A 52-year-old single woman who is raising her 18 children was named as Cameroon’s mother of the year for 2000 in a contest organised by Cameroon’s social affairs ministry. Anne Oyoa, who also raises her own crops at Akono 70 kilometers south of the capital Yaounde, was chosen from more than 200 candidates who each have at least 10 children. The three women who came joint second in the contest held at the weekend each had 16 children. The event, which an orgainser said was designed “to show motherhood in its best light at a time when it is being sneered at,” was part of the African nation’s commemorations for the new millennium.