The war in western Cameroon is forcing many to flee their forest villages for the relative “safety” of towns like Kumba and Buea and Limbe. These Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are struggling to survive with only agricultural skills – not much help when you are trying to survive on the streets of a town with no access to land for farming. Many youth are turning to prostitution and crime as their only chance of survival. We would like to give them another option – skills training.
Etang, one of our Cameroon project directors, will create a Vocational Training Center to serve 200 youth. Approximately 100+ will join an ICT training program to learn computer skills which will greatly help them obtain jobs in government and business offices. Another 100+ will enroll in a catering program which will teach them how to prepare food that can easily be sold via food carts. (Apr 2019 Update: The computer literacy training began in February, and the food catering training was up and running by early April).
The target students will be a combination of IDPs and victims of a landside last summer which left 200 families homeless. We love this project because it gives two groups of people, who are suffering beyond what we can imagine, a chance to care for themselves and their families in a manner that brings back their dignity and hope. Transforming hopelessness into pride is what we do!