Penboy’s spoken word poetry wins Sisterspeak237 Digital Literacy Contest

By Ndi Eugene Ndi

A spoken word poetry which promotes truth and peace has won the first edition of a competition dubbed Digital Literacy Contest organized by Sisterspeak237; an organization that amongst others, seeks to promote communication for social change.

Written by 21-year-old poet and spoken word artist, Taleabong Boris Alemnge, who goes by the artistic name Penboy, the short video is one of four entries shortlisted by the organization from the lot it received.

Bobo Lenox, one of two judges who evaluated the entries, said all the four were good and showed a great sense of creativity but Penboy’s spoken word poetry was outstanding.

“I loved their sense of creativity and the manner in which they all put out their information to sensitize our consciences on the topic which cuts across board. I congratulate the winner and also say kudos to the three others,” Lenox said following the proclamation of the results.

The two judges graded the entries on a score of 50, while online engagements of the entries on Sisterspeak237 social media pages constituted another 50 points.

Penboy’s spoken word poetry scored 90 of the 100 points ahead of killer blog by Precious, misinformation and hate speech animated video by Elvira Monjoa Mbua and pencil art by Karlof Batata.

“It’s been an honor for me participating in this didactic competition and I am elated to have emerged winner of this first edition. It means a lot to me as an artist and this win is a great boost to my morale and efforts,” Penboy said.

“I appreciate everyone who contributed in one way or the other for the production of this content, not forgetting my online family and judges who saw my video deserving enough,” he added.The Digital Literacy Contest is part of Sisterspeak237’s Digital Literacy Project currently being implemented with support from the US Embassy in Cameroon. The first phase saw the training of 46 youths and influencers in the South West region last year, at the end of which participants committed to use tech for the promotion of peace and truth.

The Project Lead, Wanchia Cynthia, said they are happy the participants from their entries showed prove of understanding of the subject matter.

“Congratulations to the winner. If we had our way, the four entries would have had all been declared winners but the contest limits us to one,” Wanchia said, announcing that the February edition of the contest will be launched next week.

“We look forward to more educative entries,” the Sisterspeak237 Digital Literacy Project Lead said.