By Meg Dallett | GlobalGiving Intern
My name is Meg Dallett, and I’m an In the Field intern with GlobalGiving in Cameroon this summer. I’m traveling around the country visiting all the GlobalGiving-partnered NGOs, and I’m writing this postcard to pass on some of what I’ve seen to the donors who have given to this organization. ... Like so many other children, George Abang Tawoh grew up in an abusive home. As a young boy he saw his grandfather sell his aunt (also a child) into marriage to repay a debt, an injustice that always stayed with him. When he got his hands on a copy of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights in secondary school, he realized that his experience wasn’t the way life was supposed to be, and threw himself into readings and seminars on human rights theory and conflict management. Still in secondary school, he founded a nonprofit organization: the Association for the Protection of Women and Children’s Rights (APWCR) in Limbe, Cameroon. Now, APWCR responds to rights abuses of all kinds, using negotiation and reconciliation techniques to work within the system rather than antagonizing communities. APWCR works closely with local chiefs and women’s rights groups to identify problems and design solutions, and solicit feedback from other women on how they could improve their program. Their work is almost entirely self-funded through a nearby plantain plantation, where the staff raises and sells plantains to a women’s market group (and gives extras to a local orphanage). That’s why GlobalGiving donations mean so much to them—a sign at their plantation reads “APWCR PARTNERED GLOBALGIVING PLANTAINS FARM.” Unfortunately, George and his team can’t afford internet access frequently enough to do much online fundraising. But he’s not discouraged—as he put it, “I have a vision, and I don’t know how long it will take me to reach there, but I know I will reach it.” George and four of his volunteers took us on a long hike to the plantation, which involved (1) a road, (2) a grassy field, (3) a muddy forest, (4) a rocky beach, and (5) an ascent up an extremely steep plantain-covered hillside where George and Richard notched footholds for us with machetes. They even let us harvest some of the plantains with them! It was an exhilarating experience, not least because of Cameroon’s stunningly beautiful landscape. The trek also made us aware of just why APWCR is fundraising for a vehicle—that hike was hard enough without having to do it every day or carry huge bunches of plantains for 7 km. Even without much funding, APWCR is making a huge difference in so many lives. They told us about one woman who was cheated out of the land she should have inherited from her father for years because of her gender; when she asked APWCR to get involved, they got her land back within two months. Imagine what they’ll do as the organization grows!
By George Abang Tawoh | Project Leader
By George Abang-Tawoh | Commissioner of APWCR
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