BIOGRAPHY OF PAPA JOSHUA MALABAN BATCHA (Neih Sango)

Papa Joshua Malaban Batcha was born in 1939 in Baforchu to Neih Sango Elias Batcha and Abu Frida Njiih. His father was the first lay preacher with the Basel Mission church in Baforchu and also sawed timber for a living. His mother was a house wife and a women’s leader in the local church.  He had seven siblings and was the sixth child to his parents.

 EDUCATION

He started primary school at  Vernacular school Mbu I (Baforchu) then progressed to  Santa Native Authority English school and was later transferred to Government School Bamenda Up-Station where  he  graduated with his First School Leaving Certificate. From there, he attended C.P.C Bali, between the years 1954-1959 where he obtained his Secondary School Leaving Certificate and later, the Cambridge West African School Certificate.

He attended the Federal School of Forest Research – University of Ibadan- Western Nigeria from 1961 to 1963 where he graduated with a Certificate of Science Degree in Forestry and Agriculture. While in Nigeria, he took advantage of correspondence programs with Volsey Hall, London, and obtained the London GCE Ordinary and Advance level Certificates.

In 1970, he was among the few privileged to be admitted to the Pan African Institute of Development (Buea and Geneva). Here he graduated with two Diplomas’ in rural development, Economic development and Planning. Being the pivot and head of his family, he declined two scholarships to further his studies in Geneva - Switzerland and Ontario-Canada to concentrate on raising his kids, and being there for the entire family – a course he never drifted from, even from his sick bed during his last days.

In 1980-1982, he attended the “Ecole de faune de Garoua – EFG”, Northern Cameroon, where gained training in Wild life Management Conservation and Protection of Natural Resources, International Ecotourism, Recreation Facility Management, Use of Small Arms/Light Weaponry, First Aid and Emergency Rescue Management. He graduated with a certificate as a Specialist in Wild Life Management and Ecotourism.

PROFESSIONAL LIFE

As part of his professional career, Pa J. M. Batcha, worked as a Forest Technician in Mamfe, Eyumojock, Kumba, Nkambe and Bamenda, towns in Cameroon. He was Project Manager, coordinating the eucalyptus and cypress tree planting of the Bamenda station forest project. As a Forest Technician and Rural Development officer, at a time when afforestation of the grassland area was primordial responsibility to the Ministry of Agriculture, together with his team, many grassland fields were transformed to forest plots, and some wetlands were re-claimed over time.

As Chief of Service for forestry, Bui Division he helped protect the Kilum / Oku forest from indiscriminate deforestation by smugglers of voacanga (a medicinal plant with high pharmaceutical value).

 His achievements during his tenue as Divisional Chief of service for forestry and Agriculture Bamenda, Mezam division include educating the people on the hazards of “Ankara farming”, bush fires, charcoal burning, and proper farming techniques. Community service and environmental sustainability was top on his priority and many can testify how he improved or helped in restoring their lands to become more productive.

During the years that he served in double capacity as Divisional Chief of service for Wildlife Management, Fako and Conservator for Korup National Park, Mundemba, he was instrumental in forest and wild life conservation. He accepted the very challenging and dangerous job of transforming the ‘Korup’ from a Game Reserve to a National Park. As the pioneer Conservator of The Korup National Park, his life was constantly at risk from the hunters and poachers and also from the Wildlife that were under protection.

One of his prerogatives as  Divisional Chief of service for Tourism and Wildlife Management, Bafoussam, Mifi Division, was to protect the elephants that where being killed indiscriminately at the Sanchou Regional forest. This was also a very dangerous project, because both the hunters and the hunted animals considered him as their enemy. His life depended highly on his expertise and God’s grace during field missions. P a Batcha was a marksman who could kill a raging elephant with a single bullet- a skill his staff depended on when things got out of control during field missions.

HIS LIFE

Pa Batcha spent his life in service to humanity. He could have used his considerable, powerful intellect chasing wealth and power, and there is no doubt that he could have acquired both, but instead he chose to serve. Pa Batcha chose a life of service. And more than that, he had a fundamental and powerful respect for the people he served.  He had immense dedication to environment, culture, history and family traditions…..

Community service and leadership were top on his list. A brilliant teacher who was challenging, intelligent, versed in all subject matter, he always demanded excellence from his students. As a disciplinarian, he wanted the best for everyone and for everyone to achieve their greatest potential. All that were privileged to have known him, benefited from his zeal in promoting education and social tidings. Instilling courage in children and getting them heard, were some of his core values.

