BWC GREENING THE CITY OF YAOUNDEbetterworld-cameroon.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/BETTERNEWS … · 5TH EDITION OF GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY EVENT OF OUTREACH AND PAGEANTRY sens Commemorative

BETTERNEWS

September & October 2012 Edition

In this Edition:

Progress on Operation 4000 trees project (Pg. 2) Green Heart Of Africa’ (GHOA) Global Initiative

Project (Pg. 4) Global Handwashing Day Celebrations (Pg. 5) Plastics – A huge problem that can be a good

solution (Pg. 7)

B E T T E R W O R L D C A M E R O O N

B P 3 0 8 0 1 Y A O U N D E

2 3 7 7 7 8 9 1 5 8 0 / 2 2 6 8 0 8 0 9

f o u n d a t i o n @ b e t t e r w o r l d -c a m e r o o n . c o m

w w w . b e t t e r w o r l d - c a m e r o o n . c o m

BWC GREENING THE CITY OF YAOUNDE

Visit of the Mayor of Yaoundé III Council to BWC head office, Yaoundé, to monitor the level of progress of the tree planting project (Pg. 3)

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BETTERNEWS

VISION IN ACTION B.P 30801 Yaoundé – Tel.: (237)77891580 / (237)22680809 – Registration Nº.: 00117/RDA/JO6/BAPP

Web site: www.betterworld-cameroon.com – Email: foundation@betterworld-cameroon

EDITORIAL

ECO-VILLAGE PROJECT GAINING INTERNATIONAL VISIBILITY

The visit of the Welsh Assembly volunteers to Better World Bamenda (BWB), Ross Hunter (Climate Change expert) and Caroline Deroy (Human Rights expert) is a stepping stone to Better World’s environmental conservation campaign in the regions. Ross expressed his divinely interest in the Eco-village project and will to visit the site. He said: “It was really good to talk to you and Joshua earlier today. The projects that are in place or planned as part of Better World Cameroons work are extremely interesting and often very forward looking - and I look forward to learning more about this. If it is possible to visit the eco village I would be keen to do so.” Both of them are ready to work with the project in a bottom-top approach to waste management in the North West Region of Cameroon. This has gone a long way to give impetus to our Eco-village project in particular and visibility to Better World Bamenda as a whole.

From the Organizational profile chart on page 8, the project stakeholders can be seen.

The BetterCoop (Better World Cooperative society) for farmers of maize, fruits and cassava was also created as a means to bring small and medium scale farmers together.

BWC Bamenda therefore serves as a breeding ground for the right contacts and relationship for Cameroon’s Eco-village initiative.

MBAH Sonita NEH

BWB team and representative of BetterCoop lead the Welsh Assembly volunteers to visit the Eco-village project site in Bafut and plan possible ways of collaboration

Ross Hunter and Mbah Sonita discussing Bamenda Waste Management Strategy

With Caroline Deroy, discussing Women and Gender issues

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PROGESS ON 4000 TREES PROJECT

In our last edition, we promised giving the level of advancement of the aforementioned project executed by BWC as technical assistant to the Yaoundé III council. it must be reiterated here that this project falls in line with law No 94/01 of 20th January 1994 of forest regime whereby article 33 stipulates that in every 1000 inhabitants, a green space of 800m² must be created.

The objective of the project is to maintain the ecosystem as means to mitigate climate change hence contributing to the well-being of the population. The results envisaged to satisfy this objective are: creation of an industrial nursery, tree planting, education for sustainable development in schools and communities, sensitization, mobilization and raising awareness.

BWC and council administrators decided to start the nursery at the BWC head office at Tam Tam. As of now, with the coming of rainy season in Yaoundé, the nursery is doing great. 100 Eucalyptus, 100 Cypress and 300 Moringa oleifera are ready for transplanting (As seen in the photos). So far, advanced negotiations are currently going on with some public institution where these trees shall be planted. Among the places contacted, we have the University Teaching Hospital (CHU), Advance School of Administration and Magistracy (ENAM), Lycée d’Efoulan, Lycée Generale Leclerc and College Saint Benoit Mvolye. Our target is to plant at least 800 trees by December this year.

