Just wanted to send out a quick request: we have set up a Google site for Nkumu Fed Fed that will serve as their main organizational website for the time being. It is, of course, a work in progress that the women here will be consistently updating, but please check it out and send us your feedback!

http://sites.google.com/site/nkumufedfed/

Thanks!

Though long overdue, the following series of posts document meetings Johanna and I have had over the last few weeks…

The North West Province of Cameroon is separated into 7 separate divisions, and NFF reached out to each during its HIV/AIDS awareness campaign. Drawing women leaders from the many groups across the province, NFF trained key stakeholders in each community calling on women to take the lead in addressing the rampant spread of the disease.

What we learned after sitting down with representatives from a few of the divisions, in three parts:

I. The Women of Nkum

Two weeks ago, Johanna and I traveled to Tatum, the council seat for the Nkum division, to meet with the Deputy Mayor who had been trained at an NFF workshop last year. Taking what he learned from the sensitization seminars back to his division, the Deputy Mayor passed on the information to several leaders of women’s groups across Nkum. Among them (grant me some leniency with the spellings) were Fajimatou and Ngoram Salaamatou from the Salaama group of Tatum and Miro Dodo, representative from the village of Mboscuda (Women pictured above, left to right respectively). Aja Salaamatou, from the village of Kuvlu and who also attended the Deputy Mayor’s training session, joined us later.

The women from the Nkum region represented a unique sector of Cameroonian society—the Muslim population. Primarily Fulani women, connecting with them during the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign was critical to addressing the varying cultural differences present across the province. During our discussion, the women outlined how the training played out, what they learned and their ideas for improving the program.

Following their training session with the Deputy Mayor of Nkum, the women traveled back to their proper communities and shared their new knowledge. They also gathered women from neighboring villages to disseminate the information to regions that had not had the opportunity to send representatives to the Nkum training. In this way, the NFF sensitization workshops had widespread and exponentially increasing coverage as both trainers and trainees extended their advocacy base. At their meetings, the Nkum representatives encouraged rural women to go for regular check-ups and testing, cautioned against continuing widowhood inheritance practices* and advised them to bring their own tools when visiting traditional healers (who commonly use and reuse blades to pierce skin and draw blood).

As far as improvements for the trainings were concerned, the women called mainly for expanding the program’s reach. First, they noted that children need to be well informed and future workshops should reach out more to youths. Additionally, they needed more advocacy materials (i.e. posters pictured above), which would have been that much more useful translated in local languages, namely Pidgin.

Tackling cultural practices and believes is a difficult endeavor and will not be done overnight. The efforts Nkumu Fed Fed has put into motion, reaching far into the North West Province with the help of these women of Nkum, however, is starting to make change.

* Traditionally, the brother of the deceased will ‘inherit’ the widow, taking her on as a new wife. Problems arise when, for example, the cause of death is unknown and the widow risks bringing the disease into the new marriage.

On Friday, July 31, 2009, the Delegation on Women’s Empowerment from Yaounde came to Balitown to celebrate the 47th Edition of the Pan African Women’s Day. Held at the Bali Grand Stand in the center of town, the festivities included traditional music, dress, and dance and skits that highlighted the roles women play in Cameroonian society. Clad in their own traditional fabrics, representatives from all the women’s groups of the North West Region came together  to honor the African woman and, as fellows working with one of the most active women’s groups in the province (Nkumu Fed Fed), Johanna and I were invited to attend and participate.

Themed “Combating the Exploitation of Women and Girls,” Friday’s event included speeches, activities and demonstrations that called on men and women in Cameroon to take up the fight against inequality and discrimination. In his closing remarks, Governor of the North West Region Abakar Ahamat discussed difficulties women face across the country and the need for all Cameroonians to show better appreciation and respect for what women bring to society.

Governor Ahamat presided over the ceremony, exalting the women who are fighting for a better future for Cameroon and working for women and children’s rights in almost every way imaginable. From activists against child trafficking and denouncers of FGM and breast ironing to women’s rights and empowerment advocates, the gathering of such strong and motivated women was a truly awe inspiring experience.

During the celebration, the Women’s Empowerment Delegation awarded several NGOs prizes in recognition of their hard work and dedication. For its achievements in combating child trafficking, Nkumu Fed Fed won the top award!—a 14-inch TV that will go to NFF’s Gwan Multipurpose Center, the transitional home for victims of child trafficking.

