In Cameroon, the act of traveling abroad has become a clandestine affair shrouded in secrecy and mistrust among friends and family members. While the desire to explore new horizons and seek better opportunities is strong, the fear of sabotage and envy has turned the sharing of travel plans into a closely guarded secret.
“My friend is a blackleg,” Sandra (not her real name) could be heard telling a client at her job site.
Feeling betrayed and puzzled, Sandra reflects a common sentiment among many Cameroonians who find themselves left out of the loop when it comes to the travel plans of their friends and acquaintances.
Sandra’s close friend has now become a “blackleg,” not because her leg is black, but because she just traveled to the United States without giving Sandra the slightest hint of her travel plans.
Just a few weeks back, both of them were dining together, sharing all their personal secrets with each other, and spending most of their time together.
Sandra said her friend was with her three days before she travelled but never told her about the impending journey.
“I can’t understand why she did not tell me. I feel betrayed,” Sandra could be heard saying.
What Sandra’s friend did is something many Cameroonians do when they are working on a visa to travel abroad, especially for the first time.
MMI sought to understand why many prefer to make traveling abroad a top secret even to their close friends and relatives.
Mbi, as he prefers to be called, has been living in one of the Middle Eastern countries for years now.
When he was leaving Cameroon, not even his best friend or some family members knew about it.
He informed only his immediate family.
“This world is not a good one,” he said. “Somebody is always afraid to inform a friend because the friend might not be happy about it.”
He harbored concerns that sharing his plans with others could lead to jealousy, sabotage, or even harm.
Such fears are deeply rooted in a belief that disclosing travel plans attracts bad luck, and some may resort to witchcraft or black magic to thwart the journey.
All these, he said, explain why he never informed many people about his travel plans.
“However, if it is your time, it is your time, and according to what God has decreed, there is no way one can undo it, care you tell everybody,” he added.
Although many persons choose to make traveling a secret, everyone has a unique reason for keeping it as such. But generally in Cameroon, people believe revealing travel plans attracts bad luck.
The irony lies in the lavish social media posts that often follow a successful arrival abroad. Despite keeping their plans under wraps, travelers flood their timelines with updates and photos, seemingly oblivious to the contradiction.
Gracious Nkeh (not her real name) says she hopes to travel out of the country some day.
She told MMI that when the opportunity presents itself, she will keep it secret from everyone except her close friends who might see her off at the airport.
“I know the type of friend(s) I keep, and I won’t be afraid to let them know,” she told MMI.
“Such news does not hide, so yeah, I will tell those I feel like we’ve been vibing, although not to the extent of letting them know every detail of me. So I do not think they should feel entitled to such information,” she added.
Gracious recounted an experience with a friend lately. The friend never told Gracious she was going to travel abroad, despite them having been close.
“How I got to know about it was kind of funny and shocking because this friend in question and I were kind of close from the first year till we graduated, and even after that, we kept very much in touch,” she said.
“I spoke with this friend like two days ago, and on the third day another friend in the same friend group came to tell me that our friend has traveled out, and I was like, What do you mean? I spoke to her two days ago, and she didn’t even mention it. This implies that the day we were talking, she was already at the airport waiting for her flight, and the second day was the day she arrived, and the third day was when I was told,”
Gracious said it took quite some time for her friend to reach out to her about where she was.
“We were friends, but according to her, we are not that close, so she didn’t see the need to tell me anything yet,” she said, adding, “I was just shocked, but not angry, because you can never be sure of what place you occupy in people’s lives.”
It has been more than four days since the results of the American Diversity Lottery were released.
Although the DV Lottery results have stirred anticipation among thousands of Cameroonians, the excitement has given way to silence on social media.
Those fortunate enough to secure a spot in the program quietly make their way abroad, often without informing even their closest companions.
In Cameroon, apart from government officials and top influencers whose journeys are open knowledge, any other travel is treated as classified information, even to family and friends.
But once the journey is successful, it no longer becomes a secret.
The travelers inundate social media platforms, informing friends, relatives, and relatives of the same people they were scared would hamper their journey.
In a society where envy and superstition loom large, the desire to protect one’s journey from potential harm outweighs the instinct to share one’s joy and success.
The reasons behind this secretive behavior vary, but they reflect a broader culture of suspicion and mistrust.