Sampson NUVAGA NTANGTANG

The project shall create great impact to the well-being of the population by creating employment, reduce greenhouse gases, embellish the city and protect nature as well.

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VISIT OF YAOUNDÉ III COUNCIL MAYOR TO BETTER WORLD CAMEROON

This impromptu visit saw the Mayor of the Yaoundé III Council, Mr. Etienne OTELE and his Secretary General, Mr. ASSIGA Richard making a stop at Better World Cameroon (BWC) head office in Tam Tam Yaoundé on the 1st October 2012. There was a brief meeting which started at 2:20pm with main objective being for the Mayor to visit the nursery for the operation 4000 trees project (First phase to be done by BWC is 1500 trees in 1 year).

Sampson NUVAGA, Project Officer of BWC, gave a report on work that has already been done including the challenges faced that caused the nursery to be started in BWC compound. He equally listed a number of institutions where he had visited to ask them to express interest for them to be given trees to plant, as some are ready to be transplanted. These institutions include schools, hospitals and offices within the Yaoundé III Council jurisdiction. Each of them will receive 50 trees to start with as a means of mitigating climate change and green the city. So far, 14 institutions have expressed interest giving a total of 700 trees to be given out.

He then visited the nursery and was very impressed with the work done so far. He said : ‘La visite de ce jour nous a permis de voir l’œuvre accomplie dans la protection de la nature. L’objectif est louable. Nous somme de tout cœur avec vous et nos encouragement vous accompagnent’.

He recommended that more Moringa oleifera be planted for its amazing nutritional and and medicinal values. He also promised to donate some seeds to move the project forward.

ATABE SENGE Laura

Mayor of Yaoundé III Council expressing his

impressions about the project

Doranta (Yellow bush) nursery The BWC team presenting the Moringa

nursery

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BWC JOINS WWF TO LAUNCH ‘GREEN HEART OF AFRICA’ (GHOA) GLOBAL

INITIATIVE PROJECT

WWF CARPO (World Wide Fund for Nature, Cameroon Regional Progamme Office) is looking forward to coming out with a youth strategy whereby youths in Central African Sub Region will engage in matters of Sustainable Development. Through this, youths shall become agents of change and promote green economy. It is on this note that BWC was invited on 13th September, 2012 at the Benedictines Monastery, Mont Febe alongside other civil society groups to discuss the way forward of the project.

After cross pollination of taught and ideas amongst participants with the rich participation and contribution of BWC, who was given a pride of place because of more experience and knowledge in the subject matter, the workshop ended in a satisfactory note as we wait the implementation phase early next year, 2013.


Projects Officer

Through these principles, formal, non-formal and informal education for sustainable development (ESD) will be taught in schools and communities.

Results awaited shall be: use of innovative technologies to improve sensitization, education and youth motivation to change habits.

At the workshop, BWC was represented by the two delegates, the Director, Joshua Konkankoh and the Projects Officer, Sampson Nuvaga Ntangtang. The strategy to be put in place shall be to mobilize 60% of youths in Central Africa Sub Region through sensitization and mobilization to

Make a difference in the protection and conservation of the Congo basin forest. This shall be achievable by developing the capacity of youths to bring change that shall lead to economic development while ensuring sustainable management of natural resources. The project is based on three principles which are: sensitization, education, and mobilization of the youths.

Working session of WWF and NGO

on GHOA project

All NGOs present at the workshop

WWF representatives

BWC representatives (at extreems)

with WWF representatives (in

middle)

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BETTERNEWS



5TH EDITION OF GLOBAL HANDWASHING DAY

EVENT OF OUTREACH AND PAGEANTRY

Commemorative activities marking the 5th edition of the Global Hand washing Day celebration on the 15 October 2012, was marked with pageantry and outreach. BWC, under its WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) program together with OSEAUNE, joint the rest of the world to create awareness and sensitization on hand hygiene under the theme “Help more children reach their 5th birthday”.

