Achakasara , livre ebook

152

pages

English

Ebooks

2011

Écrit par
John Nkemngong Nkengasong

Publié par
NMI Education

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152

pages

English

Ebook

2011

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Publié par

NMI Education

Date de parution

01 janvier 2011

Nombre de lectures

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

1 Mo

A new-born child is rescued from a refuse bin in Acacias in the Biyem-Assi neighbourhood and adopted by a couple who treat him like their real-born child. But things turn out to be different as Acha, the legendary boy, goes through a series of galling circumstances at home and later in the streets, wondering why the world is the way it is and who his real parents are.

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Publié par

NMI Education

Date de parution

01 janvier 2011

Nombre de lectures

Langue

English

Poids de l'ouvrage

1 Mo

John Nkemngong Nkengasong

ACHAKASARA

2011

All rights reserved. No reproduction or transmission of this publication without written permission from the publisher and author. The author asserts his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the copyright law.

First Published 2011 © Nmi Education P.O. Box 31267 Yaounde - Cameroon Email: frontdesk@nmieducation.org Website: www.nmieducation.org

Project Manager :Mela Fokam Gisèle Typesetter & Cover designer : Ndjofang Bagzé Raymond Illustration : Nmi Education, Ebodé Patrice

ISBN: 9956-453-04-8

For

Anyi

Chapter One

An inquisitive crowd gathered around the public garbage container that was located at the main entrance of Acacias, a street leading to the food market in the Biyem-Assi neighbourhood. It was a long time since the City Council cleared the refuse from the streets and the container was already so full, with little summits of garbage rising above its vast opening. It was in the early hours of the morning, one of those chilly mornings in July when little gusts of wind blew fitfully into the face. But neither the chill nor the gusts of wind could subdue the smell of the rotten mess much of which had spilt on the ground; neither the chill nor the pungent smell could stop the crowd's eagerness to have a closer view of what seemed to be the object of their curiosity on the summit of the garbage container. And as the curious onlookers trampled on the rubbish at the foot of the container, dark slimy liquid spilt out and meandered in little rivulets along the street. Not far away from the crowd, an old woman whose hair was completely grey, talked and gesticulated. She wore assorted dresses that hung from different ends like rags. A number of necklaces hung indiscriminately on her neck and her wrists covered with different kinds of bangles.

An extraordinary big ring hung on her right nostril, and on her broad wrinkled forehead, two parallel black lines ran down making her face look like a design intended for a masquerade. Two girls passed by hurrying towards the garbage. The old woman chased them shouting “Achakasara!” “Achakasara!” The girls ran towards the crowd giggling. The old woman retreated and leaned on an abandoned old vehicle by the roadside. “What is becoming of this world, einh? Does the bone no longer shield the marrow? Who shall tell the story, tell the story that Motambolo's lineage ended on the garbage heap? This cannot happen, except that the gods of Lefem Fua Beteh are no longer awake.' The old woman continued to talk and gesticulate, occasionally shoving both hands in the direction of the garbage container. A man stood near one of the little summits of garbage on the container, hemmed in by the crowd. He peered into a carton which was half-open and as he brought it down from the garbage container, the crowd near him pushed backwards, causing some panic then moved forward pressing on him again. People craned their necks forward, struggling to catch a glimpse of what was in the carton. The man sent his hands in it and brought out an object carefully wrapped in a bed sheet, its head covered with a woollen cap. The shrill cry of a baby greeted the crowd. 'A new-born baby!' the crowd cried out. There was a stampede as people struggled to have a full view of the baby. The man pushed the woollen cap

backwards and the child's little red face twisted and its eyelids blinked against the light of the morning. The child gave another shrill cry. 'That old mad woman was speaking the truth,' said someone. 'Poor woman! Who would have believed her?' said another. 'MonsieurTafang, is it a boy or a girl?' someone one from the crowd asked the man who brought out the child. The man held the child in his left hand and with the right hand he loosened the coverlet. It was stained with blood. Part of the umbilical cord, still wet with streaks of blood, wrapped into the folds of the legs. The baby's little stiff hands and legs kicked as it cried again and again.Monsieur Tafang pushed aside the umbilical cord. 'A young man with healthymbin,' he exclaimed. 'What horror!' exclaimed a woman. 'Girls today are courageous.' 'It's not long since the child was abandoned. Just before dawn,' said Monsieur Tafang wrapping the child again with the coverlet. 'How can anyone ever go to sleep after committing this kind of act?' said someone. 'Thank God, the child is not dead', said another. 'He should be rushed to the hospital,' suggested another. 'The police must be alerted before we take any action,' said Monsieur Tafang. He held the child in his left arm supported by his chest, and with his

right hand he searched his mobile phone and called the police. It was not long before the police arrived. It was very unusual to have the police reacting so fast. Yaounde police always complained of not having equipment to act, especially when they knew nogombowas going to come out from their intervention. Someone even suggested that the child should be a bringer of fortunes. The police accompanied Monsieur Tafang to the Biyem-Assi District Hospital, took down some basic information and left. Monsieur Tafang remained at the hospital to explain to the authorities how the child was found. 'How did you know a child was in the carton?' asked a nurse as another crowd swelled around Monsieur Tafang and the child. 'There was an old mad woman who drew our attention to it,' saidMonsieur Tafang. 'She was cursing and shouting 'Achakasara!' and pointing towards the refuse dump but everyone believed it was just madness. It's when we saw a carton half open that we went towards it and discovered that this baby had been abandoned by its mother. But for long we did not know whether or not it was alive until we heard the child crying in it,' the man explained. One of the nurses was taking care of the baby while the man retold the story over and over as passers-by, patients and hospital staff rushed in to see the baby and to listen to the story. She took the baby to the delivery ward, bathed it, examined it carefully, took the baby's weight and recorded details in a medical booklet. Since the baby had no name yet the nurse wrote 'Acha' the short for 'Achakasara' as his name in the medical booklet. 10

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