By:
Bakah Derick, Blogger at Hilltop Voices
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Plan sponsored children in Fundong with their trainer and a project staff.
Credit: Plan / Konda Delphine
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During
a recent visit to Fundong in Boyo Division, Northwest Region of Cameroon, I
came across a group of over 15 children in a tailoring workshop. Admiring the
passion and commitment with which they go about their activities, I decided to
speak with Mr. Liansah Banaki Amos, proprietor of the workshop named ‘Benchmark
Diligent Tailoring Complex.’ Married and a father of seven, Mr. Liansah, 48,
told me he has been practicing tailoring for 27years. Enquired on how he got
these many children as apprentices in his workshop, Mr. Liansah said ten of
them are Plan sponsored children under the Psychosocial Support project of Plan
Cameroon. Amongst these 10 Plan sponsored children are 9 girls and one boy who
have indicated interest in learning the vocation.
It
was a busy working day and all the children had something doing; measuring,
cutting or sewing. Referring to the
conduct of the children, the proprietor said, ‘the workshop has rules and
regulations that must be respected by all the children. When they come to work
every day, they join me in what I am doing and they are allowed to ask
questions. I also evaluate them and during break, I make sure that they only go
out in groups for security reasons’.
Amongst
these children is 19-year old Nelris, who treks at least 3 hours on a daily basis
to and from a village called Ngwah to get to Fundong where her training
workshop is located. She leaves with her mother since her father’s death and
believes with tailoring she will be able to assist her mother and other family
members. Even though she could not continue her secondary education after the
death of her father, Nelris told me she is happy with what she is doing. She
further notes that her happiness is motivated by the support of a sewing
machine, assorted materials, scissors and other working equipments received
from Plan Cameroon through the Psychosocial Support project. She concluded our
conversation by saying that although she is grateful for what Plan has done, she
beseeches Plan to further assist her with an iron to facilitate her sewing
process. Following further enquiry on how these children were selected, Mabel
Wandi, the monitoring and evaluation assistant for Plan Cameroon’s psycho-social
support project explained: “They are
first and foremost children benefitting from the Psychosocial Project on the following
criteria: orphans, abandoned children, children affected or infected by HIV
Aids, children with one or more disability, etc. Children belonging to these
various groups and who drop out of school are then registered for the vocational
training’ she continued. It is hoped that through this training, children
like Nelris will master the vocation and get a sustainable livelihood in the nearby
future.
(*Name
of individuals except Plan staff have been changed)
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