Yefon: The Red Necklace (40 page)

Nyuy
: God.

Oga
: (Informal) Mister.

Ogbanje
: Ogbanje children are evil children that die when they are born, and come back again many times, plaguing their mothers with trouble in their lifetime.

Oh oh! Lah yer o oo, Lah yer sia mbam-mbam! A dze la marrir ver lah, bo a sawiy marrir a dze fe a?:
(Song) A Pride song. Oh! Our compound is a compound of riches, if you don't marry one of us, where else will you marry where you can eat oil?

Pam!
: Exclamation of Alarm.

Papa Ele Yaya Too
: Children's welcome cheer for their parents.

Paramount
: Supreme. There are other Fons that act as advisers to the (paramount) Fon of Nso. Most of them were once leaders of independent tribes that through warfare or peaceful negotiations, or through shared events of history came to subordinate the Fon of Nso. They are the only ones (along with foreign Fons) that are allowed to bring in their own seats (Kavahs) to the Nso Palace. These, inexhaustively, include the Fons of Oku, Mbiami, Nseh, Nkar, Gwan, Kiluun, Ngashong, Nshokov, Gwarkang, Taabah, etc. The Fons of Oku and Mbiami were once princes of Nso.

Pi'a
: Avocado.

Princess Wou-Ten
: Ancestress.

Re'
: Yam or cocoyam.

Rǝǝvey
: Day of the week.

Rifem
: Name of a Village.

Rim kibete
: Drum sounds.

Rimtii
: A humming sound to help the flow sound better.

Saang
: Guinea corn.

Saar
: Millet.

Sah
: Pidgin: Sir.

Sakah yo dze
: (Greeting) There is no bad news. I am fine.

Savages
: /Derogatory/ insult.

Seba
: /Slang/ The act of washing one's self so fast, that it is impossible to have washed well. For example, in like five minutes. Some one would say ' You have cut seba'.

See that wan
: Look at that person.

See that wan with her Koki buttocks
: (Insult) that the person in question has a big butt like Koki (a Cameroonian pudding)

Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen Pogolo
: (Funny song) Sang to follow the butt movements of some one who is curvy.

Sha'
: Corn beer.

Shaa'
: C’mon!

sha
η
g
: Necklace

Shilling
: British currency, used in African during the pre-colonial period. The local villagers still traded sometimes in cowry shells, and using trade-by-barter.

Shinjang
: Oil extracted from castor plant.

Shirrum
: Country Onions.

Shit
: Feces.

Shu'Muiy
: Exclamation.

Shwiii
: Sharp sound of a cane.

Sorry Sah
: Pidgin English: Sorry sir.

Souba:
An exclamation of surprise.

Squares
: Main garden center of the village, with several attractions.

Taav
:
Noun
. Hut.

Taavseshiv
: Medicine house.

Tah
: Character name.

Tangrii
: To pick/ fix vegetables.

Tarawoni
: Father of twins, but in this case father of many children.

Tashwer
: A neighborhood in Shisong.

Tikar
: Civilization.

Tinki
: Tinki was the Fon of Tinkar. He died in 1387, and there was a very bloody battle for his throne.

Tiymenkan
: The neighborhood in Shisong where Yefon lives.

Tu
: Irish potatoes.

Tu’kuni
: A Traditional meal made of Pounded beans and potatoes.

Tu'ngam
: Spider Potatoes.

Vekovi
: A village in Nso.

Ven dze le:
How are you people faring?

Ven Sakah:
(Greeting) How are you people faring?

Vibay
: (Pl.) Nobles/ great Lords. (Sing) Kibay. The seven notables called Vibay support the Fon in his duties. These Vibay are Shufai’s, whose positions are determined by rather intricate history. These include Shufai Ndzendzev, Tahnkum, Doh, Ruun, Tsenlah, Lun and Yuwar. Over the years other Shufai’s have been appointed by the Fon of Nso without any major political influence, but for the fact that they get a seat at the lower ends of the seating ranks in the palace.

