Teen Mother Empowerment in Cameroon

Hello again and greetings from Buea, Cameroon!

This week’s report is dedicated to presenting you with some
of our Tole teen mother’s faces!

Our mothers love pictures, and what 20 year old does not? Tell
me about it!

In an effort to make this portal a place where you can
become more familiar with the community you are so amazingly impacting, I asked
some of our Tole Teen mother’s to pose for the lens of my camera, and share
with you a little bit about their life stories!

I now present to you amazing smiles in action:

This beautiful woman you are about to see in picture # 1  is Shalord Ngong, She is
21 years old, and her baby girl is 1 year old. Shalord dropped out of school
when she was in fifth grade because her father, a local farmer, was not able to
sponsor her studies. Left with no education and little known skills, she did
not know nor understand the responsibilities of becoming a woman. Left without
supervision lead her to get pregnant from a man who filled her with love
promises but who now barely sends food for the baby. But, Shalord has discovered
that life can actually smile to you, she is eager to go back to school and
become a pediatrician down the line! You go Sharlord!

Emelda Ambouchou in picture #2 is also 21, but her story is a little
different.  Beautiful Princess Lyra, her
baby was born 1 year and 10 months ago but was not able to meet her father. He
had abandoned Emelda after finding out she was going to have a girl and not a
boy. In Africa the stigmas of fathering a woman as your first child are widely
present up to date. School for Emelda was sadly not one of her priorities, and
after failing to successfully complete her latest grade, she was vulnerable to
the unsupervised life abundant in these rural villages.  However, there is something she is passionate
about and that is the use of computers and expanding her horizons. Emelda wants
to be part of an ICT program and see new cities outside of her village!

Finally, We have gorgeous Nadage Mbah in picture # 3, with only 19 years of
age, she is the mother of a 1 year old baby girl. Nadage and the baby’s father
live together, but this doesn’t mean her life is any less complicated.
Currently, the mother and her child are facing serious malnutrition problems
and perhaps other complications due to the absence of food and the proper care
giving knowledge by both parents. Nadage is a work in process as we are working
on teaching her the importance of attending school. We hope she can continue
her studies and perhaps become an entrepreneur in the tailoring business!

On other Updates:

We continue to make great progress in the minds and souls of
this young community. Last week, the Teenage mothers of Tole joined our stuff
in a Yoga session, which main purpose was to teach them the importance of a healthy
life style and the benefits of caring for one’s body.

Our class was filled with laughs and satisfaction. Even
though this was a whole new practice for all of them the response was exceptional
and contributed to the building of their group identity.

Infinite thanks for your support and please continue to
spread the amazing changes happening in this devoted  community for change!

Love,

Social Development International  

As part of our program in empowering the Teenage mothers of Tole village, we wanted to cultivate a culture of respect, democracy, transparency and cooperation among these future entrepreneurs!

The best way to make such an accomplishment was by promoting democratic elections among the participants and electing their executive board which will be representing them before the different service centers in the south Division region of Cameroon.

When planning this activity our team was far from imaging the great impact of our intentions. As we entered the church hall where our meetings usually take place we encounter a group of: “ready to get their game on” young democrats!

Their response was exceptional and within a matter of minutes we had candidates for all positions.

As the voting progressed, we were allowed to get a better picture of how much this initiative means to them in an environment where the majority are not given the opportunity to participate in civic activities.

                “Now that we are given the opportunity to manage the finances of the Tole teen mothers, we will take it as a challenge to manage the funds and welfare of our members”-  Clara  Amboki, Tole Teen mothers’ treasurer.

These weeks donations were outstanding! Let’s keep up our support in creating a brighter future for these young mothers!

Thanks to your invaluable support, our teen mothers of Tole are able to enjoy an atmosphere where they come together and learn the importance of caring for them and their children. Sensitizing them by providing them balance choice of refreshments and the appropriate resources to be part of these amazing changes

We are presently working with a group of 70 + young Women. Every week we have been able to recruit new participants through our emerging leaders! This is amazing!

Next week our teen mothers will join us in yoga and other exercises session. “Sport” as they called it is an important aspect at their age and an incentive to understand the benefits of a balance lifestyle.

Links:

• Teaching Entrepreneurship Advocacy to Teen Mothers in Cameroon