27, August 2019
Boston pays Homage to Pa Willy George Etchu Tabi (1948-2019) 0
Dear friends,
Last weekend was memorable not just because one of my heroes was sent to rest, but the nature to which my best and childhood friend ( Stanley Tabi), demonstrated his utmost respect, humility, dedication, and character since the passing of his Dad(Pa Tabi). Family members, friends , and well-wishers swung through the streets of Boston to celebrate the life of Pa Tabi . To his memory, I wrote this tribute :
**My Tribute to Pa Willy George Tabi-Etchu**
Pa Tabi, today we mourn you as we pay tribute to you. On a personal level, he called me “ALILI,” He was always willing to help and offer advice where necessary. Pa Tabi always considered me one of his sons because of the close nature in which we interacted amongst ourselves. Our families shared a common desire to be there for each other at any time in every way. I remember the last ‘heart-on-heart’ conversation I had with him a few years ago here in Boston. He told me his biggest concern was his health. I said, “Pa do not worry that much, it will be okay.” He replied, “I hope so too.”
I still wake up every morning, hoping this is a dream, and it hurts knowing you are gone forever. It hurts because, within a year, I have lost two close members in our family. Sesseku, Engineer- John Njang Ayuk and our English Literature Tutor – Mr. Tabi Willy George. The coincidence is that they both passed just four days after I visited them in hospice. The difficult part for me to bear is that, before his passing, I seem to be the last person he could slowly call by name or recognize. As if it was not touching enough, Pa Tabi died on my birthday. Indeed, we all have a final destination, and Pa Tabi happened to get to his destination a little sooner. In this light, the old cliché resurfaces; what exactly is life?
As a family, we are at the acceptance stage, and as we mourn Pa Tabi’s passing, my heart goes all out, especially to the wife and children. However, what we, as a family must remember is this, he is in a better place, and although we have lost an inspirational member of the family, God works in mysterious ways. Togetherness is absolutely needed, and through that, we should revere the priceless moments we all enjoyed with Pa Tabi. His perseverance, integrity, and people-loving nature are just a few qualities that continue to inspire us. Pa Tabi, even as you take your final rest in Besongabang, I will not hesitate to state that a gap has been left; you left a dear friend, student, and Son in whom your teachings endeared you into his heart.
Nevertheless, be assured I am in safe hands. Your call for me not to forget our family values still lingers in my mind. While we mourn today, we also take comfort in the fact that your mission on earth has been fulfilled. We thank the Lord for your life and bid you farewell until we meet again.
Rest in peace, Pa Tabi; we will definitely miss you…
Eyong Ebot –
Moh Kukouri
30, August 2019
Keep schools open, Cameroonian bishops tell Ambazonia Interim Gov’t 0
Some bishops in Cameroon have urged Anglophone separatists to allow schools to reopen, after militants abducted a bishop and two priests for condemning the school shutdown campaign.
“All children deserve the right to education and a good future wherever they decide to spend their lives,” said members of the Bamenda provincial bishops’ conference.
“Many parents have been consistently deceived about their children’s education, while arguments about a lack of security are used to frighten and prevent them sending [children] to school.”
The three-page open letter was published on August 24 after independence fighters in Cameroon’s northwest and southwest regions called for a new school shutdown.
The bishops said separatists had burned schools and killed teachers who had defied past boycott demands and should now “approach the issue of schools with reason more than emotion.”
However, the letter also called on the government to “exercise more vigilance” over military units and ensure they remained “as far from schools as possible.”
“Schools are not barracks, and [soldiers] should not enter them unless invited by competent authorities,” the bishops said.
“Every state has a right to employ its military to protect citizens and defend its territorial integrity. However, it is also known that some military have used exaggerated force against innocent civilians and sometimes committed horrendous crimes against children,” they said.
The letter was published as Bishop George Nkuo of Kumbo was freed by abductors on August 24, five days after two of his priests were released by separatists.
Journal du Cameroun said all three had been detained in apparent retaliation for an August 15 homily by Bishop Nkuo, who condemned the school closures as a “crime against humanity and a great exploitation.” He called on Catholics to resist “the evil dragon of violence, torture and kidnappings.”
Separatist leader Mark Bareta denied the bishop had been kidnapped and told the same newspaper Aug. 26 his fighters were “civilians and Christians,” and had sought “a conversation with their bishop.”
At least 2,000 people have been killed and 400,000 displaced during three years of army deployment in the Anglophone regions, where separatists declared an independent state, Ambazonia, in October 2017 after protesting the encroachment of French-language controls.
Church leaders and human rights groups have condemned atrocities by both sides in the territories.
Other senior Catholic clergy have also been abducted, including Archbishop Cornelius Esua of Bamenda, who was detained briefly in June after attempting to pass a separatist roadblock.
In an Aug. 27 statement, Unicef estimated 4,400 schools had been closed and 74 burned, leaving more than 600,000 children without education in northwest and southwest Cameroon. Journal du Cameroun said a “mass exodus” was now underway to avoid the separatist shutdown.
Source: Catholic Herald