Karolina Freino — Lament

 

Lament is the cry of the Mount Cameroon spurfowl (Pternistis camerunensis), an endangered, endemic bird of Mongo ma Ndemi (Cameroon Mountain). The dirge composed from its voice has been played in the Polish-Belarusian borderland, within the village of Ozierany, by the border river Svislach. On February 16, 2023, the body of Livine Solange Njengoue Nguekam from Cameroon was found in the waters of the Svislach River in this area. In accordance with her family’s wishes, she was buried in a cemetery in nearby Krynki. Livine is one of more than 50 victims of the humanitarian crisis, which has been ongoing on the Polish-Belarusian border since 2021. More than 300 people are considered missing.

Lament was based on field recording of Mount Cameroon spurfowl made by Aloïs Robert, available on xeno-canto.org, licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED. Audio post-production cooperation: Szymon Straburzyński.​