At launch of association: Minister Mbah Acha hails Global Women for positive impact on society.

The association is a group of women from the Batibo Subdivision, Momo Division of the North West Region, who are working towards combating drug and or narcotic addiction and redirecting street children to normal way of life. 

Minister Mbah Acha made the remark on the occasion of the official launch of the association, which took place in Bonaberi, Douala.

The minister said she had come to show her support to the women and join in eradicating the phenomenon of having children astray in our streets. 

Judging from statistics from the time the association was created, the Minister was amazed by the number of street children they have succeeded to draw into their rehabilitation homes. 

"The association started since 2022 and has been able to take more than 20 children from streets. You know how difficult it is to remove just one child, but these women are from Batibo Subdivision have distinguished themselves by doing something positive in the society,” she said.

“I think if everyone could put their hands on deck we will all eradicate this phenomenon out of our cities…so I am here to show them that I am willing to go along with them on their mission," the minister added. 

The vision to take care of the street children, according to the founding president of the association, Lima Janette Acha, was divinely handed to her in a vision. 

In her opening remarks, she said the Holy Spirit had instructed her to take of other ghetto kids if she wanted her own son to be free. 

"This thing came through a vision, because I also have a child who was addicted and I had been struggling with him for a long time, taking him to several places. So, one night I got a vision telling me that I can't be taking care of my own child when others are still out there. That's when I called some women and we created the association," she disclosed. 

With the mandate to get the ghettos of the country free from drug addicts, Lima Acha created Global Women for Moral Societal Vision in January 2022. Till date, over 20 children live at the association’s rehabilitation centre, while ten are now completely free from drug addiction. 

The women used the biblical gospel method to redress the paths of their targeted population. They suggest that, 80% of youth in Cameroon are drug addicts, creating insecurity. They added that most of the youth in prisons were incarcerated for possession and consumption of hard drugs. 

However, as the Bible instructs Christians to visit and care for those in prison, the members of the association have been actively doing so. 

They have vowed to continue to take care of the children and reverse the drug addiction syndrome in them. 

The youth received at the association’s rehabilitation homes are reinserted into the society after observation and clinically confirmed free from addiction. 

The Global Women have said, they are in need of support to carry on with their activities as they plan to create livelihood activities that would help the children have a better future.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3178 of Wednesday July 24, 2024