Pinyin People

The Pinyin people are known also as the Bapinyi. They are the people I will share for the letter P of my A to Z African People Series.

One day I will be blessed by playing, helping and sharing my love in real person with my lovely African people. Help me pray for this desire; may God open and close doors by His Divine will.

I need to clarify, before I begin my formal presentation of the Pinyin people, that the name 'Pinyin' is also used as a system to learn Chinese easier.

The Pinyin are part of the over 250 ethnic groups living in Cameroon, Africa. They are part of the Bantu, Cameroon-Bamileke people cluster; with a population of nearly 35,000 people.

The Pinyin people are located in the Northwest, one of the ten districts or provinces from Cameroon, Africa. They are settled in the Southwest of Bamenda commune in Mezam Department. They are part of the Santa sub-division, in a village known with their same name 'Pinyin'.

The Pinyin people have Quarter Chiefs (3 chiefs, handling minor problems) with a central Paramount Chief (the overseer, consulted for intervention of gravity needs). Each village has their own local market day.

The Pinyinians communicate with their language called the same way as their name "Pinyin" (pny). It is a Ngemba language.

The Pinyin people are mainly farmers. Their farms,mostly located at the foot of the mountains on plains and in valleys, while the gardens are in swampy areas where they grow corn, Irish potatoes, lettuce, cabbages, avocados, carrots and other vegetables. With their fine farming they contribute significantly in feeding the Nation of Cameroon as well as, exporting their products to near countries.

The Pinyinians have 8 days of the week. The 'Country Sunday' which comes before the local market day and it is to be respected by all means.

They have several sayings as:

It is better to be a victim of injustice than to be unjust yourself.

Lying will get you a wife, but it won't keep her.

The darkness of night cannot stop the light of morning.

This was another hub of the series of African people from A to Z that took a lot of time trying to answer the outline questions. When I finished, the exhaustion left me enthusiastic of wanting to meet them in person.

There is a need of working with the translation of their language. They are still pure without being so affected by modernization, I question if it will really benefit them. They do need help translating the Bible, as for this I am raising a plea of help.

I hope you learned something in this hub of another wonderful people from Africa, the Pinyin. Blessings to all!

© Maria Magdalena Ruiz O'Farrill