By Sah Terence Animbom in Mamfe
The 2017 divisional handicrafts exhibition in Manyu Division organized by the Divisional Delegation for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises Social Economy and Handicrafts took place in Mamfe from November 2-3, 2017 at the Mamfe Town hall under the theme “Handicrafts a Local Tool for Development”.
Craft promoters during the first day of the event were encouraged in a workshop to upgrade from CIGs to cooperatives so as to attract a huge market and sponsors for their activities.
They were drilled on the requirements in creating a cooperative and on how to go about the creation from conceiving the idea.
After the talk, members of the jury and divisional organizing committee chaired by the state Counsel for Manyu visited the 27 exhibition stands that were mounted at the event venue to assess the originality, usefulness, cultural value, mastery of techniques, traceability of input, youthfulness and gender aspect.
At the End of day one, the Divisional delegate for Arts and Culture for Manyu expressed a lot of satisfaction at the originality of some works that truly showcase the cultural values of Cameroon.
The 1st deputy mayor to the Mamfe Council, Agbor Benson Besong appreciated craftsmen and women of the division like Abunaw Magdalen, Mme Eko Emillia, Mr Aseh Anderson, Mr Ngu Alfred, Mme Besem Ntui Susan and others who have always represented and made Manyu Division to stand out in Regional and national handicrafts exhibitions and ended up by assuring them of the council’s availability to support their works.
The chief organizer of the event, Enow Menyang Felix, divisional Delegate for MINPMEESA in thanked the councils especially that of Akwaya for their support to crafts men and women, while calling on the Mamfe council that was yet to make a concrete statement to support crafts in the division.
He went on to encourage physically challenged crafts men and women who, though physically disabled, do not sit and fold their arms. He assured them as well as all craftsmen of the ministry’s great concern for them.
The state counsel for Manyu who doubles as the divisional chair of the Handicrafts committee appreciated all who came out to exhibit and encouraged them by assuring them that even those who have not been selected to represent the division have a lot to take home in terms of ideas and business openings while calling on them to always represent the society in their works.
15 people were selected to represent Manyu division in the South West Regional Handicrafts exhibition to hold from November 19 to 22, 2017.
All exhibitors were given consolatory prizes of FCFA 5,000 while the first 15 had cash prizes ranging from FCFA 20,000 to FCFA100,000.
The first prize of FCFA 100,000 went to Ngu Alfred of Ngu and Sons Enterprise who is a specialist in woodwork. A Second prize of FCFA 80,000 went to Abunaw Rose of Manyu Multipurpose Cooperative that specializes in food processing, while the 3rd prize worth FCFA75.000 went to Besong Oliver a physically challenged knitter.
The SDO’s representative in his closing remarks encouraged those who were not selected to go home and prepare for the 2019 exhibition and called on those selected to represent the division well and bring back the first prize to Manyu.