“The Cry Of The Ancestors” saw the participation of dance groups from Buea, Campo, Kribi, etc.

The Sawa Cultural Association known as “Mulatako Mwa Sawa” holds that “a people without a culture are like a people without soul.” To revive the rich Sawa culture and pay homage to ancestors of the Sawa zone, traditional dance groups from Buea, Campo, Douala, Kribi, Mamfe, Moungo and other zones of the Sawa community, thrilled the population over the weekend at Douala Bercy Hall.

The cultural festival dubbed “The Cry Of The Ancestors” and “Musea Mwa Bambambe,” kicked off on July 9, 2015, with a press conference, a carnival from Akwa through Rond Point Deido to Bonapriso and back to Akwa on July 10, 2015. This gave those who cared to watch a foretaste of Saturday’s jamboree.

Hundreds of people who gathered at Douala Bercy danced to the rhythm of the famous Oroko dance from Buea, the Bolobo dance from Yabassi and Moh-Nkem dance from Mamfe.

The Iyassa group from Campo, the “Requins noirs” of Longasse and the Ambassy-bey group led by the promoter of the cultural festival, Cathy Bebe Bell, demonstrated that the culture handed down from generation to generation is not dormant and will never die. Other dance groups, including “Jengu la male,” “Mado Ma Nkam” and “Olowa Bafaw,” also sent out heart-touching messages on Sawa cultural heritage through dancing and parade with traditional dresses.

Cathy Bebe Bell, promoter of the cultural festival that held its maiden edition from July 9 to 11, 2015, intimated that the festival does not aim only at promoting the Sawa culture, but also to make people understand that the Sawas is not limited to Douala. They span across all coastal zones, including Buea, Campo, Kribi and Mamfe, among others.