BENEFICIARIES
Discussions were held with the representatives of more than 30 groups
(representing about 3,000 women). Most expressed concern about the spread
of eucalyptus. Many of these women who want to benefit from the project
were not included in the programme because of funding limitations.
There was a hope, at the time the project application was submitted,
that the awareness created during implementation would lead some of
the more affluent owners of eucalyptus trees, not included in the project,
to cut down their trees without any financial incentive. One such owner
visited expected to obtain a greater financial benefit from changing
the use of his land to agricultural purposes. This trend is expected
to increase as the damaging effects of the eucalyptus, and the benefits
of the indigenous trees, become more widely understood and appreciated.
There was a concern that the Government and the local Water Authority
may start to enforce legislation requiring eucalyptus owners to cut
down their trees within certain catchment and farming areas at their
own expense. This would cause much hardship for poor sections of the
community. In fact, many people would be unable to meet the costs involved.
Beneficiaries were actively engaged in the management of the project
and a large number of women appear to have gained confidence from their
involvement in setting up their own credit union co-operatives. The
co-operative network is also giving women a sense of common purpose
and a facility for the exchange of ideas. Also, an encouraging development
was the extent to which women had been supported in this initiative
by their husbands. For example, by providing a building in which women
can meet regularly (usually once a month), building benches on which
products bought in bulk can be stored and supplying drums for palm oil
storage, etc.
Ideas on how the network could operate as an entity were being explored
especially with respect to the potential of bulk purchasing allied to
a co-operatively owned shop in Kumbo.
Through their membership of the '21st Century Bamenda/Kumbo Forum, several
women had also been actively involved in drawing up draft Local Agenda
21 strategies for sustainable development. This is gradually facilitating
a constructive dialogue between community groups and local government
bodies.
All of these initiatives were clearly giving women a greater say and
an active involvement in the decisions which influence their lives.
MONITORING PROCEDURES
A survey carried out by the women's' co-operatives prior to the start
of the project (relating to a population of approx 189,000 and the felling
of 1.5 mil eucalyptus trees) established the following:
- Springs which
have dried up during the dry season: 676
- Water stand pipes which have dried up during the dry season: 208 (27%
of the --total)
- Women walking long distances to farm: 63,875
- Women whose walking distance will be greatly reduced if 1.5 mil trees
are felled: 56,750
In order to relate
the above figures to the project, divide by 3.
The monitoring procedures
and standard forms being used by the SHUMAS staff are providing the
following information:
- Springs which
recover during the dry season (over 5 years)
- Flow measurements and water level recordings at selected catchment
outlets
- The numbers of women able to farm closer to their homes as a result
of the project
- The numbers of eucalyptus trees felled in each of the farming and
catchment areas
- The numbers and species of seedlings in each of the tree nurseries
plus records on their care
- and germination
PROBLEMS
At the time of the visit, some problems were being experienced
with the chain saw contractors. The old chain saws being used were breaking
down frequently and using more fuel than the new chain saw purchased
by SHUMAS. The contractors were not using the kind of safety measures
that are common practice in the UK and such measures might prove difficult
to enforce.
The greatest problem
experienced by SHUMAS was associated with the donation of a landrover
by MIVA (a Swiss organisation).
The vehicle had been held by the Customs Department in Douala for three
months despite a recommendation from a senior minister that all customs
charges be waved. SHUMAS senior staff had suffered grossly unreasonable
procrastination by Government officials and had made several wasted
journeys to Douala and Yaoundi in trying to secure the release of the
vehicle.
The land rover should have been available for the effective administration
of the project. SHUMAS had been fortunate in obtaining a small jeep
for the price of a new motorcycle (as provided for in the project) but
this was not well suited to the very poor road conditions. The rent
of a landrover would cost at least £25 per day (£375 per
month if used every other day). The Customs Office had also threatened
to charge storage fees in addition to duty on the vehicle (corruption
was suspected).
Corruption by many
internal security police is the common reality of life in the Cameroon.
Vehicles are often stopped and money extorted from drivers without valid
reason. Corruption was experienced during the monitoring visit when
two policemen intimidated SHUMAS staff for two hours during a visit
to one of the women's groups.
There is a vital
need for income generating activities to supplement the meagre income
that many women gain from agricultural activities. Women frequently
go without the basics of life, like soap, for many days at a time.
In some areas goats
are allowed to wander freely. This means that adjacent land owners must
fence their land to protect their crops. This problem is being partly
overcome by the availability of eucalyptus branches arising from the
project but nevertheless fencing adds to the cost of farming the land
and takes away the income that would otherwise be available from selling
the wood for fuel.
There is little
sign of severe malnutrition in the area, but most people are poor and
have few possessions. Homes are generally of basic construction, usually
clay block walls with corrugated steel clad roofs. However, improved
housing does not appear to be a main concern. The chief problems relate
to education and health. Most people cannot afford to pay for their
children to get a good secondary education nor pay hospital bills when
they are ill.
Missionaries have built a hospital in Kumbo but doctors are few.
Taxis are the chief
mode of mechanised transport but most people in the rural areas walk
- to work - to school - to meetings - to church. Travel is difficult
at all times because of the extremely poor roads. Government investment
in infrastructure has been meagre and most people believe the reason
is because this is an Anglophile area in what is a predominantly a Frankophile
country - taxes go out of the area but little investment in local services
and infrastructure comes back!
Dust is the main problem with travel in the dry season and roads are
often impassable during heavy storms in the wet season - landfalls on
some mountain roads are commonplace. Vehicles need frequent maintenance
because of the road conditions. People must wash frequently to keep
themselves and their clothes clean and yet piped water supplies are
erratic.
