Over the last decade, EFA International has evolved -- from a dozen HIV-affected youth meeting under the shade of a tree -- to a regional movement of empowered advocates who are giving way to an AIDS-free generation in Northern Cameroon. EFA International in Cameroon is transitioning to become an autonomous, country-led organization. In order for the independent EFA Cameroon to be solidly on its feet, we -- the International Board -- are launching this capital campaign.
One in twenty Cameroonians are HIV-positive. In Northern Cameroon, illiteracy and poverty are further burdens. Pregnant mothers do not have the resources or knowledge to protect their babies from HIV. EFA Cameroon helps HIV-affected people by providing them with psychosocial support, referring them for medical care, and building their capacity to earn a livelihood. Its force of peer educators reach remote communities to educate them about HIV prevention and fight stigma.
EFA Cameroon's Youth Empowerment Network (YEN) connects HIV-affected youth and families throughout the Far North of Cameroon to promote knowledge sharing and leadership and build the overall organizational and managerial capacity of participating associations. A grassroots, locally-led mechanism functioning since 2007, it is led by a Coordination Committee composed of 16 elected members representing every association that EFA Cameroon supports.
Over the last decade, EFA has given hope to hundreds of HIV-affected families and educated thousands of Cameroonians about HIV. People are living longer, healthier lives despite their HIV status, and are supported by local, sustainable civil society organizations. Youth now know how to protect themselves from HIV by using condoms. An HIV-positive widow is no longer abandoned by her inlaws. Pregnant women are accessing the treatment they need so that their babies are not born HIV-positive.
