Ordinary people doing extraordinary things in the Far North of Cameroon

A day spent with these ordinary people doing extraordinary #initiatives in the Far North region of #Cameroon.

+1. Aminatou: Internally Displaced Person #IDP, who came from Kongola, a village that lived through multiple #BokoHaram suicide bomb attacks. She came with her family to #Maroua to find #Peace, and she did. Plus work at the #IDPgoods production unit, to make bags, sandals & gadgets #MadeInCameroon 👌 >>

+2. The other #IDPs I met, who fled from #Fotokol and #Mora to find refuge in #Maroua. At the IDP-goods production unit they are using rudimentary tools to make shoes/bags. Still they now have: a new #Livelihood, #Community & relatively more #Security.🙌 >>

  

 +3. Ibrahim Djagra: #CVE champion from Mora 💪. Ibrahim made brochures in more than 10 local dialects + in English, French & Arabic, to engage ppl to identify #BokoHaram elements. Ibrahim's NGO distributed these posters in schools, markets & villages of the Far North - attacked by #terrorists, to say "No to Boko Haram." >>

+4. Mme Bakary : producer of Njaren Yogurt. Her yoghurts are so well done that she was invited to the 2016 International Agropastoral Fair in France.🙆>>

+5. Aboubakar (Youth leader extraordinaire),works with 100s of youth to help

em find alternative activities to joining radical groups. Along w Rosine Yan'none, Solange Telanou, & Mme Bakary they have implemented an onion agriculture project that has empowered youth of #Kaele, #Doubbel, #Koza and #Makilingai with tools & means to earn a living for their families & push #poverty away.🙌 >>

+6. Solange Telanou (the sista of her sista 😆), rising star of the Far North. Engaged, committed and always serving.🙏 >>

+7. Brahim Moussa, youth leader. President of the Youth Entrepreneurs of the Far North ("Cercle des Jeunes #Entrepreneurs de L'Extreme Nord") Works w/ thousands of youth in the region who start small businesses. 😎 >>

+8. Mme Kelou Tchouin, aka Mme Sahel Yaourt. Two years ago she was producing 600 liters of yogurt per day, and even exporting to #Chad & #Nigeria. Today, due to instability her #business isn't doing so well. She has pivoted to making chewy snacks w sesame+honey+baobab 🙌

 

I don't know about you, but I'm so hopeful about the future of this country. With such bright minds, dedicated citizens, resilient people, unsung heroes and sheroes, no matter how disfunctional the present may look like, in this land of promise and land of glory, we shall rise. We shall see a vibrant, progressive and a functional #Cameroon in our time. Of that, I am hopeful !

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