This morning we headed to court to submit an application for two wives to claim the land and accounts of their husband who died in 2002 without a will. We arrived at court at 9AM, and did not head out until at least 1pm. I had filled out the ten page form, and had to sort through birth certificates and marriage certificates of not one but two wives of the deceased, so the form was not easy. When we sat down in front of the clerk for our first approval of the form, she did not hesitate to point out my many mistakes. No, I did not know that each time someone signs a document with a thumbprint you have to label the print!
We paid for our form submission in another room, and then brought the whole crowd - the two wives, a daughter, and two witnesses, in to the Head of Registry to approve the application. He started with a formal lecture to the family on the importance of wills. He explained how Cameroonians are afraid to write wills as they believe it is a bad sign that they will die soon. He is in charge of wills in the whole region, yet only has about 200 wills in his safe. The Head of Registry then passed around a book called 'How to Write your Own Will' that he was selling for 1000 CFA ($2.25). But it didn't stop there. He then explained to the wives that this must be hard for them, having lost their husband, and offered two more readings that might help them in this difficult time: 'How to Survive Being a Single Parent', and 'Widowhood and Menopause'.
We stayed with the family in the jovial Head of Registry's office for a while longer while Caroline whirled around getting yet more photocopies, and his attention turned to the two 'white man' in the room. He talked to us about how he would never visit the states until Americans come here and give offerings to make up for enslaving his people. He wished us good travels here, and emphasized that we should be sure to learn from the people of Cameroon, and informed us the best thing we could bring back from this country would be a handsome young husband to share!
We paid for our form submission in another room, and then brought the whole crowd - the two wives, a daughter, and two witnesses, in to the Head of Registry to approve the application. He started with a formal lecture to the family on the importance of wills. He explained how Cameroonians are afraid to write wills as they believe it is a bad sign that they will die soon. He is in charge of wills in the whole region, yet only has about 200 wills in his safe. The Head of Registry then passed around a book called 'How to Write your Own Will' that he was selling for 1000 CFA ($2.25). But it didn't stop there. He then explained to the wives that this must be hard for them, having lost their husband, and offered two more readings that might help them in this difficult time: 'How to Survive Being a Single Parent', and 'Widowhood and Menopause'.
We stayed with the family in the jovial Head of Registry's office for a while longer while Caroline whirled around getting yet more photocopies, and his attention turned to the two 'white man' in the room. He talked to us about how he would never visit the states until Americans come here and give offerings to make up for enslaving his people. He wished us good travels here, and emphasized that we should be sure to learn from the people of Cameroon, and informed us the best thing we could bring back from this country would be a handsome young husband to share!
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