World Peace Week Begins! | Martha Mburli Lingong

Peace is not a luxury.

It is the difference between a child in Yaoundé sitting in class with a pen and a child in Bamenda hiding at home because some people have declared lockdown and gunshots echoed in the morning.

It is the difference between mothers in the littoral giving birth safely in hospitals and mothers in the other regions trekking for hours on bush roads because clinics have shut down.

It is the difference between youth in Douala building dreams through work and education, and youth in the Northwest risking their lives on dangerous journeys because they see no future there.

For almost 10 years of crisis, we have seen how fragile life becomes when peace is absent.

 Over 2,000 schools closed or destroyed.

Families displaced into cities, living as strangers in their own country.

Communities divided, trust broken.

But even in this brokenness, Cameroonians refuse to give up:

Volunteer teachers keep classes running under trees.

Women gather as peace mediators in villages.

 Youth-led groups step in to support displaced families.

This Peace Week, let us be reminded that peace is not just a word; it is bread on the table, books in a child’s hands, and the freedom to dream without fear.

For me, peace means every child from Nkambe to Buea, from Bamenda to Douala, to Maroua can sit in class without fear.

The same question you are reading and asking yourself is the same question I'm typing and asking myself.

Let’s begin this week with hope.

• Martha Mburli Lingong | Open Dreams