Sibi’s Adventures in Alahtene

Mary Fosi Mbantenkhu

Aug 2022 · Spears Books

About this eBook

Meet Sibi, a vivacious, smart, and audacious girl who leaves the comforts of her coastal town and parents to live with Ndih, her granny in the village of Alahtene. Sibi’s integration into village life is swift and adventurous, aided by the ever-soothing supervision of her equally gallant grandmother and teenage uncle, Ajuenekoh. Recounted from the first person, we follow Sibi’s adventures in school, church, neighbourhoods, the rivers, hills and forests of Alahtene, its buzzy market and most significantly, around Ndih’s fireside. Set in the early 1960s, Sibi’s Adventures in Alahtene bubbles with dozens of breathtaking stories about the intrigues of adult life and childhood in a rural community rapidly integrating into a newly formed African country.

About the author

Mary S. Fosi is an environmental Consultant and Chairperson of the Myrianthus Fosi Foundation for Biodiversity and Environmental Protection (MyFF), a Non-Governmental Organization that provides public awareness on environmental issues to local communities for improved sustainable livelihoods. She started her career in 1974 in the Cameroon public service, serving in the Ministries of Social and Women’s Affairs, the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry and the Ministry of Environment and Nature Protection. She occupied positions of responsibility including as Chief of Service, Director and Technical Adviser. She coordinated projects funded by the World Bank, the Global Environment Facility and UNEP, and headed government missions to various international negotiations on the environment and forestry issues. She represented Cameroon within the African Ministerial Council on the Environment (AMCEN); International Compliance Committee of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety; Bureau of the Conference of Parties to the Convention on Biodiversity; Member of the Conference of Central African Ministers on Forestry (COMIFAC) and AAPAM Bureau. She retired in 2009 and has since then, served as a consultant to the FAO, UNEP, UNIDO, UNESCO and GTZ.

MyFF was created in 2011 in commemoration of the Award conferred on her by the Royal Kew Botanical Gardens, London, naming a plant species - myrianthus fosi after her in recognition of her immense contribution to biodiversity conservation and environmental protection. She has reviewed many professional articles and conference proceedings on the environment, published in environmental/scientific journals and co-authored a book on biosafety. Sibi’s Adventures in Alahtene is her first novel.

Mary holds a Degree in Law from the University of Yaounde, and a Higher Diploma from the School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM), Cameroon. She now lives in the USA with her children.