Oku is a region in the Northwest Cameroon. The term Oku also refers to the people who live in this region an the primary language that they speak (although English is also widely spoken). Oku is a rural area containing about thirty-five villages. The nearest really large city is Bamenda, but Kumbo, which is closer (about 18 miles from the village of Keyon, or about seventy minutes by car), is large enough to have telephone lines and a Baptist-run hospital. Oku is also relatively near to the Nigerian border, and travel across the border is common, as many people in the region have relatives in Nigeria.