As members of the Bassa Bati Mpo’o diaspora in North America, we must overcome a number of challenges to have a successful social, economic and professional integration in our new home.
My long and varied professional and social experience as a Bassa Bati Mpo’o immigrant in North America have allowed me to identify a number of key elements that can help us smooth the process, make it more purposeful and increase the chances of being successful.
We, the Bassa Bati Mpo’o people of Cameroon, are known for some unique cultural and social attributes and values that can be an asset if well used, but can also make our integration in North America more challenging.
We see ourselves and are often perceived in our native country, as leaders, straight talkers, honest to the fault, very smart, confident in our abilities, always in pursuit of excellence and the truth, uncompromising in our values, authentic and very attached to our individual freedom.
To some extent we consider ourselves as self-sufficient, as chosen people with a special destiny. Popular Bassa expressions such as « Tôlô a ta bé Nlimil u Ndjok » and « Bañal Bon Ba Djop » that can be translated as « the small mouse is not the big elephant’s slave » and « We are children of GOD » are good illustrations of this sentiment. Basically, the Bassa Bati Mpo’o people consider themselves as different, as in a different category.
While these strengths have allowed us to accomplish great things, they can also lead to some form of rigidity and become an impediment to our integration in environments with different social and cultural demands and where we do not benefit of the same presumption of exceptionality.
Our challenge then is to strike the right balance so that our perceived strengths do not become an anchor that keep us spinning in one place like crabs trapped at the bottom of a Jar. But, provide us the foundation and the springboard that allow us to fulfill our individual and collective aspirations in our new home.
For a successful social and cultural integration, we must transform from singular to plural, reinvent ourselves, become spiritually and culturally richer. Specifically:
We must be aware of the challenges to our identify and the potential conflicts created by the necessity to adjust to a new environment with different cultural and social norms and rules.
We must make a deliberate effort to understand these new norms and rules, adopt and apply them in our relations with our family members, neighbors, professional relations and our new community in general.
We must be aware of the strengths we bring to the table, our weaknesses and limits. We must be careful to add to and not to replace our original identity. This makes us both different and richer and more apt to contribute to our new environment.
We must reach out and build relations with people with different backgrounds and aspire to be present as a community, in all social and cultural spheres that count in our new home. We must aspire to be fully committed and contributing citizens with all the rights and duties associated.
For a successful economic and professional integration, we must be mindful that in North America, success is measured by your contribution to the economic development of the society and how you develop and use your expertise regardless of your domain of intervention. This requires a certain number of adjustments:
We must constantly evaluate the alignment of our skills with actual employability and economic needs and take that into account in our choice of profession, career plan or business initiatives. In north America it is not the number or the level of your degrees that count. But, your actual output and ability to deliver expected results.
We must constantly learn new skills. There is no shame to go back to school regardless of your age, sex or current economic or professional situation. We must fully embrace this new mindset.
We must be aware of the challenges paused by our background as African descents, of slavery and discrimination in general. We must not put our head in the sand and pretend that discrimination does not exist. We should not play eternal victims either and cling to our previous reality. We should rather be proud of our heritage and the strength we bring to the table and make sure we demonstrate our abilities and competency.
For our collective success we must make ours the old saying that one cannot attach a package with one hand. In Bassa «Woo Wada u kan be djom. Welna Bilen bi nyôl». The strength, vitality and power of our network are key to our success. We will greatly benefit if we have Bassa Bati Mpo’o individuals in all types of professions, economic and cultural sectors, political parties, etc. We must strive to build strong professional and business networks, and strong community associations.
We must develop solidarity mechanisms to help members of our community integrate, take advantage of employment opportunities and join professional networks necessary for their professional success.
Every one of us brings something to the table and can help. We must foster the duty to help and the right to be helped. We must encourage a mindset that recognizes and honors the contribution of each member of our community. We must recognize that we form a chain. We must make sure it stays strong and also recognize that its strength is limited by its weakest links.
In conclusion, for a successful social, cultural, economic and professional integration, we must be proud of our heritage, value competency and aspire to be influential through strong networks, collective and individual leadership, and a common powerful vision. We must engage with humility and build strong relations between members of our community.
Note: This article is a condensed version of my intervention as a panelist at the round table organized during BABAMNA Grand Congress in Montreal on 09/03/2022
Rachel Tonye
Ms. Tabita Rachel Tonye (born Ngo Ndjonog Tabita Rachel), Msc. Éco.; MBA Mkt. HEC Mtl, is a senior executive in professional education, international development, a seasoned business administrator and a community leader. She holds a master degree in economics from the University of Yaoundé in Cameroon and an MBA from HEC Montreal in Canada.
