Getting Kids Back to Class in Cameroon

In Canton Bidimba, eastern Cameroon, children have long abandoned the classrooms in search of precious minerals. A non-governmental organization, FODER, has begun the Promess program, in partnership with the village chief and are on a mission to tour mining sites to sensitize parents on the merits of schooling their children. “Through our various awareness-raising activities, we have gone out into the field on many occasions to raise awareness among parents, most of whom have their children on mining sites, showing them the importance of education, and its impact on their children’s future’’, said FODER official, Sodéa Philipe. The programme has yielded positive outcomes, one school has welcomed 130 pupils, while there are still 20% of the children working on gold mines in the village of Yassa Canton Bidimba.

SOURCE: AFRICA NEWS