Marriage and Family

Marriage is taken very seriously by the couple’s families, even if the two meet nontraditionally. Negotiations can last months or years, involving obligations after marriage for many people on both sides. Women marry at an average age of 19 and men at 27 (younger in rural areas, older in cities). Ceremonies are usually simple, but some couples in urban areas choose to have a European-style reception.

Islamic law allows men to have four wives if each can be cared for equally. Polygamy remains common in rural areas, but is decreasing for economic reasons. Marriage is sometimes viewed more as a social contract than an affectionate relationship, and women are raised to be mothers more than wives.

Large families are common in Cameroon, often with as many as ten children in rural areas, but urban families tend to be smaller. Children are raised almost exclusively by women. Fathers become more involved with their sons regarding career choices, marriage, and property issues. Young children are cared for by their mothers until they are weaned, after which older siblings and other family members may help raise them. Often a child is raised by grandparents or a relative’s family. By the age of ten, children are involved in farmwork, herding, or domestic work.

Women spend much of their time associating with one another, especially in polygamous families. They have few rights in society and can be sent back to their families by an unsatisfied husband. Women have no property rights, but do most of the farming and other productive work. Because women surrender civil rights when they marry, educated women with jobs sometimes choose to have children but not to marry. More women in the south are now receiving an education and entering the job market, but this is not common in the north.

Eating

Staple foods include maize, millet, cassava, groundnuts, yams, and plantains. Grains in the south are often cooked with palm oil, seasoned with hot pepper, and topped with a sauce made from fish, meat, or vegetables. Fufu, a common dish, is a stiff paste made of boiled maize, millet, or cassava. Garri is grated cassava that is dried over a fire until light and flaky. Meat and rice are luxuries for most villagers.

A breakfast in urban areas might include tea or coffee, fruit, and bread. In rural areas, breakfast may consist of the same foods that are eaten for the main meal in the afternoon. Evening meals are usually light. Snacks and street foods include raw sugarcane, boiled cassava, boiled eggs, roasted maize, fresh fruit, and nuts. Beer is popular throughout Cameroon, and is sometimes used as a substitute for water.

Food is not taken for granted or treated casually, so formal meals are often blessed in the name of gods or ancestors, and elders are served first. In rural areas, women do not eat with the men or older boys, but by the cooking fire with younger children; women also serve the meal.

Cameroonians eat food with the right hand from communal bowls. Water is made available before and after meals for washing hands. Bottles are opened within the view of the drinker; the host leaves the cap loose and the guest pours. Even if guests are not hungry, it is polite for them to eat a small portion of any food provided. In many areas, not being hungry is considered a sign of being sick, so guests are generally expected to eat plenty.

Socializing

In areas formerly administered by France, a brief handshake is used when meeting for the first time. Family or close friends may also brush alternate cheeks while they “kiss the air.” In former British provinces, a firmer handshake is most common. Hugs are reserved for family and close friends. In some areas, close male friends might click index fingers while pulling the hands away from a handshake.

Throughout Cameroon, seniority (defined by gender, age, or prestige) is acknowledged by the left hand touching the right arm during a handshake or by bowing the head. To show special respect for authority, a man might bow from the waist, while women curtsy; in the north, women may kneel. Eye contact with a respected person is avoided, but a Cameroonian never turns his or her back to the person.

An informal greeting in former British provinces is How na? (pidgin for “How are you?”). “Good morning” (Bonjour in French areas) and “Good afternoon” (Bonsoir) are more formal. Various local greetings are used depending on the ethnic group. Greetings are followed by inquiries about family welfare. People on the street may call to each other from a distance with a pssssst sound, but some do not consider this polite.

Social visits are casual and relaxed, except in more conservative homes, where rank and gender distinctions are more important. In such homes, women and children rarely appear; if they do, they are not necessarily introduced. Cameroonians especially enjoy visiting on Fridays after mosque or Sundays after church. Unannounced visits are common, although strangers are expected to arrange visits in advance.

Invited friends might bring food or drink as a gift. Gifts for children are offered through the parents. Those who do not know their hosts well should bring a gift other than food, which might be interpreted as questioning the host’s ability to care for them properly. Shoes are removed before entering a Muslim home. Foreign and Cameroonian government officials, however, do not need to remove their shoes. Business matters are not discussed during social visits.

Recreation

Team sports and individual athletics are sponsored by companies and urban social clubs. Soccer is the most popular sport, and Cameroon has been internationally successful in recent years. Men and women in schools and cities play team handball, volleyball, and basketball. In January, a marathon is run up and down Cameroon Mountain. Traditional board games played with seeds or pebbles are popular. Tontines (called njangis in formerly British provinces), which are savings societies, not only engage in economic pursuits but sponsor social activities such as monthly feasts. Culture and Development Weeks bring urban migrants and students back to their home villages once a year on vacation, using feasts, dances, and athletic contests to raise funds for schools and community projects. Movies, videos, and television are popular in cities, while live music, dancing, radios, and portable cassette players are popular everywhere.

Holidays and Celebrations

Cameroon’s national holidays include New Year’s Day (1 January), Youth Day (11 February), Labor Day (1 May), and Unification Day (20 May). Unification Day marks the 1972 union of the French and British zones. Some religious holidays have national recognition, including the Christian holidays of Easter, Assumption (15 August), and Christmas (25 December). For Muslims, the most important holidays include a three-day feast at the end of Ramadan, and the fête de mouton (lamb feast) held 40 days later in honor of Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son.

Evamalunga Day (8 September) is a day of thanks celebrated by Christians. Evamalunga means “The Taking Away of the Burden of Sin,” and on this day Christians express their gratitude for the first missionaries who came spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ. People don their finest clothes and go to their local thatched-roof churches, which have been decorated with various flowers or leaves for the occasion. Church choirs sing songs of thanksgiving, and after the church service the feasting and music continue on into the night.

Source: Encarta Interactive World Atlas

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