This year, BWC as a grassroots organization focused on the promotion of the simplest and quantum leap technique of hand washing that is affordable by all such that though there is water scarcity, and lack of means to procure conventional hand washing gargets, even a child in the poorest community should be able to properly wash his /her hands. That’s why during our activities in schools, we taught pupils the fabrication and use of tippy taps. They are made out of simply plastic bottles and ropes which are always available. With a plastic bottle filled with water and corked, create a hole at the bottom edge of the bottle. Water flows from the hole once you open the cork just as opening a normal tap. This technique was very pragmatic and gained the attention of many pupils, teachers and parents.

As the government focused its activities in government schools, BWC on the other hand prioritized private primary, nursery and secondary institutions around Yaoundé 3 and 6 council areas. Schools involved where; Basic Education Foundation, Posterity Academy, Government Bilingual Primary School Biyem Assi, MADA, Groupe Scolaire Belinga Fouda Ramses, Franky Academic Complex, Ecole Berceau des Anges, Complex Scolaire Bilingue Biyem Assi.

Representative of the Minister of Water

and Energy launching the Global

Handwashing Day Celebration

In collaboration with the Ministry of Water and Energy, and UNICEF, activities started on Wednesday, 11th October 2012 with the launching at Ecole Publique Olezoa under auspices of the secretary general of the Ministry of Water and Energy. Thereafter, as the minister traveled to the North Region for the celebration proper, BWC remained in Yaoundé and created the biggest sensitization caravan that never existed in the previous editions.

Government and school officials showing

the good example of importance of hand

washing

Pupils performing a theatre piece on the

importance of hand washing

Pupil washing hands with conventional

hand washing gadget

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BETTERNEWS



HIGHLIGHTS OF MY TIME IN THE NORTH WEST REGION

My time in the North West Region (NWR) was magnificent - My first days and first impressions (when I went in July 2011) is that it was cleaner, greener, and friendlier than what I was use to in Yaoundé. Being in the North West felt good - I was welcomed by everyone I met. People spoke English which was easier for me, but I also got to learn some Bafut words, while living in Bafut village, which is a treat for a language lover like me. Also, there were more opportunities to learn about culture and history of Cameroonians, learn about what other NGOs are doing, and opportunities to collaborate with them.

Many good things happened during my stay in the North West - mainly the partnership with NWADO (North West Association of Development Organizations) being strengthened and BWC having a stronger presence in the North West, thanks to Joshua Konkankoh’s diligence making the long journey from Yaoundé to Bamenda every other week. We also managed to request VSO cluster/volunteers for Bafut Council, one of BWC’s key partners, whom I had the pleasure and privilege of being with for four months.

Some of the other accomplishments I remember with fondness are visiting BWC Bamenda’s new office space and brainstorming on the project for the orphanage and garden, and giving a presentation on strategic planning and innovations in African agriculture to MBOMIFACIG, a newly established mixed farming group (CIG) in Njinikom, and ACTWID, a long-time NGO assisting rural farmers, women, and children. I continue to communicate with the presidents of both organizations online and provide consultations.

I very much miss all the good people I know in Cameroon and wish them all success in their endeavors to make their communities and country a better place to live.

All Good Things,

Hye Mi AHN

(BWC OD Advisor)

The activities were highly mediatized in the state media, CRTV over one radio (Morning safari) and two TV (Monday Show and Hello!) programs. BWC had technical assistance worth 100 sensitization posters and one carton of medicated soap (Pharmapur) from UNICEF and the ministry of energy and water. Activities ended in a satisfactory note with the conception that more children shall reach the age of five with of course the help of adults.


Pupils being taught how to make and use tippy taps in hand washing

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BETTERNEWS



PLASTICS WASTES – A HUGE PROBLEM WITH POSSIBLE SOLUTION

The city of Yaoundé produces waste at a rate that outpaces its capacity to collect and dispose it in a safe and environmentally sound manner. Plastic wastes in our streets have drifted nowourdays from being just a social curiosity to a developmental problem. Waste plastics emanating from consumption of mineral water, drinks, biscuits etc. parade and pollute our streets and mark their heavy presence mostly in water channel where they block water course causing flooding. Consequence is loss of and destruction of property, outbreak of cholera and breeding sites for mosquitoes and other pathogenic bacteria. Effects of this are more sickness, death, erosion and pollution of the environment.

