Meeting With The Rotary Club of Kumbo:
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| Meeting With Rotary Club of Kumbo, Pres Elect and Pres Devine, Allan and Lydia being presented with Cameroonian Hand Crochet Hats and Bags |
VIP Latrine: Impressive structure nearing completion. Badly needed. Construction looks good. Presbyterian School in Kumbo.
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| The Rotary Club of Kumbo Is Very Special |
Working three years as a Volunteer in the Cameroon, one
recommendation I would make to a community in the Cameroon aiming to better
itself would be to form a Rotary Club.
In Kumbo, nine years ago, a group of people began meeting to do just
that. They had no one to help them so
they would go on the internet, each researching an aspect of Rotary on line,
then presenting it to the group. In time
they applied to be granted a charter.
For many years, they still felt alone and isolated but
managed to implement several projects.
They organized and took us for a day to visit these projects. Heart warming, touching, incentive promoting
to say the least. Join us as we visit
together.
Visits to Rotary Club of Kumbo Projects:
VIP Latrine: Impressive structure nearing completion. Badly needed. Construction looks good. Presbyterian School in Kumbo.
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| Headmaster Presbyterian School in Kumbo |
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| The Vent For the Latrine |
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| Inspector Allan and Rotarian Ibraham carrying Lydia’s computer bag. |
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| Play Yard for the Children |
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| One Of The School Buildings |
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| 59 In This Class! |
go to the bathroom. Allan told me to stop the video. He later told me the reason was a little girl was pulling down her pants on this play ground to go to the bathroom. Human dignity is about to be restored to these teachers and children, over 500 of them thanks to the Rotary Club of Hepworth/Shallow Lake! The picture in the center is one part of the school. Classes are extremely overcrowded. I can’t imagine 53 in a classroom, never mind 89 little ones!
Visit the Rotary of Kumbo Latrine Project With Us:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qe4ovh4hPg8
The video shows the venting system, seven
stalls, a washing station, the location of the latrine on the upper level from
the school, the headmaster introduces us to the school telling us the numbers
of students in each class (53-89). The
latrine will serve the school and will be used by the church as needed. Rotary Club of Kumbo President Devine gives
us some good laughs! Enjoy the video
made on site:
Sportsfield Project: The sports field is ready to be seeded. Presently it is one big field of red
soil. The washroomsare completed and are padlocked.
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| Washrooms At The Sportsfield |
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| Sports Field Ready For Seeding |
Hospital: Two projects have been undertaken by Rotary
at the hospital. After a doctor doing a
caesarean section had to finish his surgery using a flashlight, the Rotary Club
decided a generator was needed! Five months
ago a new doctor arrived, Dr. William Wirngo. The patient load has increased
tremendously since. We waited patiently
and were fortunate to have an excellent conference with Dr. Wirngo. Equipment is needed. Basic maternity equipment: beds, delivery table, incubators, the list is
long. Lives are lost now because when a
problem is faced, it is a long distance to a hospital where care can be given. There
is one primitive delivery table. If that
is occupied, the patient must deliver in a bed.
We came out to the front of the
hospital with Dr. Wirngo and President Divine for a picture.
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| Allan, Dr.Wirngo, Lydia and Pres Rotary Club of Kumbo, Devine. |
The second
project dug a containment pit for medical wastes because the open pit
previously used was dangerous for children (needles, contaminated waste etc). The picture to the left shows the containment
pit, the second a new empty building built by government for the hospital but
no allocation of funds were made for equipment!
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| Containment Pit For Hospital Waste |
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| New Hospital Empty |
School: Project undertaken by Rotary Club in France and Rotary Club
of Kumbo. It took us about ½ hour to travel to the campus of Saint Pie College
of Tatum to visit a large project: 20 HP
Flat Screen computers, a 33 KVA Generator, etc as well documented on the
sign. This trip was delightful. The campus is beautifully tucked into a
sheltered ravine allowing the well established
teacher training institution (one of the first in Cameroon), its
dormitories, schools, church, farm and hilltop restaurant and bar to be self
enclosed in a beautiful setting. We were warmly received as Rotarians and given
the royal treatment!
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| Rev Borther Simon Kanjam Rotary Club of Kumbo President Devine (right) |
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| Students Join Us |
We met with Rev Brother Simon Kanjam who explained how he wrote a big proposal for computers and a generator for the school. Through the Catholic network, the Rotary Club of Saint Etienne Vallee Du Gier and the Rotary Club of Firminy, both in France combined to make this project possible. They discovered that there was a Rotary Club in Kumbo and together they made history!
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| Students Getting Water On Campus |
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| Beautiful Campus |
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| Rev Brother Simon, Our Host Brother Simon Planned the Project For The Computer Lab |
The internet is connected to the hilltop restaurant and guest house but
is not yet available to the students in the computer lab. Dry season dust is a problem for the computer
lab. The computer lab is most impressive as are the students!
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| The computers, each with their own desk and chair are impressive |
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| A dedicated volunteer from California has been here three years toured us through the computer lab. |
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| Internet Is Available at the Hilltop Breeze Resort But Not At the Computer Lab As Yet |
The picture on the right is taken from the farm area looking up at the campus.
The students
were practicing for their examinations.
They were asked to delay their lunch to assemble so that they themselves
could show their appreciation for what Rotary has done for their school.
Center Rotary Club of Kumbo President Devine
with Rotarian Lydia on our way to see the big generator housed in the building
to the left. This generator allows the
campus to have reliable electricity for everything including study time for
students (5 hours/evening) and preparation time for teachers.
Just to
assure you that we can enjoy ourselves, here is a special picture from the
Hilltop Restaurant where we enjoyed drinks with Rev
Brother Simon! The Rotarian on the left, trying to hide, is
Ibraham. Tatum is his home area. He graduated from the nearby high school. He
drove us and was a great guide.
Water Project in Boro Community:
Rotarian Ibraham showed us pictures of this project and
explained the project we downloaded the pictures to my computer. Impressive. I think Ibraham was surprised
that we visited the Boro community of Sabga and have continued to help one
family adjust to moving to Bamenda to peruse work and school here. As well, the first project of the Rotary Club
of Truro in Cameroon was in a Boro
community (GS Illum). Right away Ibraham
said that so many Boro girls get pregnant at 13! Himself a Boro, he has an indepth
understanding of the herdsman and the needs of the community. With this motivation, the Rotary Club of
Kumbo undertook a water project in a Boro community. He showed us a picture of a little girl who
was bitten by a snake going to get water for her family. The picture was taken after the snake bite
when the swelling in her eyes had almost disappeared. The other pictures are of her with her
brothers and sisters who also help carry water!
Prior to the water project, the community was drinking from the same water hole as the cattle were drinking from.
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| Watering Hole Shared By People And Cattle |
Safe drinking water for the community brought to the community so that children do not have to trek through dangerous territory long distances uphill for water! Water separate for the cattle.
Ibrihim would be glad to answer any questions you might have about this water project. His email is:dbsislam@yahoo.com
Congratulations on great project work!
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