He had a passion for music. Music lessons with his family were very memorable times. A classy dancer…”waltz”, “guitar”, “step dance” name it…, he had the best moves you could ever imagine.  He was a cheerful soul who cracked a lot of jokes because he loved to make people laugh and always lifted people’s spirit up. Anyone who ever knew him was lucky because he was a faithful, honest friend who was always lending a helping hand no matter how great or small the task. Pa Batcha never hesitated to help anyone.

Stemming from a Christian background, he made it a responsibility to ‘pass it on’ to his kids and all who knew him. A highly spiritual person- faithful servant, he believed in doing the right thing always. He was a onetime member of the Christian Men Fellowship group (CMF) of the Presbyterian Church Azire in Cameroon.  He may not have been a “church goer” but was a highly spiritual man and lived his life by the golden rule. As an ardent peace maker, he was an excellent moderator who stood for justice and the truth at all times.  He was a fearless courageous leader who was thoughtful, had foresight and above all was the voice for the voiceless or less privileged in society. 

Papa Joshua Malaban Batcha, “Neih Sango”, simply put, was a hero to his family, relatives and friends. He was a devoted and dedicated husband to his wife Mami Grace Batcha, a fine gentleman. A loving father who was inspiring, nurturing, loved unconditionally. He was caring grandfather who was dependable, encouraging, and protective of all his grandchildren. He was a cherished son who was very obedient, respectful, took care of the whole family.  As generous as a brother can be, he was generous to a fault and always took care of the needs of others first. A forgiving uncle, who never held a grudge, never gave up hope on anyone or situation and was always welcoming. His guiding principle was that there was always room for one more. Uniting his family and extended family was a must achievable for him.

ADIEU PAPA

J.M. Batcha’s intellect was really only matched by his humility. He respected the gifts of the intellect and the lives of the working people he served and served with -- and really of all the people he met and bonded with. He was who he was in all aspects of his life, deeply committed to justice, deeply committed to fairness, and deeply committed to kindness and friendship. Pa Batcha tried to make the world a better place because he believed in making a difference and making life better for others.

His life continues to inspire his entire family, clan and those who knew him. He will live in our hearts forever.

Memories are flooding back and this lump in my chest can't go away! Oh Papa Martin Batcha Batcha. Father of bottledance, and beloved sister Abu Lydia Arimbo. Oh, I can;t contain my tears. brb,

LETTER TO MY HERO

…By Stanley Batcha

Dear father,

 I guess you will agree with me that It has never been any easy task to capture the life of someone in a few paragraphs; talk less of a father; one with a rare uniqueness, like yours. Words fall short of painting your true essence, what you stood for and what you could die to defend. In this instance, they fall so far below the mark that I feel it is almost futile to try. BUT you as full of humility as you were always refused to take credit for anything big or small …giving the honor to God. Papa I am writing you this letter, to let you know that you are the one and only. That you are my hero, That I am very proud of the quality life you lived as a father, as a husband, a brother, a leader, a neighbor, a servant of the state and as a servant of God. I am more proud about the wonderful things people say about you. You assured me to use your name anytime where ever I go and favor will surely come my way. That was the confidence of a righteous man who had no beef with anyone. I have employed your name and I have seen the gain, thank you.

Papa, you thought me so much. A lot comes to mind when I reminiscence. From basic simple things like A, B, C or Long Division… to more complex ones…like Taxonomy or quadratic equations.

You are the most down to earth person who ever existed. You stayed very polite and respectful even to your own children. You have a listening ear and people always come to you for advice on just any topic.

You are a loving husband to our mother, and show your love in many different ways, like support, friendship and loyalty to your in-laws, care and compassion to all your children unconditionally. Throughout your working life you had relatives living with us and even treated them sometimes better than your own children. You did not only paid fees for those you sponsored, but followed up their education and acted to ensure a better outcome. You had a personal relationship with your children’s teacher so he could follow up on their progress.

You always tell the truth, no matter who it’s going to hurt, even yourself. You prayed and committed your project in the hands of God trusting that only through the Lord can success be achieved.

You are the kindest of persons and the finest of gentlemen. Most who knew you will agree with me that you lavished your kindness in a unique way. You are kind with his money, you are kind with your time, y are kind with your knowledge, and with your courage. Your kindness is nondiscriminatory on any line, it is not based on relationship or familiarity. You are selfless. You volunteered in teaching students (neighbors and relatives) and getting them ready for exams. You share your world of initiative and manual skills with other for nothing. You will help people clean up their yards when they neglect it just to teaching by example. You helped people work their farms just to show them the right and scientific way of doing things. You paid school fees in school for some relatives and quite a few people you did not even know.

