Partnership: Success of the fundraising campaign lead by the IPAG Business School students

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Our 6 favorite students from IPAG Business School set an objective to raise € 3,000 (USD 3,380) for our charity. Over the course of a few days only they managed to reach that goal and decided to let the campaign alive and collect even more funds. This crowdfunding campaign was a great success and we cannot thank them enough.  We naturally extend our thanks to all the generous donators. Thank you all for this support that means a lot to us.

Thanks to this initiative € 3,293 were collected and will allow the purchase of school items and school uniforms for the children of the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA), but also contribute to cover school tuition fees and teachers’ expenses. The 2020-2021 school year looks auspicious thanks to Louise, Julie, Francois, Quentin, Osman and Nathan.

Serge Betsen is joining all of us at the SBA team to thank you warmly.

Translation by Marc Fayemi

Health emergency alert: immediate closure of the SBA centres because of the coronavirus pandemic!

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic and following the Cameroonian government’s statements of 18 March, we have decided to close the Serge Betsen Academy (SBA) centres until further notice. During this time, our on-side teams will put in place an alternative support scheme for the children and their families.

On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) upgraded the status of the COVID-19 outbreak from epidemic to pandemic. We therefore responded by strengthening further hygiene procedures in our centres and by training our staff and the children. For example, we walked through protective behaviours and reviewed how to wash hands effectively. We encouraged everyone to share this information with their friends and family.

Unfortunately, coronavirus has been spreading in Cameroon and its borders were closed on 18 March. The COVID-19 pandemic is serious and unprecedented threat.

The SBA board therefore convened on the same day and decided to close all centres, to help limit the spread of the virus, and to protect our children, their families and our staff.

The managers of our centres are in close contact with the SBA board members to take all necessary measures as quickly as possible. We will organise disinfection of the centres and an alternative scheme for food assistance. Each child has already received rice and peanuts so as to benefit from an allowance equivalent to meals served at the centres.

Children of Jardin Eden with their bag of rice and peanutsBag of peanuts

Bag of riceChildren waiting for their bag

We invite you to protect yourself and others by following the recommendations of Cameroon’s Health Ministry and to note the emergency numbers below: 

Emergency numbers

Here is also an article describing the symptoms that coronavirus triggers. We invite you to review it to take appropriate action were you to become infected: https://www.who.int/health-topics/coronavirus#tab=tab_3

You will also find below a reminder of protective behaviours everybody needs to adopt, including with family:

  • Wash hands very regularly;
  • Cough or sneeze into your elbow or in a tissue;
  • Use disposable tissues and bin them at first use;
  • Greet people without shaking hands or hugging.

Finally, here is a reminder of how to wash your hands effectively by the WHO:

Above all, be careful, take care of yourself and those around you and of your country to limit the spread of the virus. Best wishes to all!

Event: A great fundraising rugby event in St Palais!

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On February 2 in St Palais, Xabi Comets organized a rugby day raising funds for our charity. USD864 were collected to help our underprivileged children in Cameroon!

 

 

We would like to warmly thank Xabi Comets for organizing this charity day which highlighted the actions of our charity. It was a great opportunity for us to be presented to your partners and members. Thank you also for organizing a raffle and for giving us a beautiful cheque after the matches.

 

 

We also take the opportunity of this blog post to thank Nelly, our faithful volunteer from the South West of France and her mother-in-law. This event won’t have been possible without you! Thanks for introducing SBA during the lunch and for selling SBA goodies and bags, cases and wallets made of recycling rugby balls to the participants.

 

 

Thank you all for your great support and for your interest in our charity. The raffle tickets made USD772 and the sales on the stand, USD92. It was a beautiful charitable rugby event!

Our success stories: Djanabou is a 27 year-old girl who is learning to read and write at SBA!

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Djanabou is a 27-year-old Muslim woman who lives in Yaoundé. She wanted to learn to read and write but could not afford to go back to school, so she got in touch with the Jardin Eden center to ask for help.

Nadège, Manager of the center immediately welcomed her in the center and started to teach her how to read and write! The young woman has been attending the center every day for the last 8 months and has made tremendous progress since her arrival!

At SBA, we are proud of offering support for all without exception and we encourage girls to make their dreams come true and to do as well as boys. We believe in the potential of African girls and women and fight for their education and the establishment of a generation of equality. Empowering girls and changing mentalities are crucial.

On the occasion of the #WomensInternationalDay on # 08March2020, we are happy to honor Djanabou and her fight for an access to education.