Description
Koundi, a village of 1 200 inhabitants, situated 22 km away from Bertoua, the regional capital of Cameroon’s East Province, is known for its ochre-coloured ground surrounded by a forest with huge trees. An island made of a few precarious houses, wandering animals and men and women always busying themselves. For a very good reason: the villagers are aware of the economic potential of the timber sector, they actively use it to improve their living standards. They cut, measure, saw, load trucks full of timber destined for building sites. Young and old alike, everybody makes their contribution to this collective effort, organized by a local cooperative in charge of the management of this timber factory. But they do not stop thinking of other ways of taking their own destiny in their hands, in case the central government would terminate one day the timber license awarded to their cooperative. Because as the local saying points out so well: “A smart man sees evil from a distance”. With this in mind, the villagers develop the idea to start a cocoa plantation. To set up this new community project, they decide that everybody will have to offer some of his time every Thursday. We observe the village’s life as it unfolds around these communal activities, and of course around the daily life of each one of them: problems of couples, issues of health, perspectives of education… we shall witness during the gatherings of the villagers, the depth of their exchanges, or still the more intimate discussions inside a family, how, between traditions and modern life, these men and women struggle to find their authentic place in the today’s and tomorrow’s world.