The event also included a fashion parade that honored the cultures and peoples of Cameroon, paying tribute to the many contributions women make to their families, communities and country. Pictured above is a reenactment of the heavy load women must carry during a typical day of work in the farm, emphasizing their constant support of one another.

As a minority in the state and living primarily in the extreme north, Muslims in Cameroon are often times overlooked as key stakeholders in the nation. Above, a Fulani woman marched in the parade, representing the women of north Cameroon.

Participants also reflected on the cultural practices that hinder women’s freedoms and rights. For example, in the performance depicted below, a woman is being forced into an unwanted marriage as a narrator explains how the bride was not consulted and her opinion not taken into account as the arrangement was made.

Below: A traditional dancer of the NW performs in the parade

Closing the ceremony, the women marched together in solidarity. (Johanna and I marched with them, alongside the Nkumu Fed Fed federation!)
[Sacrifice Sign]

Finally, following the march and demonstrations the women finished off the celebration with traditional music, drums and dancing.

The video below has a few excerpts from the vibrant and colorful festivities of the day.

As Governor Ahamat quoted in his final speech, ”there is a woman in everything great,” and I would have to agree. ☺

As part of their Vital Voices supported HIV/AIDS advocacy campaign, Nkumu Fed Fed (NFF) held sensitization workshops on the harmful effects of certain cultural practices, training representatives from 70 other women’s groups. Each representative was then able to take the new knowledge back and share it with other members from her own organization. One woman, Clotilda Andiensa, attended the trainings on behalf of the Bamenda based Global Education & Environment Development Foundation, or GEED. Last week, Johanna and I had the opportunity to sit down with Clotilda and three other members of GEED to discuss their own mission and activities, and how effectively the NFF campaign played out.

Above: Clotilda Andiensa speaks with Johanna and me at our meeting with GEED. In the background are two HIV/AIDS awareness posters produced by Nkumu Fed Fed. These materials were critical components to NFF’s advocacy campaign.

Established the same year as Nkumu Fed Fed, The Global Education & Environment Development Foundation has been working to change the conditions for women in Cameroon since 1996. Over the past 13 years, GEED initiatives have reached out to women and young girls, providing education on health, leadership skills and conflict management, to name a few. Using a gender sensitive approach, GEED promotes social justice and development by fighting for and defending human rights.

Inviting GEED to participate in the HIV/AIDS awareness campaign was a natural partnership for NFF, given their common interests (see previous post I fine for sabi for NFF’s mission and vision). During our meeting, Clotilda told us what she took away from Nkumu Fed Fed’s training and how she felt NFF could improve for the future.

The primary objective of NFF’s workshop was to sensitize participants on how specific cultural behaviors facilitate the spread of HIV/AIDS and, as the GEED women remarked, NFF hit its mark. They learned, for example, that polygamy increased the potential for new partners whose status is unknown to bring the disease into a marriage. Furthermore, the NFF seminar discussed the excessively lax attitude people of the North West (and all of Cameroon for that matter) have towards HIV/AIDS, not getting tested often enough or before getting married. The workshop then explained that cultural traditions cause major problems as well, such as the Njumba Market Days. During these Days, all the young people gather together in the center of town, finding various sexual partners. On the eve of a Market Day, wives go to the houses of their boyfriends while husbands wait at home for their girlfriends to arrive— a traditional, acknowledged and accepted spouse-swap, creating a dangerous environment and allowing HIV to “spread like wildfire in the dry season.”

As far as recommendations for improvements on the trainings, the GEED women had some very interesting insight. First, they mentioned that while training women leaders helped create awareness, the campaign would have had a far greater impact had NFF focused on training youth, in particular young girls. Additionally, NFF did make an effort to include traditional rulers (called fons) in the project, but as GEED pointed out, fons don’t work alone. They are individuals surrounded by a system and environment constructed to protect and enforce cultural traditions. Therefore, getting in touch with fons directly is an important step, but GEED discussed the need to train the enforcers of traditional practices as well (i.e. traditional councils, healers, etc.).

It is important to understand that changes in culture will come gradually, but with NFF’s efforts and GEED’s advice, the campaign is on the right track.

Spending 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 5 weeks with one person can have one of two results. You either begin to morph into one being, or you both end up dead. Thankfully, Johanna and I seem to be leaning towards the former, which explains this week’s posts. As our time in Douala comes to an end, we decided to present a brief, yet comprehensive view of what we’ve been up to and what UCOMAS is all about. In two parts, our posts excerpt the documentary we produced while working with the union.

