The god of the poor: Socio-anthropology of resistance to the covid-19 in cameroonian cities

Abstract

Introduction: since its appearance, the COVID-19 has exhausted global health systems. It was predictable that countries with weak health systems will be severly wiped out by the pandemic. Countries across Europe faced severe human loses and it was foreseable that Africa will experience an even worse tragedy. Suprisingly, since the evolution of the pandemic, there has been remarkable resistance from African countries, including Cameroon. Method: the study was phenomenographic. The data were collected successively from media observations (in particular the WHO site, national TV (CRTV) programs 'Parlons COVID'), social networks-Facebook and Whatsapp) and direct observations of some quarters of Garoua (Roumdé-Adjia, Foulbéré, Kakataré) and Mora for the Far North and the southern zone of Yaoundé (Ngoa-Ekelé, Nkolondom, Mokolo). These observations were associated with individual interview, reviews and note-taking around places of public circulation (places of worship, markets and discussion sites (Faada). The theory of functionalism was mobilized in this study. Results: the results show that Cameroonians perceive the pandemic as an eminently metasocial phenomenon which explains their tendency to use prayers, nature to counter this attack. Conclusion: the study suggests that a multidimensional approach is capable of offering avenues of « liberation ». Also, the study once again raises the place of traditional medecine in health systems and shows the close link that exists between traditional medicine and spirituality.