Deborah Gwei

Mami Deborah Ndfutoh Gwei was born in 1940 in Mbibih-Talla to our grandmother Magdaline Gwaya and our grandfather Andreas Gwaya. She was the second of six children born to this couple. Mami went to school briefly after the family had moved to Mbiyeh. As a young girl mami made many friends in Mbiyeh and the surrounding area especially when she was in school. It was evident in the early age that mami had developed some marketing and entrepreneurial skills,

In 1963, our father,  Mr. Z.T. Gwei asked for her hand in marriage. Mami joined her mate and the older mother in the family, Mami Grace Gwei. The family of 3 parents lived in harmony and blessed with a total of eleven children eight of whom are alive today: Mary Gwei, Alfred Gwei, Sarah Gwei, Godwin Gwei, Genevieve Gwei, Isaac Gwei, Bernice Gwei, and Victorine Gwei. There are also several grand children who are mourning. We all miss her greatly

Family and Friends

Mami always liked coming back to Ntumbaw when the family was on holiday. As the younger wife of Pa Gwei, she was very well liked by members of the Warr family. She was known as the mother who did not get into fights or people’s business. Within the Warr family, people respected her because she related well to all the people and always had a big smile. One thing many remember is that Mami Deborah was a peace maker. She was active and participated in everything the women of our community did.

Mami Deborah was a devoted family woman. She loved us, her family and friends of the family deeply.  

Christianity was very important to Mami Deborah and where ever the family resided, she was active in the local church. As many of you know, mami had a great deal of faith, was a deaconess, a treasurer, a member of Mary’s choir in the Ntumbaw Baptist Church and rarely missed a Church Service. Mami was always a member of the Wimbum choir of the local Baptist Church when we lived in other places. She loved the bible. Even though she was not highly educated, she developed great interest in the Bible and knew many of the stories by heart. When we were in Ekondo-Titi, mami shocked her class mates in Adult School by topping the class by a very wide margin. When asked how she did that, mami smiled and replied that, many things came back to her from when she went to school briefly as a young girl.

Mami also showed her prowess in marketing and entrepreneurship in Ndop by quickly becoming dominant in a small scale local-produce sales in Ndop in the mid-seventies.

Within the family Mami Deborah was highly respected because she did not look down on anybody. She continued to lead the family after Mami Grace passed away. She took her responsibility over all the children of the family seriously. She was a very stabilizing presence, even during the illness of her husband the late Pa Z.T. Gwei. Mami took great care of Pa before the Lord called him home and we will always remember that very much. Since February 2015, she has continued to be our immediate parent and mother to all of us; acting in love as she has always acted, making sure that the family and the Warr family will not feel any emptiness because of the early home going of the other members of the family. She set the example of what a good wife, mate, mother, sister, auntie, choir member and friend should be. She always did her best for all the children, and there were eleven of us, so that was no easy feat.

Mami Deborah now joins her mate, Mami Grace, her husband Pa Z T Gwei, and the children who went before her. All of us, the remaining children and grand-children mourn her and all of them that have gone before us. “Mami, rest in perfect peace”. Mami Deborah is also survived by 5 siblings: Miriam, Sarah, Esther, Confidence, and Alfred and many nephews and nieces.