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00:00The Northwest abounds in enormous natural resources that is said to be very important
00:24for the promotion and production of crafts.
00:31The region prides itself with a diversified set of products such as woodworks, poultry,
00:39footwear, hand-woven rug rugs or weaver carefully designed.
01:10There is a regional fair intended to portray the skill sets of craftspersons from the various divisions of the region.
01:22It is also aimed at showcasing different works of arts.
02:09Endowed with a rich variety of medicinal plants, herbs and seeds,
02:27Indigenous of the Northwest from time immemorial have been using traditional pharmacopoeia to cure ailments and address other needs.
02:38A majority of these craftspersons have been making use of the availabilities of forests in the various localities to produce items displayed here.
03:03We usually went to the bushes and look for wood that is good for carving.
03:07The bushes around where there are no farming, in our locality you have the Abonfen, you have the Ndumutai,
03:15where you have wild, you have reserve forest that you can find trees that you can make your carving.
04:03We can produce a bark, the fiber we get it from the raffia palm bush.
04:18We need to go far into the interior before we can get this material, this fiber.
04:34This one is broom from the Mbok.
04:49There are so many types of broom, you have broom from the raffia palm, you have broom from the palm tree and you have broom from the Mbok.
04:57I use this one for decoration, you can use it not only for Christmas, you can use it as decoration in your house.
05:04So it takes me four days to complete this one, four days when all the materials are available.
05:10We have natural beads from the bush, we have artificial beads from the market, we also have fibers from the raffia bush.
05:27Most of the ideas being expressed here represent the customs and traditions of the people,
05:55which is said to be the main activity of the population of the Northwest.
06:01One of such activities is said to be farming.
06:05In the Northwest region, the Norwegians believe in farming.
06:12So we used to produce something that represents our culture.
06:17Like something like this, a man coming from a farm with a wine and a plantain.
06:23Then we have a chieftain to present our Northwest cultural palace.
06:27So you see the palace and the fountains, the person who is sheltering the fountains.
06:32Then there is somebody giving the fountains a coconut, there are some giving her wine.
06:36Then we have a visitor that has come to the palace.
06:40He shows us the right way to greet our fountains by tapping their hands.
06:53The Northwest region is renowned for its strong attachment to the values of works of art.
07:17Thus, many who indulge in the job attest having inherited it from their descendants.
07:29I've been in this business for 33 years.
07:32I inherited the job from my grandparents.
07:37They were doing it as a way of living, because in those days there were no job opportunities.
07:44So they had to create jobs for themselves.
07:48So they were job creators, not job seekers.
07:51I've been doing these things from childhood, since it's an age-old something that's been practiced by our parents.
08:14Some of the items displayed are aimed at preaching peace to the people of the Northwest and Southwest regions affected by the ongoing socio-political crisis.
08:44For the past years, we have been talking about dresses.
08:53But we see now that following the situation we have in hand, especially what happened in Manfe,
09:00I've come out now with our beautiful flag of the country.
09:04This flag was being adopted on the 20th of May 1972 as a sign and symbol of unity.
09:13On the flag we have three colors.
09:15Green, green stands for hope.
09:18Red stands for hard work.
09:20And the yellow stands for prosperity.
09:23The yellow star on the red color stands for unity.
09:27And that is the reason why I am out to sensitize the youth so that they should be able to come out from the bushes,
09:35so that we should unite as this star is telling us.
09:38Because Cameroon is one and indivisible country.
09:42And there's also this saying that we used to say, one hand cannot tie a bundle.
09:58The MESAM trade exhibition attracted a good number of visitors to the trade fair ground.
10:13They have saluted the creativity and originality of craft workers from this part of the country.
10:19And I've seen things that concern us, the traditional people.
10:25I've seen this traditional dress.
10:27I've seen this brass.
10:28Look at it.
10:29This is a brass opener for tears, which is good for tears.
10:36I've seen it's so interesting.
10:38I'm very happy and I've seen that the Northwest culture is being exhibited in the arts that I see here.
10:45The dressing, the kind of food and everything is so natural.
10:50I'm so happy.
10:52And we hope it will continue like that.
10:54Craft sheep has been a lucrative business for most of these participants who confess that
11:01they have been able to make a living out of their activity.
11:05Craftsheep has been a lucrative business for most of these participants who confess that
11:20they have been able to make a living out of the activity.
11:31What I am doing, I can pay fees for my children, I can do other things like education,
11:38health and also food. So it is from there that I earn my living. I am managing to send my children
11:45to school from this job, from these activities. So I am satisfied with the work.
12:03Despite the beauty of these works of art,
12:06access to the market remains a major problem to the actors in this domain.
12:12We are only having a good market when we are out of this region because things are naturally
12:19produced in our area. People don't consider the use of it, they don't see the importance.
12:24But when we go out like this, we showcase ourselves and so many people are using it.
12:28Gradually the bushes are getting lost because they do clear deforestation.
12:33Now we cannot access the bushes. At times I work and I don't have marketing.
12:38At times I have things in stock but I don't have people to advertise me to sell worldwide so that
12:44I can have market in the local level, in the national level and in the international level.
12:50But I've been posting my product on Facebook, WhatsApp and all the like.
13:08So
13:26officials in charge of small and medium-sized enterprises
13:30are recommending a switch to the digital space.
13:34We have to do everything possible so that our craftsperson should go digital.
13:39They should be able to go out of the local market that they are selling their products
13:45and sell through the various platforms that we have like the WhatsApp, the Instagram, Facebook.
14:04These craftspersons are envisaging greater exposure at national and international levels
14:14which they believe will help in boosting the economy of the northwest region
14:20battered by an over seven-year socio-political stalemate.