Vidou
: Gossip.

Vifa Vee Kilong Ve Baarvi
: Red Necklace.

Vifam
: Special garments worn for funerals, woven from raffia leaves.

Vikiy liim
: /Vikiii lim/ Career women (White-collar job). Women during this period worked with their hands, on the farm, creating arts and crafts and doing petty trades, mostly using trade-by-barter. They usually depended on their husband for protection and income.

Vikiynto'
: Palace wives (pl.), (sing.) wiynto'

Viluh
: Honey.

Visheer
: Members of the Compound.

Vitso
: Property.

Vitso
: Intestines of an animal.

Wahala
: Trouble.

Wahiawa
: Exclamation.

Wan
: Child.

Wanle
: Young person. This is how adults call children (Full name: wan le ngon).

Wanle ngon
: Unmarried female, young girl.

Wanle nsum
: Unmarried male, young boy.

Wanyeeto and Bah
: Popular folktale about the anteater and the leopard.

Waychan
: Old market where slaves were sold, which literally translates as market of chains.

Waylun
: A weekday in the Nso calendar.

Waynama
: Name of a Village.

Wear one side trouser
:
Metaphor
. Implying you are in some type of trouble, or I will deal with you.

Wililili
: A joyful musical scream.

Wir Nso
: Person from the Nso tribe.

Wirdze Wir Biy Wir
: Man is not an island. You are who you are because of whom you have.

Wirotavin
: Strong man (respectful)

Witch Pikin
: Sorceress.

Wo Ndendzev
: From the Ndzendzev village.

Wonnto'
: (plu) Royal children, Princes/princesses (sing) wan nto'.

Ya Ayeni
: A name.

Ya Wom
: My Mother.

Yawan
: An endearing term for grandmother.

Yee'won
: Mother of my children.

Yen
: Look.

Yenla ndze ntov
: Yenla is an albino.

Yento
: Pet name for Yefon, which is also a synonym/ short form to her name: mother of the palace, or the king.

Yo yo yo o ka, wan tong nyo'nyong, mo wo tong ka:
(Lullaby) Why is the baby crying? Does she want breast milk? Or why else is she crying?

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book simply would not have been made without the support of a lot of people from all over the world, and I would like to take a moment to appreciate all of you.

Thank you to my amazing best-selling mentors from the World Literary Café. To Melissa Foster, I learnt so much from you and I want to say thank you! I also want to say a big thank you to Delia J. Colvin. You introduced me to the World Literary Café and you have been helpful to me every step of the way. Thank you so much! I love you!

I am very grateful to my editor, David Gregory. Thank you for all those long nights and staying through the time zone differences to help me make this book happen through several rewrites and corrections.

I cannot leave out my illustrator, Ethel R Tawe. You brought all my characters to life, and I want to thank you immensely for that.

Also, to my formatter Rachelle Clare Ayala, proof readers, and beta readers. Thank you! This book would have been nowhere without you!

Some of the information and juicy details were made possible from the countless interviews of a number of people, including but not limited to my late grandfather, Shey Fondufe Elias Banka; my uncle, the wonderful FonBah, best known as the Cameroonian historian, Professor Verkijika Fanso; the permissions of palace of Nso under the reign of Fon Nsem Mbinglo III, the accounts of my grandmother Justina Yefon Fondufe; the accounts of my mother Dr. Ya Lydia Fondufe; the accounts of my father Colonel Gilbert Fondufe; the accounts and imagination of my cousin Yalo, best known as Chem Paschal; and the impeccable accounts and suggestions from the Nso Facebook Forums, especially “You Know when You’re from Nso when…”,

The suggestions and helpful inside hints and translations from Facebook friends such as Milly Mira, Joachim Fonsoni, and Lenora Tatah.
Books by Kenjo Jumbam such as
The White Man of God
, and
Lukong and the Leopard
. I also gained an unimaginable insight into the Nso community of 1944 Karberry Texts.