Papa, you were never interested in politics because you strongly believed that politics can never be fair. You viewed politics as dirty game and kept a good distant from it.

You provided the best quality of education for all his children, and everyone who lived under your roof. You sponsored many other relatives who are today successful people in their different carriers.

You took time to go over the school work for those under your care. You took time to teach and introduced new books to us. You will come to our school and request to see our teachers teaching notes and propose corrections. When friends visited us, you will ask them what they did in physics or chemistry and no matter the topic you will start to lecture on that topic. The next time you will do the same…but this time around, you will lecture history or literature. You could recite Shakespears Macbeth from Act 1, Scene1 till the end. You could reproduce Mendeleev’s periodic table on a black sheet of paper. Papa, you did live before your time when it comes to education. I remember a big yellow book of about 300 pages titled THE FUNDAMENTALS OF LOGIC that you pushed me to read every evening. I was only 9 years old then and still in primary school. Everyone thought you were crazy to do this; my own mother too. Behold, that was the beginning of my journey to become a successful IT professional.   I thank you for your vision and courage. Your teaching was not only academic. You taught me many live skills: different ways of lacing my shoes, different ways in making a knot, splitting wood, planting trees, painting our house, washing myself, renovating wooden furniture, working on the farm even how to cook in a way as to preserve the nutrients in food.

You taught me how to do step dance and waltz and how to appreciate classical music and Jazz music.  You though me the staff and solfa notations in music, unfortunately I never really took enough interest. You taught me how to sing, the songs found in your red sankee…( Secret Songs and sorrows), this list is inexhaustible.                                                                                                                                                                                                                       

Papa you were a workaholic indeed.  In you hay days, it was rare to see a government officer with a high echelon like yours going to work in the farms. While other father would sit in the neighborhood bar drinking after work, you will come straight home, eat his lunch and head to the farm. On a few occasions, my mother will have to go and pull you from the farm at dusk and you was still working.   Tree planting and caring for plants is more of a hobby than work to you.   One day you and me were planting eucalyptus trees, and it was getting real dark. When I complain to you that we should go home cause its getting dark, you replied to me “by the time you will be using these trees, I would be long gone.” How true was that, a few family building projects have been accomplished with plank from trees that you planted.

You were the pivot of our entire extended family, you took time to explain to me the family tree. And you introduced me to nearly all our relatives both maternal and paternal, and encouraged me to get to know them all.

Through your caring, many family members gained education and a livelihood.

Through your sharing many family members can today take care of themselves and others.

Your sense of humor is huge. All the jokes you created even about your own self. You said laughter was food and medicine to the soul… Papa there you go again living before our time…science has now proven that laughter is medicine indeed. I remember vividly the sound of your signature laughter Hahahahahahahaha! How I miss it.

Your respect for the environment both fauna and flora still amazes me till date. You declare war on the use and careless disposal of plastic bags at a time when no one was talking about the concept of soil preservation and recycling. You had to reprimand anybody who carelessly disposed of plastics even our neighbors...living again before your time.  As a contribution to humanity and nature, you accepted the very challenging and dangerous job of Transforming the ‘Korup’ from a Game Reserve to a National Park.  As the pioneer Conservator of The Korup National Park, your life was constantly at risk from the hunters and poachers and also from the Wildlife that you were protecting.  I am very proud to tell others of this service. You took me on tour to the forests of the Korup a few time …how can I forget this experience.

Even when you were terminally ill, you never stopped giving me hope and painting a future with the brightest of colors. You never relented providing for us and taking care of our education even from your sick bed.

Papa, you did all what a father should do to his son in preparing him for life. You did show me that humility and the fear of God are a walk-around for nearly every problem. None of my shortcomings today stem from you. If I could follow all the lessons you thought me and walk exactly in your footsteps, I would be a perfect man. What else does a child expect from a father?

Papa, I have been in pain since you passed on, I have never stopped dreaming, like me and you playing soccer in front of the house. I think nothing will change the situation ever.

I never had the chance to send you an email, because you never had an email address.  I did not speak to you over a cell phone line;, what was your number? We never had the chance to skype. You never googled anything. These things pain me till date. But I feel relieved when I hear people say such wonderful things about you and your legacy. People accord me the benefit of doubt because I am your son. I smile internally when they say I look like you. From time to time I reminiscence your life and the time we spent together. Each time I walk down memory lane it’s a complex mix of pride and pain, laughter and sadness, hope and despair.

I am looking forward to that time when we shall meet to path no more

It feels great to have been a main player in ones hero’s heroism.

You are my hero indeed. I love you.

May your humble soul continue to rest in Perfect Peace!

Your son stanley