The pilot project will investigate the consequences of, and develop potential solutions to, the environmental degradation caused by increasing volumes of plastic film waste in Yaoundé. The strategy to be put in place seeks to achieve sustainable plastic waste management practices that aim at: bringing methods of minimizing the production of plastic waste at source. Initiating programs for stimulating a sound material cycle society that is based on the 3R approach of Reducing, Reusing and Recycling.

The evolution of the strategy shall go through the following phases.

After studying the problem, BWC in collaboration with Commonwealth Office at the Ministry of External Relations is mounting a project to recycle plastic wastes. This project shall have as objectives to eliminate plastics on the streets by giving it an economic value and creation of jobs for young Cameroonians.

PHASE I: The Inception Phase: Consultative meetings between stakeholders, NGO, CBO, Ministries of Basic Education, Commerce, Scientific Research etc, that shall lead to the validation out of a national strategy thus the development of a comprehensive plastic waste management strategy for the City of Yaoundé that will act as a pilot case study for other local authorities in Cameroon and the rest of Africa. PHASE II: The Situation / Baseline Analysis: Each of the three stakeholders, consumer, and producer and waste management groups shall undertake a situation/baseline analysis that identified waste management issues, its related problems and challenges and how they can be overcome. The syntheses of these findings form the basis of this comprehensive plastic waste management strategy. PHASE III. Stakeholder validation: The draft strategy document is validated and circulated to the relevant stakeholders for final validation under the context of the pilot project. Expected outcome for this pilot phase is to come out with a validated document of a national strategy on plastic waste management. Thereafter in the next phase, Yaoundé shall be used as a text of strategy. Through this strategy, we shall involve youth’s organizations and CBO, NGO to collect plastics and sale at recycling points created around the city of Yaoundé.

We strongly believe our goal of giving an economic value to plastics shall help reduce pollution our beautiful city.

Sampson NUVAGA NTANGTANG These plastic bottles can be recycled

and reused to make them useful in

other forms

Pastics that clog the rivers and

streams cause flooding in the

neighbouring quarters

Plastics find nowhere else to go but

the gutters

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DOH Marceline Secretary General

AWANTU Grace Board Chair

SUH Joseph Board Member

BETTER WORLD BAMENDA ORGANIZATIONAL CHART

AMBE Comfort Board Accountant

BOARD: ROLE: Define Policy and Development strategies; Identification of Sources of Finance & Approving Plan of

Actions; Evaluation and approval of Technical & Financial Reports

SUH Prisca AWANTU Board Member (P.R.O.)

KONKANKOH Joshua NGWA Director/Founder

NEBA Godfred CHEFU Board Member

SUH Alvina NCHANG Health Specialist

STIRING COMMITTEE: ROLE: Monitoring & Evaluation. Researching potential funders in Africa, Asia, Europe, USA and locally

Elizabeth NCHANG Adviser

AMBE Joseph Business Adviser

ATABE SENGE Laura Permaculture Specialist

Ryan McEldwain (Peace Corps) Agro-Forestry Engineer

MBAH Sonita NEH Social Marketing

Sean Rogers IT Specialist

NEMBONGWE Isaiah Research Officer

BETTERWORLD EXECUTIVE BUREAU(Graduate Volunteer Staff) Talented career professionals with a record of success in previous accomplishments in youth development & social enterprise development in

Cameroon committed to offering voluntary services. ROLE: Day to day management. Implementation of policy. Suggestions and Reporting.

NGUEPDJOP Glwadys V. Staff

ATABE NZUME Vincent V. Staff

Sussana AGBOR WASH Field Worker

Benice WIRDIN MOSONI E-Learning Specialist

KOH Malcolm V. Staff

Paul CARTER Environmental Engineer

NUVAGA Sampson Project Manager

Hye Mi AHN VSO OD Advisor

MEMBERS REPRESENTATIVES (Volunteer Staff): ROLE: Inclusiveness, Creativity, Innovation and participation

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Plastic recycling project with Ministry of External Relations

Commonwealth

Eco-lodge project with the Commonwealth Department of the Ministry of External Relations

Ndanifor Permaculture Eco-village in Bafut

COMING SOON!!!

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