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| ABOUT LEBIALEM | |||
Nestled in the hills on the
northeastern tip of the Southwest Province of Cameroon, West Africa lies a lush
green, densely forested, and cool mountain country. This is home to the Nweh and
Mundani people. The Nweh are more popularly known by the name Bangwa (pronounced
- Bang –wa).
The Division, with an estimated population of 160,000, has three administrative units or Sub-Divisions: Alou, Fontem, and Wabane. The Divisional headquarters is in Menji, which also doubles as Sub-Divisional headquarters for Fontem. The headquarters of Alou and Wabane are in Alou and Mbecho respectively. The sole means of transport to Lebialem is by road. A major highway runs from Dschang in the West province through Alou Sub-Division down to Menji and then continues westward to Mamfe and Kumba. Most people traveling into and out of Lebialem prefer traveling through Dschang. To get to Menji you follow a, sometimes bumpy, very winding red earth road that meanders left, right, up, and down the many peaks and valleys of an awe-inspiring scenic landscape that, as Fr. Vincent Lockhart has put it, “looks hastily made, magnificently uneven and difficult to inhabit.” The journey to Wabane is even a greater thrill, though a painful thrill, given that the terrain of upper Wabane seems to be one of the most difficult in the country.
CATHOLIC MISSION, MENJI The 160,000 inhabitants reside in modest homes constructed of red clay-bricks and aluminum zinc roof dispersed amidst the peaks and valleys of this tropical mountain enclave. A majority of residents of Lebialem earn their living as subsistence farmers. They grow, sell and earn their living on produce such as cocoyam, corn, legumes, cassava, yams, coffee, and cocoa beans. Lebialem has traditionally been considered to consist of seventeen chiefdoms, or what is nowadays called Fondoms (a term borrowed from the Bamenda grass fields). Each Fondom is considered as a village, though the western concept of village cannot effectively describe this set up. A Fondom is further sub-divided into quarters or what I prefer to call hamlets because these are actually small villages scattered over the slopes and vales. A chief or noble who rules over a quarter is directly answerable to the paramount ruler, the Fon. The Mundani Fondoms (all in Wabane) are: Bamumbu, Bangang, Banti, Bechate, Besali, Folepi, Igumbo, Nkong. The Nweh (Bangwa) fill up Alou and Fontem Sub-Divisions. They are: Essoh-Attah, Lebang, and Njogwi (in Fontem) and Lewoh, Ndungatet, Nwametaw, Nwangong, Mmouckbi, Mouckgie in Alou. The languages spoken in Lebialem are Mundani and Nweh pronounced (n-weh) primarily and English is secondary. The calendar is observed at an eight day cycle. It is worth noting here that the people of M’mouckbi, M’mouckgie and their brothers of M’moucklete in Wabane consider themselves a separate tribe from the Bangwa |
| Blessed is the hand that giveth LECDA-USA Culture Committee Blueprint TODAY'S WISDOM: "Gelekre alleh nsap mbroh zia nftet ngu lebro'oh" "A Bamilike man once killed his goat and ate it for nine years"
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