Johanna’s blog entitled “Assessment Phase: Understanding Women Traders’ Needs” profiles the women of the Sandaga Market, the problems they encounter and their need for more representation. In the face of “intimidation, manipulation, blackmail, and scams, [and] verbal, physical and sexual harassment,” as an opening sentence from the documentary explains, “they (women traders) must fight to secure the functioning of their commercial activities in order to improve of the conditions of their lives and those of their families.”

In the video below, I present a short introduction to the story of UCOMAS and its future. Vital Voices Global Partnership, a DC based NGO, partnered with Mme Kah Walla to launch the AMA Women Project whose goals were to empower the women traders and bolster their efforts at improving market conditions. After participating in the AMA Project’s leadership and advocacy trainings, the women decided to come together and “speak with one voice” to make change. Thus, you have: UCOMAS

We have also set up a Google site for the organization. Please check it out and give us feedback!

Sites.google.com/site/ucomas/Home

Eric Dongmo is not, of course, a member of UCOMAS. He is, however, an integral part of the union and indispensable to its success. As a co-manager of the AMA Women Project, Eric has been involved with l’Union des Commerçantes du Marché Sandaga since its inception and is as committed to its future as any one member of the executive bureau.

From the first day, stepping off the airplane and being greeted by a big sign with our names splashed across it, Eric, and his big smile, has been a constant presence in my and Johanna’s lives in Douala. He is always first at the market, working all day everyday with the women traders, helping get UCOMAS off the ground. As the primary contact between the director of the AMA Project Mme Kah Walla and the women of UCOMAS, Eric is not only aware, but also sincerely dedicated to every aspect of the association’s goals. He has been the primary resource for all UCOMAS trainings, has spearheaded each project (both enacted and planned) and has guided UCOMAS’ growth from the very beginning. But even more impressive than Eric’s devotion to his work is his genuine interest in promoting this cause and empowering the women in Sandaga.

Over the past five weeks it has become very clear that Eric is not just a strong supporter and facilitator of UCOMAS, but is in fact the CORNERSTONE of its stability. As I mentioned in a previous post, the creation of UCOMAS was a pragmatic decision. Academic theory aside, it was understood that better treatment of women, who are large contributors to the Cameroonian economy, would only serve to benefit society as a whole. Although he is a man and not a trader in the Sandaga Market, Eric fully appreciates the worth of investing in women and ensuring equal access to opportunity.

I don’t want to give the impression that Eric is an extremist, constantly ranting or rambling about the issues. To the contrary, he is a very clam and collected individual who is just very aware. It’s incredible to see the relationships he’s developed with the women of UCOMAS and, while asking for nothing in return, he continues to work tirelessly for a better future for all.

The second installment of my 2-Part post concerning the importance of being sur le terrain, or in the field.

Part 1 was a general reflection on the critical missing link between on-the-ground situations and development agencies’ headquarters. This second partie is less a discussion of the work, but more of the life “on the ground.”

Part 2: Living It

First, the women of UCOMAS, from the executive board and general members alike, are taking real ownership of this association. While young, the Union is not just an idea for them, it is something concrete that they know has real potential to succeed. Two weeks ago I attended the General Meeting of UCOMAS, which was my first opportunity to meet UCOMAS members outside the executive board. What was striking and so impressive about this meeting was how it compared, or really contrasted, to réunions I have participated in in the US. At work and at school I have been to numerous staff and club meetings that have the same routine: lots of discussion that may or may not result in decisions, many of which are of little consequence. The point of such gatherings are typically just to touch base with colleagues, make sure everyone is on the same page, or because club charters mandate it.

With UCOMAS, the tone, atmosphere and intent are completely different. Here, members actively participate, presenting their own ideas and combating others. General Meetings are viewed as opportunities to make real change in the association and are used as such. Members see the potential UCOMAS has to improve their conditions in the market, approach each meeting with a pragmatic eye and will debate each detail, no matter how small, until the point is resolved, decision made and put into practice.