I am thankful for the helpful suggestions from my brothers Glenn and Serge Fondufe, Adinett Nsabimana, and my incredible life partner, Jonathan Nsien.

I also want to thank my friend Jubilee Gamaniel for telling stories in such a funny way that her expressions and mannerisms had to go into my book.

To Hakeem Kae Kazim and Kevin Natera who believed in the Yefon idea when it was at its early life.

I cannot leave out the very wonderful Skype interviews with Doctor Ajume Wingo of Harvard, his video recordings, and his writings. These proved to truly place me in the epic setting of my novel.

I am equally grateful to Iroiso Ikpokonte, John Washington (Khuezee), Kevin Natera, Akwinga Victor, Aunty Priscilla Achu, and all of my friends who made impactful contributions to the storyline and structure of this book. To CreateSpace, for printing my book, and to the cover designer, the beta readers, reviewers, and formatters.

And lastly, to you who is about to read this book, thank you.

NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR

When I reflect upon the journey of writing Yefon: The Red Necklace and the amount of time and energy that it has taken me to bring this project to fruition, I wish to express gratitude not only to the universe for aligning everything together such that this novel is possible, but also to all my mentors, friends, family, and team who helped make this book possible.

I would like to speak first on how this project started. In December 2010, I moved to Los Angeles from my home country Cameroon to pursue a career as an actress. Over time, I decided to write a great movie that would address a topic I was passionate about. The topics were numerous, but I eventually picked women’s rights and education.

My primary inspiration behind this was my grandmother. Even though my grandmother was not educated, she made sure all her daughters educated themselves up to the level of a PhD. I find this very noble, and I wanted to address the idea of changing a concept in one’s mind and staying through thick and thin to make it a reality.

And so, the research on the topic began. The more I read the statistics on female illiteracy worldwide and read some of these stories, the more my heart broke. And in that moment, I knew I had a calling to inspire young women all over the world to become a higher version of themselves.

Some of the stories I was exposed to include: The Stoning of Amina Lawal (Nigeria), Tererai Trent’s pursuit of education (Zimbabwe), the inspiring story of Wangari Maathai (Kenya 1940- 2011), Freidoune Sahebjam’s 1900 book
La Femme Lapidee
and its movie version
The Stoning Of Soroya M
, the book by Jean Sasson about Princess Sultana (
Princess: A True Story of Life Behind the Veil in Saudi Arabia
), the words of Ali Ghadur (Kirkuk, 2008), the story of Huda Ahmed (Iraq, 2008), reports on African women’s battle for equality by Gumisai Mutume, the story of Irene Godonou in Cotonou, Benin, the voices given to women’s grievances by Catherine Beecher (1800-1878), Sarah J Hale (1788-1878), and in the USA, the story of Judith Sargent Murray (Boston USA).

And yes, I had to write as many of them as I could remember because it is that important.

After trying for a long time to raise money to shoot my film, it became harder and harder to go on each day. Then, I decided I was going to write a novel before doing the movie. After much hesitation from my advisors, I began writing the book in 2013. I wrote it for a long time, and once I was done and ready to start the editing process, I had an epiphany. I realized that this novel was a better trilogy than a single novel.

It took a lot of work but here it is. I want this book to inspire you as it has inspired me.

When I wrote down the last full stop, I remembered one of my late grandfather’s quotes:
it is not that you did it late, but that you did it at all
. This is my wish for you, dear reader! I want you to think of that dream you have always had and tell yourself you will do it—then, do it.

Recently, I came across a touching video on You Tube called Honor Diaries; a video which made me cry for several minutes, and then I told myself: this is the exact reason why I do what I do.

After writing a book like this, something changes inside you, and suddenly, you cry when you see certain things. Now, you want to pro-actively change something. In that regard, I will tell you something that no one else knows. Out of this experience was born a new Foundation called Gifted Minds Africa, which I co-founded with a good friend of mine Martin Zonyrah. In the spirit of this book, and others to come, we felt the need to change African minds with one inspirational idea, at a time. Click here to read more