Round Cameroon with a Backpack and a Blog

Postcard from Two Projects for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

In Cameroon, orphans and vulnerable children often leave school earlier than other children, and have far fewer opportunities to support themselves down the road.  That’s why Self Reliance Promoters’ NGO is running a school just for them, making sure kids have schoolbooks, uniforms, and enough to eat so that they’ll be able to graduate.  It’s their oldest program, so there are plenty of participants who’ve now graduated and moved out to work in their communities or continue on to higher education.  Wirkom Fred Mbiydzenyuy, the Managing Director of Self Reliance Promoters (SEREP), tells us that he always keeps in touch with his former students and that of the first class of graduates (from 2001), every single one is now employed.  In a country with an estimated 30% unemployment, that’s no small feat.

School’s out for the summer so we couldn’t see classes in action, but I met a few of the kids around town.  They’re awfully shy, but told us they were happy in the program, and Fred spent some time talking to one small girl about how the school was going to work specifically on her reading next year. 

It’s not easy running a small school for orphans and vulnerable children in Cameroon.  They have no support from the government, and the students certainly can’t afford the expensive fees that keep some other private schools running around here.  And landlords keep raising their rents—as a result, Self Reliance Promoters’ school has had to move at least three times in a little over a decade.  That’s why their project to build a new school, constructed on their own donated land, will make such a big difference to the orphans who are trying to beat the odds and graduate. 

Maxillene, Charlotte and Annette from SEREP showed us around the building.  They’re all former students from one SEREP program or another, and have now come back to teach classes and help manage the organization’s day-to-day workings.  Maxillene told us that students (ages 12-16) come and help out with the construction—“They’re so excited,” she said.  “They know that they are building a school that is theirs.”

They’ve definitely made a lot of progress in the last several months and are using the most efficient materials possible, but now the funding has dried up and so things have come to a halt.  It’s going to take a few more donations before they can finish the building and students can move in!  Even a little bit goes a long way; the teachers showed us a huge pile of materials that came from just $20.  SEREP raises all its funding from GlobalGiving, so the donations they’ve received for the school have been a great cause for celebration.  Maxillene was effusive about the donations they’ve received so far: “We are working very hard here, but we want to say thank you to the donors, and may God bless you.”