BIOGRAPHY OF MAMI ROSE ACHICK MBANYAMIG
The Early Life of Mama
Rose Achick Njeik was born on August 17, 1937. She was born into a polygamous family, to papa Elias Njeuh Njeik and Ma Sarah Atuh, both of blessed memory. Mami was the first child of this very large family and the only child of her mother. She was raised in a Christian home.
Ma Sarah, as popularly known was a founding member of the “Basel Mission Church”, now known as the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC) in Awom-Guzang. Hence Mami grew up as a dedicated and God-fearing Christian girl.
In those days, most children had very little opportunity for education, especially girls. She was privileged to go to school. She attended “infants” 1 and 2, then “standards” 1-4 in the then Native Authority (N.A.) School in Guka, Batibo. She then went to the then prestigious and renowned Girls’ School in Aghyati-Bafut, where she completed “standards” 5 and 6 in 1956.
Career & Achievement
She worked as an assistant midwife in the then Basel Mission Health Centre, Agyati-Bafut from 1956-1958. She could not further her education because her father needed her home since she was the oldest child. Being the first daughter, the parents were eager to have grandchildren. They did not see the importance of female education. She obeyed her parents, went home to be married. It is during this period that she met the love of her life, the then young John Ngendab Mbanyamsig, road overseer with the Public Works Department (P.W.D.).
Family & Personal Life
Due to the nature of her husband’s job, they lived in many towns and villages along the Bamenda Ring Road, such as Nkambe, Wum, and Bamenda. These movements came to an end in 1978, when her darling husband succeded his late dad as the Fon of Guzang. They now took up permanent residence in the village. For those who knew her, Mami was very ambitious, industrious, business-inclined and very generous. Her doors were wide open to everybody, Moghamo, Bali, and Guzang people in particular. In fact, her home in small Mankon, was a stop-over for nearly all who were going to or coming back from “the coast”.
Mami’s was an industrious woman, she did retail, she made and sold plantain chips, puff-puff, peanuts; she baked bread and manufactured soap. She was a good seamstress. She was also good at hand and machine knitting. She spent her spare time to knit scarves and hats for some that are here today. Her ambition to learn pushed her to enroll for French by radio in the early 70’s. With her academic exposure she swore to bring up her children to educated and she encouraged her children to study to the highest level possible. Hence she worked very hard to support her husband, sponsor their children in school. At the beginning of every school year, she would give a large sum of money to her husband as the children’s tuition.
Socially, she loved singing and dancing. She hardly missed a ball-room dance. Even when her husband had no money, she would sponsor the outing. This leisure was not just for herself, but also involved the children too. Once in a while she would take the children to Roxi cinema and to the circus when opportunity presented itself. Mami’s two favorite songs are “Sweet Mother, I no go forget you…”and “With us in mind God has a better plan…”. Like her mother, before her, she was very committed to her church especially to her church group the CWF. On one of her trips to America, a church that she was attending (St. John Lutheran Church in Miamisburg, Ohio), asked her what they can do to her as she is returning back to Cameroon but being selfless as she was said she will need help with her church back in Africa. They presented her with an amount of money. She received this money and divided between the two churches in her village, that is gave half of the money to P.C Awom and the other half to P.C Guzang.
Mami was very conscious of her looks. She took time to dress and make sure she looked good. Her grandchildren often called her “granny show show”,”mami nyanga” and so on. In America where she was most of the time, was always called Grandma in Dayton and the children there will always live to remember her. Mami had chronic arthritis and in the later days, she developed type 2 diabetes after her 2nd knee surgery. She returned home from USA less than 5 months ago. She was admitted to the hospital for gastritis and malaria. Despite the watchful eyes of the doctors and nurses of St Francis of Assisi Catholic Hospital at Ntasen, Nkwen. A few days later, Mami had an acute heart failure, at 4.30pm on Tuesday 5th of January 2016 within 30minutes Mr Death snatched her away!