Aseng

On 3rd March, Father Salustiano from the parish of Niefang accompanied us to a small village a few kilometers form the town: Aseng. There, they first showed us the small school and then they took as to the abaá (‘house of the word’), a very traditional meeting place, which according to local tradition used to be reserved only for men. Today, however, the whole village came! Instead of going to work on their farms, the whole community was there, looking forward to what we were going to tell them. An older man told me that for them it was like a holiday!

Deeply impressed by the warmth and hospitality, we introduced ourselves to the entire community. We explained that we could not work with everyone, so we went on to select a group of participants – some were disappointed that they could not participate. However, even those who could not participate stayed there all morning, it was amazing!

Even though some found it difficult to read and write, they participated with great enthusiasm. I conducted the individual interviews in a small house next door; they allowed me to learn a lot about the life and customs of the locality. After finishing the surveys and taking several photos with the whole group, we returned to Niefang to eat something before heading to Ebebiyin.