tilled others’ farms to earn a living. He is now a construction labourer in Douala. But jobs are not easy to come by. And the returns are often too little – given his lack of skill. Cynthia herself tried hawking prepared “Eru” and “Fufu” in Douala.  But stopped after the dish of “Eru” fell off her head and emptied on the tarmac! And there was no money to continue the business.

Before then, her little kids also used to hawk food after school. In April 2021, they were located on the streets by a staff of the Martin Luther King Junior Memorial Foundation, LUKMEF humanitarian charity. Cynthia Ngome was eventually invited to LUKMEF’s safe space (office) in Bonaberi, Douala.

After psychological counselling and assistance with antenatal care, Cynthia received in...