At unveiling of Monument of Peace: St Austin’s University students urged to be peace ambassadors.

The monument is an initiative of the founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of SABUIST, Dr Chongwain Bisheline Naya, in collaboration with her partners from Belgium.

Ambassador Jacquemin who saluted the move, said: “It’s a very important initiative because we can’t speak enough about peace…we have no world war at such but happening if you look at the world map, there are conflicts all over the place, conflicts that should not be there. So the symbol of today, the monument will not stop the wars unfortunately but it will push the youth and will make them think about speaking about peace, stability, tolerance and enhancing dialogue and that is the important message here today”.

Initiative fostering Cameroon-Belgium relations

According to the diplomat, the collaboration between SABUIST and its Belgian partners will only go a long way to foster relations between his country and Cameroon, which he described as already being very good.

“I’ve been here now for four years and when I arrive, I met the Minister of External Relations and I will still remember his words. He said relations between Cameroon and Belgium are more than 60 years old…the relations are very strong, historical and very strong. This kind of initiative can only enhance and strengthen these relations and I’m happy about that,” Ambassador Jacquemin told reporters.

According to the National President of the Royal National Federation of Belgian Combatants, FNC, who supported the construction of the monument, the erected structure will not stop wars and discussions about conflict but it will serve as a point of reflection on why peace building should be prioritised.

Enter St Austin’s founder

In her remarks as she addressed guests and the SABUIST community during the event, Dr Chongwain Bisheline Naya, said her motivation for such an initiative, was informed by horrific acts of violence and vandalism perpetuated in academic institutions by young people.

“We realised that the problem is best tackled during training of students and this is the reason why we insist on ‘Let Love Lead, for where there is love, there’s peace and where there’s peace, learning flows,” the SABUIST founder said.

She emphasised on the commitment of the university to join the global fight for love, peace and justice. Dr Chongwain Naya went on to disclose that SABUIST has instituted a one-year youth service to help its trainees acquire more skills that can be helpful to them in getting jobs.

“…We understand that educated jobless youths can easily cause violence and that is why St Austin’s has created her own youth service, where after the students graduate, they enroll into the service for one year to acquire more skills, gain contract employment either home or abroad,” she said.

She said in this perspective, they have been working with several partners in Europe and in the United States of America, USA. Dr Chongwain went on to dress the Belgian Ambassador and his collaborators in the grassfields traditional attire, Toghu.  

Peace Ambassadors recognised

Besides the inauguration of the monument, some Cameroonian youth who have invested their energies in campaigning for peace were given medals as a sign of recognition and acknowledgment of their tireless efforts in fostering harmony.

Some of those Christian Achaleke, founder of Local Youth Corner; Fadimatou Iyawa, President of the Cameroon National Youth Council, CNYC, among others.

Prudence Noutcha, one of the peace ambassadors recognised during the event, said: “For over 15 years, we’ve been working in building peace in our country, that is why today we are privileged among many women who contribute to the fight for peace in Cameroon. We want to dedicate this medal to all the women who spend sleepless nights working to see that there is peace in the country” 

Students pledge to uphold principles of love, peace & unity

Going by the students of the higher institution of learning saluted the construction of monument and pledged to continue to uphold principles of peace, love and unity.

“The monument is going to inspire us in so many ways because the school will not just train health personnel but those with good moral character and good behavior,” Genesis Suh said.

His thought was corroborated by his schoolmate, Mukongmbah Brenda, who said: “I think that this monument is passing a message to us that we need to live in peace, study in peace and approach everyone around us with peace”.

It should be noted that SABUIST is a Yaounde-based private higher institution of learning which went operational in 2020 and offers training in various fields of medicine.

It is currently operating in the Jouvence neigbourhood in Yaounde VI Subdivision, with construction of its main campus said to be going on in Afanayo.