East Region: Refugees, locals benefitting German Cooperation’s economic, social interventions.

Beneficiaries have through the life-changing schemes, notably received material assistance to setup income generating activities and other supports to facilitate the establishment of birth certificates and acquire effective healthcare services.

These revelations were made by the local populations, refugees and authorities of the region over the weekend. This was during the visit of the German Cooperation-led 15-person media delegation which recently concluded its tour of the East Region.

The team had also toured the Centre, Littoral and West regions to take stock of what Germany has done in Cameroon in the last 60 years. The objective has been to get the pressmen up to speed with the development strides of Germany in the country.

The presence of the press delegation in the Region from July 12 to 14 marked the last three days of a two-week mission to highlight Germany’s development achievements in Cameroon in the areas of health, good governance and the sustainable management of natural resources. 

The East Region lap took the delegation to some seven projects and areas that have benefitted from the largesse of German Cooperation. This included the health centres in Bertoua and Mandjou and the East Regional Fund for Health Promotion all in the Lom and Djerem Division.

The delegation visited refugees and persons living with disability in Timangolo, Kette Subdivision; the civil status registry centre setup at the Timangolo Integrated Health Centre as well as a cooperative of cassava sausage “Bobolo” producers in Batouri all in the Kadey Division. 

A charcoal production centre in Mandjou engaged in an efficient, climate-friendly recovery of industrial sawmill waste financed by the German Cooperation as part of its efforts to handle the sustainable management of natural resources was also visited. The facility tackles climate change and its effects.

Timangolo population inspired to embrace timely birth registration 

Low birth registration has for years been reported to be one of the major challenges faced in the East Region where there has also been a huge presence of refugees fleeing the crisis in neighbouring Central African Republic in the last 10 years. 

But the phenomenon is gradually changing thanks to several interventions, one of which is from the German Cooperation.

At visit to the Timangolo civil registration centre Saturday July 13, the Secretary of the structure, Mohammadou Sadat, told pressmen that the birth registration situation at the facility has greatly improved. 

Mohammadou said the change is thanks to the putting in place of the facility at the disposal of the community by the German Cooperation in collaboration with the Kette Council.

Per the Mohammadou, the presence of focal points brought in by the German Cooperation as part of the collaboration has greatly contributed to mentality and behavioral changes.

These, he stated, accounts for the increase in registration at the recently established centre which offers free registration for children of ages ranging from zero to three months. 

Mohammadou said the population is increasing becoming aware of the value of such a document both to the children and the families concerned.

“I must say the situation has greatly improved. We made the population to understand the importance of the document to them as parents and their children,” he said.

Mohammadou also said the locals are sensitised on the importance of registering their children at birth so as to save themselves of the stress of having to travel to the divisional headquarters in Batouri before getting it done after a long procedure.

Scheme bringing results beyond birth registration 

Didi Rougayatou, one of the focal points of the scheme brought in by the German Cooperation for the project said the scheme is bringing in positive results that go beyond just the primary target of birth registration. 

“I was trained in gender transformative approaches and then in awareness-raising techniques. We raise awareness in our community about psychosocial issues such as gender-based violence, early and forced marriages, gender equality, positive masculinity, the importance of birth registration procedures and so on,” Rougayatou stated. 

Timangolo also benefitting economically 

Besides the birth registration efforts, the German Cooperation has also been engaged in creating income-generating avenues for both locals and refugees in Timangolo.

The work which falls in line with the institution’s activities in the health, social protection and demographic policy pool of its projects in Cameroon, saw refugees, locals and persons living with disability in the community participating in the ‘Cash for Work’ scheme.

The scheme entails the population engaging in small-scale activities where at the end, the participants receive funds to setup income-generating activities of their preference and handle other personal needs. 

Inna Fadimatou, a Cameroonian living with disability in the locality told pressmen that she has received financial supports from the German Cooperation on two occasions and diligently used funds. 

“This project special in the sense that even persons living with disability like me had a role to play in the community activities. I looked after the babes and belongings of some people who were working and sometimes, I clean,” Fadimatou noted.

The first payment gotten through the scheme, Fadimatou revealed, was used to repair her adaptive footwear.

The beneficiary said she saved part of it for as capital “which I used to start a business in the sale of haberdashery articles like sewing thread”. 

According to Fadimatou, the second payment helped her in acquiring a sewing machine which has since been a reliable source of income for her despite the challenges arising from her situation.

“A humanitarian partner trained me on how to sew a long time ago but I didn’t have a sewing machine. So, I rented one for a year which I paid for 5,000 FCFA per month. After the cash payment, I paid an advance of 30,000 FCFA for six months,” she disclosed.

Fadimatou said with the machine and her business, she is able “to take care of myself, refurbish my house and finance other basic needs”.

The beneficiary expressed gratitude to the German Cooperation, the Kette Council and the government of Cameroon for putting smiles on her face and those of other persons going through similar challenges in life. 

‘Bobolo’ producers in Batouri hail German Cooperation  

In the Divisional headquarter in Batouri, the German Cooperation has since the start of this year, effectively engaged in improving the economic situation of cassava sausage producers known widely in Cameroon as “Bobolo”. 

According to the president of the beneficiary cooperative, Baton Camp, the group which is made up of 11 women including nine locals and two refugees, received technical support from the German Cooperation aimed at increasing their production capacities and income. 

“The German Cooperation taught us how to work as a cooperative. Formerly, we were an association and it was not as effective like it is now,” said 42-year-old Mballa Epse Ayissi Yvette who is founder of the group. 

“We now produce more. We now produce about 2,000 “Bobolo” per week and are hoping to more than triple that in the future. Besides that, we now, also manage our financial resources well thanks to the skills gotten from training,” the president of the group, Omboli Ernestine, added.

Per the founder, the group now “uses some of the funds made from the business to setup other income-generating establishments for our members”. 

She says the cooperative remains grateful to the German Cooperation and is looking forward to having more assistance, this time in terms of the provision of modern production equipment. 

Other beneficiaries express gratitude 

Like the other beneficiaries of the different schemes initiated by the German Cooperation in the East Region, health officials and business operators receiving supports from the German institution expressed gratitude.

Dr Floribert Mabouli Nkomon of the East Regional Fund for Health Promotion, said his structure has received assistance of several types since it started working with the German Cooperation in 2014. 

Notable among them, he detailed, is a sum of 130 million FCFA received between 2020 and 2022 to pushback the COVID-19. 

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue No:3169 of Monday July 15, 2024