Rotary Connections in Cameroon:
We met with two veteran Rotarians from the Rotary Club of Bafousam, a club well respected by Rotary International . This club has supervised three NGO’s in the Cameroon providing leadership, expertise, training and organization skills necessary for successful Rotary Project International work.
We met with Rotarian Samuel Awetua, an Agro Veterinary Engineer by training is Executive Director of the Sustainable Livestock Foundation (SFL) in his office in Bamenda.
The Rotary Club of Bafousam, partnering through Rotary International with Rotary Clubs in Ontario have given technical input, village organization, support in kind to impressive projects over the last 20 years.
As promised during our first visit, one of his technical support staff delivered power point presentations that show some of their project work over the years. Amazing what 22 Rotary groups in Ontario together have done to help in applied projects in the south, south west and western part of the Cameroon. The slide shows are available on request.
The dress making involved 18 communities and covered all types of machines from treadle to surger, all manner of construction, school uniforms, dresses, bags- very practical skills.
In the Food Processing project,
the Rotary Clubs have funded 13 cassava mills, two corn mills and 140 hand processing mills for a total 290 households in 22 village communities.
The Girl – Child Education and Literacy is a counter measure to cultures and traditions practiced by some communities that denied girls the right to education. Also included is assistance to orphans of both sexes that could not afford the cost of education. As of today, more than 1500 school pupils sit on desks thanks to Rotary and 280 pupils have their fees regularly paid, four primary schools have audio visual aids and maps while many more are still in need.
A personal comment here; it is the condition of the schools that most upset me in the Cameroon. Seeing teachers working without the most basic of resources (no textbooks, no workbooks, dirt floors, boards for student work and I mean a board, not a slate, a rough brown board). There is so much to be done. I so respect the focus that these projects have set to help those fortunate to be able to receive Rotary support.
On a daily basis, we saw children selling on the street obviously not in school. We saw school structures that would make you cry, wondering if they were abandoned buildings. We saw children used as child labor, making crushed rock out of stones day after day for example. We have made a point to be positive but this, along with women used as beasts of burden causes us to break silence and portray a realistic scene.
Hence, accolades to the Hand Up project and the work they have done in schools.
Sam Awetua said 250,000,000 over the 20 years, ($625,000Canadian). Funded by 22 Rotary Clubs in Ontario, Rotary International, CIDA, individual Rotarians and private individuals.
Because IDF works in a large area, a number of Rotary Clubs are represented in the area. Oussematou arranged for us to travel to Bafousam to meet with Rotarian
Yemele Paul, a dynamic owner of Winsoft, a great office supplies store, and High School Physics teacher. He is International coordinator for International Rotary projects in this area, a job he has been very dedicated to for many years.
http://www.saugeentimes.com/486%20Sandy/Dec_23_newsletter-final.pdf documents a Rotary trip to the Cameroon by Ontario Rotarians to review some of their project work of twenty years. Here you will meet Paul and Sam Awetua again. Note the picture of the school bus from Nova Scotia Rotary-) It is also interesting to note near the end of this excellent report, arrangements are being completed to provide charitable tax receipts for individuals who wish to contribute personally to aspects of the Hand Up development program.
Currently Rotary projects for the Rotary Club of Bafousam involve ‘clean water’, vocational training and agricultural improvement. The second time we met with Rotarian Sam, he had spent the morning with village training on how to mix feed for chickens, goats and cows using locally grown produce, working with the blind.
Where to from here?
That is for our Rotary Club and district to decide. We will provide the International Committee with information of potential project work. One thing that we were really pleased to see is that Rotary is alive and well in the Cameroon and very effective in what it does. The needs are SO great. I recall a statement Garth Coffin made a number of years ago, something to the effect that Rotary works when a lot of others things don’t!
Lydia Sorflaten
