Disaster Response Cameroon Project #34366

Emergency support to displaced families - Cameroon

by Reach Out NGO

Project Report | Jan 22, 2019
Report on Humanitarian Activities Oct-Nov 2018

By Marc Serna | Humanitarian Aid Coordinator

Dear Partners,

Thank you for your amazing assistance so far.

The conflict continues to escalate, with the totality of the South-West being affected by shootings, kidnappings, roadblocks, and general insecurity. More than 300,000 people are still displaced, fleeing away from their villages and towns.

Moreover, most of them are in hard-to-reach places and forests controlled by armed groups, making any intervention highly risky. Our staff is trying their best to reach those most in need, often at a high personal cost.

With regards to your project, we are still trying to raise a significant amount that we can use to provide basic assistance to at least 40 families in one conflict-affected locality through unconditional cash transfers. Please share this project with your friends to help us reach that goal.

There’s more you can do. Please talk about what is happening with your friends and acquaintances. It might help raise visibility. In case you are interested about to know more about the crisis, these are some recent media clippings:

https://allafrica.com/stories/201806140151.html

http://www.africanews.com/2018/05/18/cameroon-army-employing-targeted-killings-us-tasks-biya-to-show-leadership/

https://www.journalducameroun.com/en/britain-wants-deamocratic-solution-anglophone-crisis/

In the meantime, we have raised support from international partners to carry out other humanitarian activities.

These last three months, we also took part in the following humanitarian activities to help palliate the crisis:

Helped more than 5000 families (+30,000 people) living in hidden camps in the forests of Mbonge and Kumba, with Hygiene and Sanitation Kits (Water treatment product, buckets, cups, soap…), contraceptives and Birthing Kits.

Helped 480 displaced families in the conflict-affected locality of Muyuka with basic household items and construction items to rebuild their burnt houses.

Began distributing multivitamins to displaced pregnant women and de-worming pills and vitamin A to displaced children under 5 years of age.

Distributed food to 40,000 vulnerable displaced people in Kumba.

Note: For some of these activities, we cannot provide pictures due to the highly sensitive nature of our activities.

Thanks very much for your support.

distribution of multivitamins to pregnant women

de-worming and vitamin A

Links:

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Oct 8, 2018
The war is getting worse. Thank you for being there.

By Marc Serna | Humanitarian Aid Coordinator

Akwaji

Dear donors,

With 246,000 displaced persons in the South-West Region and about 100,000 in the North-West, we are doing our best to help as many people as we can. Thank you for giving us the strength to continue.

Those of you who supported our first project already know we gave cash transfers to 22 families. We have so far raised 566 dollars, and we are waiting to raise a bit more before we go for the second batch of families.

Although the conflict has made the people supported to displace themselves again to safer locations, we are still in touch with many of them. One of them is Akwaji.

Akwaji was actually one of the two natives of Tole whom we supported. The reason we chose her was that she is taking care of 9 displaced children and adolescents. “They are my brother’s children, he died some years back. The mother sent them from Ekona when the war got bad there. We speak every week, she prefers the children to be with me for now. She is in the forest.” A month ago, Akwaji too had to move with the children to a nearby village. “It got dangerous in Tole. I’m now in Likoko.”

With all the difficulties, your helped made an impact on her. She has doubled her weekly expenditure and is not experiencing hunger on a regular basis anymore. She used a substantial portion of the grant to invest in a small business (vegetable trading), improved on everybody’s feeding and even got birth certificates for two of the children, who lost them in the course of running away. She is very grateful and was excited to share the improvement of her business and life in general. “Have you not seen how much weight I’ve gained?”

This is what we want to continue doing. Even in the midst of the horror around us, there are things that can make it a bit better, or make it less bad. Akwaji’s nephews will feel the difference right to adulthood. Like Akwaji’s, we have many families waiting to receive support. We have shared some of their stories social media and will continue to do so. This is part of our effort to make this conflict more visible. (You can check out here, here or here. Please, do share!)

These last two months, we also took part in the following activities:

Helped more than 1,800 families (+16,000 people) living in hidden camps in the forests of Mbonge with Hygiene and Sanitation Kits (Water treatment product, buckets, cups, soap…) and mosquito nets.
Helped more than 220 pregnant women living in these same communities with Birthing Kits to give birth in the best conditions. (Thanks to Birthing Kits Australia)
Helped 290 displaced families in the urban areas of Fako and Meme with household items. (200 of them with support from the International Rescue Committee)

So as you can see, we are not idle. International organizations are supporting us to carry out some emergency relief projects. But this project is the most important one. While all the other ones provide in-kind help, it is cash that is most needed. To pay rents, transport their families, take care of their health and start businesses. Nobody is tackling those problems and you can’t solve those problems “in-kind” in an efficient manner.

It is only with your support and the support of others like you, that we can give those families a real chance to start their lives again. So please, share this project, talk about this war, and consider donating again.

P.D: All depicted persons or their guardians gave consent to use their image in our communications.

Water treatment demonstration

Question and Answer before distribution

Family with household items (Mat, Blanket, Pots..)

Distribution in Limbe

Thank you!

Links:

Our facebook page

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