My memory remains foggy on how she ended up in Njong and getting married to my father, the Late A.C. Zama. I vagely remeber her version of how the courtship ranspired; from my fathers sporadic visits to their Compound, to actually being married.

My father was a Headmaster at the time and was away quite a bit, and visited whenever he was in town. He was always welcomed by her parents, and ofcourse, which young girl would not want a Headmaster for a husband?

She was my father's third and youngest wife. My earliest memories of her are of her baking cake. She attended Domestic Science school and baked the best cakes in whole wide world! The hand built clay firewood ovens added some natural flavors that no modern oven can. Till date, I can still vivdly remember the shape, size, groved designs and lastly, the taste!

She was a business woman to the core. She sold everything! Being a headmaster's wife, they moved around a lot, and everywhere she went, she started making and selling bread, cake and accra. Eventually she would train some locals, who in turn became independent entrepreuneurs. 
 

Mangieh Susan Aleri was born around 1930 in Chomba, Bamenda, West Cameroon. I say around 1930 because at that time in history, birth dates weren’t recorded. Birth dates were tied to events, and events like the German and British Occupations of Cameroon and the Second World War were significant enough that children born at these times were linked to them.

Mangieh Aleri’s birth date is listed as: December 12, 1930 on her passport. How this date came about remains a mystery to me, but has been used conveniently for her travels and all other official matters. She has travelled extensively, visiting with her children and grand children in Africa, Europe and North America.

From the stories she told me, I can deduce from my oldest brother’s age that she married at an early age, probably 17. I can vividly remember a confrontation she had with her Dad, the late Tata Tayuka about giving her away in marriage rather than sending her to school. I know for a fact that being illiterate is one of the things she regrets the most. I say it with certainty because she voiced it several times, and I remember her being one of the first to enroll in an adult literacy program conducted by the Presbyterian Church in Njong in the early seventies. She struggled to learn how to read and write, but it was too much and too late. She could have been an excellent lawyer!