Latin Quarter Broken Down or on the Eve of these Torments

Abstract

Kaélé, the administrative centre of the Mayo-Kani Department in Cameroon’s Far North Region, faces a striking shortfall in its future human resources. Upon objective examination of the potential factors behind this situation, local families—and, more broadly speaking, the wider community—are one of the causes. Reversing this fate—which stands in stark contrast to the former glory achieved by their forebears in areas such as education, the economy, industry and technocracy, amongst others—contrasts sharply with the attitudes expressed by young people today. The glorious achievements of their elders, when brought to light, remain the very factors behind the transformation of the name Kaélé into that of the ‘Latin Quarter ’. Indeed, families must obviously strive to uphold these gold standards in order to combat the underdevelopment that looms over the neighbourhood. Harold Garfinkel’s ethnomethodology lends this endeavour its scientific vitality. The study confirms that ‘families of yesterday and today’ contribute, through untransmitted variables, to a probable decline. That they no longer foster sufficient intellectual, technical and cognitive skills. Quite apart from the much-discussed marital trends, new parents no longer seek to enlighten their children. The new division of labour assigns to spouses in Kaélé – as much as to those in similarly structured African communities – a degree of underperformance.