Those living in rural areas must collect water in buckets from distant
springs and streams (which are often polluted). This heavy task is usually
done by women and children. Many of the problems of diminishing water
supplies are attributed to the spread of eucalyptus trees as described
above.
THE WALK TO NKUF
Four women, who are to shortly benefit from the project, have had
to walk a distance of 15 miles to a remote area named Nkuf. Each time
they have been there they have stayed for up to one month sleeping in
small huts made of bamboo and grass with only a plastic sheet to cover
them when it rains. The area is low lying and, unlike the cool upper
regions around Kumbo, is occupied by mosquitoes, scorpions and snakes.
When the women return they carry whatever produce they can on their
heads.
On the 25th Mar 2001, Mike Thomas, together with three SHUMAS staff,
accompanied four women (two of them carrying small children) on their
last trip to Nkuf. They wanted to collect their tools and some of their
produce.
The journey started from the tree nursery on the hill at Kongir at 10.00
a.m.
The plan was to walk for three hours to a place where the jeep (taking
a longer route) would carry the party for the next three miles. The
rest of the journey would be impassable by vehicle.
The first part of the walk continued uphill and two more hills were
traversed before the meeting place with the jeep. The last descent was
down a stony path on which it was difficult to maintain a foothold.
There must have been a high risk of sustaining a sprained ankle on this
path when travelled at night. Many women walk through the night to avoid
the midday heat and a group of six women was passed at 10.30 a.m. returning
to Kongir and Kumbo.
The middle section of the journey involved a steep decent into a very
deep and remote valley. At this point the journey was stopped by a severe
thunderstorm. With storm clouds still showing ahead and the consequent
threat of damage to the camcorder, the main party parted company with
four women (plus a baby and young boy) who had then to walk for another
three hours before reaching their destination at Nkuf.
The stony road back was extremely bad and rarely was the jeep able to
travel at a speed greater than 5 m.p.h. This would have been a hazardous
journey at night. The failure to complete the walk was disappointing,
but in view of the failing light, the rains that stopped the walk might
have been fortuitous.
However, the main purpose of the walk was to record what it was like
for the women who had to make journeys like this on a regular basis
and this objective was achieved. A hut similar to the one used by the
women at Nkuf, was passed on the way back and this was filmed and photographed.
The general coordinator, Ndzerem Stephen, told me about four of his
experiences when he made this same journey as a child with his father,
and sometimes alone (his mother refused to go). They are worthy of mention
here -
1. He encountered
a large python whilst separated from his father who was-walking
ahead of him.
He ran and then stopped and called to his father . His father took a
circuitous route to meet him
and then found the people at a village who were expert at killing large
snakes. Stephen was
given the skin of the snake as memento of his encounter, but was unable
to eat snake meat
from that
moment on.
2. The second incident
also involved a snake. He was cutting long grass - holding the grass
with
the left hand whilst cutting with the right - when he accidentally caught
the head of a viper.
Fortunately the snake had just eaten a rat and was therefor unable to
bite him.
3. The third event
he remembered was an encounter with a group of monkeys. He ran from
one of
these who had stood up in front of him in an attacking pose.
He
recalled how his father used to make a bed from bamboo to reduce the
risk of night time encounters with snakes and scorpions. Because of
these incidents, plus the physical effort involved with walking (often
in the rain) and the farming activities, he was greatly relieved when
he went to school and no longer had to make these journeys.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
The slower pace of life that may often be apparent to the Western tourist
visiting Africa is deceptive. Most people get up early in the morning
and can be found still working late at night.
Also, in contrast to the casual dress so often apparent in the West,
Africans, especially women, take great pride in their cleanliness, dress
and appearance, but without ostentation. Women who form groups like
to have their own uniforms, which they wear for meetings and special
events. Most people dress well when they attend religious services.
Volunteers and other visitors to the area in connection with project
work, have all been greeted with warmth and generosity. Most groups
like to give presents to their visitors.
Working with the
staff of SHUMAS has been a rewarding experience for the FIOH Fund trustees.
Thoughtful and kind gestures have reinforced this bond and some volunteers
have come to regard SHUMAS as a part of their own families.
The modest house of Ndzerem Stephen and his wife Billian and their two
children was an OPEN HOUSE. Rarely were there less than 7 people, and
often 12 or more, in the front room of their house by the side of a
main road in the heart of Bamenda. Friends, family and staff members
move in and out of the house with ease and are always made to feel welcome.
SHUMAS staff work hard and the transition between work and leisure time
often appears blurred. It was very clear that some staff members had
to work long hours in order to facilitate the monitoring inspections
and on no occasion did anyone complain.
Many people from
the project area travelled to Bamenda (65 miles away) to attend the
Agenda 21 and co-operative Network meetings.
In addition to their
work to improve the lives of rural women in the Kumbo area, SHUMAS is
also involved in humanitarian work in urban situations in and around
Bamenda, Wum and Douala. More recently SHUMAS has been working with
young Moslem women in Douguia on the northern border with Chad and with
neglected men held in prisons in the Northern Province. Much of the
work in the urban areas is associated with sponsorship for the education
of children with poor parents and income generating activities for disabled
people. Three disabled people were interviewed during the monitoring
visit.
In 2000 SHUMAS supplied
cassava grating machines to 13 womens groups. This has greatly reduced
the workload and increased the incomes of women growing cassava for
conversion into the powdered state known as 'garri', a popular staple
food.
SHUMAS runs many training courses on animal husbandry and organic crop
growing methods and provides training, tools and equipment for disabled
people to set up their own small businesses.
