4 more three-part slogans I saw last weekend
on Notes from Quite Far (Cameroon), 13/Jul/2010 16:18, 34 days ago
Paix. Travail. Patrie(Peace. Work. Fatherland. National motto of Cameroon. On a flipchart. Although it appears everywhere from letterheads to school buildings.)Sagesse. Science. Excellence.(Wisdom. Science. Excellence. On my Women’s Day outfit.)Abstinence. Fidélité. Préservatif.(Abstinence. Fidelity. Condom. On an AIDS awareness campaign poster)Soumission. Foi. Perfection.(Submission. Faith. Perfection. On a sign next to my office.)Actually that last one is a cheat. The sign is for an Islamic school and the three words are a rendering of Islam, Iman, Ihsan, which are the three levels of faith a person can attain according to the Qu’ran. So “slogan” is hardly the appropriate word. It’s a bit like saying that “Blessed are the meek” was one of Jesus’ “catchphrases”. Still, I saw it so I put it on my list.I’ve been noticing a lot of slogans around lately - mostly on posters. We have a lot of them at my office. A favourite of mine is a plain blue poster displaying nothing but the phrase “Let’s put on a condom” - apparently à propos of nothing. I think this poster could have been thought through a bit better. It strikes me as the sort of spontaneous “Let’s do something” phrase you might come out with on a Sunday afternoon if you were a bit bored - as in “Let’s go to town” or “Let’s play Monopoly”. The message is important of course, but personally I think the suggestion“Let’s put on a condom” ought to be put into some sort of context. It’s not always the appropriate course of action.The three-part slogan is a bit of a must-have for any self-respecting Cameroonian organisation or government department. Three-parters seem somehow weightier than your average slogan, and make me feel as if I’m living in “1984”. (The book not the year. Think “Big Brother is watching you” and not “Who would you give your last Rolo to?”). Similarly reminiscent of “1984” (the book) are the names of the ministries. Orwell gave us Minipax, Minitrue, Muniluv and Miniplenty. Cameroon gives usMinedub, Minefop, Minesec and Minesup, to name but a few.And I think that’s all I have to say about Orwell and Cameroon.On Friday I went to a seminar organised by the Ministry for the Empowerment of Women (Minproff). It was held at a“Technology Centre” with a marked lack of anything technological, other than a fan and a plug socket. The inevitable 3-part slogan for the day was “Equal rights. Equal Opportunities. Progress for all.” and the audience were all local residents and/or representatives from local organisations.They were mostly, but not exclusively women, and were invited to debate issues surrounding women’s empowerment (or indeed lack of it). It was a fascinating and complex discussion. I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again, (steps up onto soapbox) the general population in Cameroon is far morepolitically aware than that of the UK. Your average Joe (Or indeed Mohamadou) is better informed and more passionate. And yet back home we have more money, freedom, access to information, and the very real possibility of holding the government to account if even a quarter of the nation were genuinely interested. (steps back down again)Ho hum.(Actually, think I must have been feeling quite inspired by the women's conference last weekend: the next set of entries are all a bit soap-box-y. Brace yourselves...)