Second, day-to-day life here teaches you things that would otherwise be isolated to the classroom. In our interview with UCOMAS president Adelaide Foute Tega, she talked about the significant, but unacknowledged impact women have on the greater Cameroonian economy. She continued with a very matter-of-fact discussion on the importance of girls’ education and the need for UCOMAS, not just for the current traders, but more importantly for future generations as well. When she made that point, there was no pretense in her voice. No theory. No fluff. It was fact: “I am doing this for this reason.” For Adelaide, improving living conditions, opportunities and equality for women and girls is practical, necessary and readily apparent. Just by living her life she came to the same conclusions as the Nike Foundation and their Girl Effect Campaign, or the World Bank and its Gender Action Plan (“Gender Equality as Smart Economics”), but she did it without a PhD in development theory or econometrics. This is not meant to discount efforts made by the international community in addressing gender equity. To the contrary, development theory has now thoroughly addressed and accepted the vast importance of advancing girls’ opportunities to improving general living conditions. But it took years of varying economic theories and programs, years of trail and error, to come to that realization. Adelaide and the women of UCOMAS know it because they live it. It just makes sense; it’s truth and very much needed.

Initiated by the women of Sandaga to work for the women of Sandaga, UCOMAS is the result of people who, aware of their surroundings, were willing to come together, stand up and make change. Below is a short introduction to UCOMAS— to some of the women who made it happen and why.

The meaning of the title of this week’s post is two-fold—While my intention was to write solely about the immense importance and utility fieldwork has for development, I ended up reflecting on working “sur le terrain,” as well as living it. As a result, I offer you both in two parts.

Part 1: The Work

Last weekend I was with some colleagues who work at STRATEGIES!, the marketing consulting firm that created the AMA Women Project, and had a lively conversation with one girl, Marilyn, who is very passionate about development and the future of her country. We were discussing methods different international institutions use for development work and she could not emphasize enough how critical she felt being on the ground, or ‘in the field,’ was to the success of any development program. ‘Fieldwork’ is a buzzword I’ve heard since I began development studies in school, but it wasn’t until I got here that I realized how vital seeing it really is.

Perception is everything.
From an objective point of view, working with UCOMAS is an exceedingly small, focused endeavor. For example, locals outside of the market and the AMA Project, namely those I’ve met at the Catholic Mission, view Sandaga and the women who work there as relatively unknown, menial and negligible in Douala.

Additionally, in the larger scheme of development work, UCOMAS appears narrow and overly specialized. Vital Voices, an organization that works in Africa, Latin America, Eurasia and the Middle East and North Africa promoting human rights, women’s business networks, women’s political advocacy and female health care, gave grants to 31 projects in 13 countries across Africa through one of several grant programs, the Bill & Melinda Gates Pan African Women’s Advocacy & Leadership Fund. One of those 31 grants went to Mme Kah Walla, director of STRATEGIES!, to launch the AMA Women Project, which intended to train and empower the women of Sandaga Market. L’Union des Commerçantes du Marche Sandaga (UCOMAS) was an outgrowth of the AMA Project, coming together to defend the rights of women traders in the market. In other words, one project in one region funded through one grant program sparked the creation of a women’s association in one market in one city of Cameroon.

When you’re here, though, the view is much different. I can’t put it any other way than just that there is so much to do. The obstacles the women face in the market are daunting. Just to name a few, they are manipulated by market officials, harassed by their male counterparts, deal with deplorable working conditions, have no access to toilets or potable water and are forced to waste large amounts of produce at the end of each day. In an effort to confront all these issues and more, UCOMAS has already drawn up plans for numerous activities, including the construction of toilets inside the market, a cleanliness program that will equip members with brooms to clean their selling spots, installation of a refrigeration unit for conservation of their fresh produce, and several technical and advocacy trainings— again, just to name a few.

To add to the difficulty, the Vital Voices grant is nearly depleted and the contracts enlisting Eric and Annick’s help with the Union end on June 30th.  First, Eric and Annick  (the managers and facilitators of the AMA Project) played intricate roles in the creation of UCOMAS and are indispensable to its future success. They have taken on so much responsibility and offer so much outside knowledge and expertise that it would be impossible to transmit everything they know to the members of UCOMAS, or even just to the executive board. The association is still in its very beginning stages and without Eric or Annick its future is very uncertain.

Second, as Eric has remarked time and time again, UCOMAS desperately needs long-term investment to help it get off the ground. One of the largest problems plaguing the world of development aid is lack of sustainability, and I fear UCOMAS will be a clear example of why. A short-term grant, while well-intentioned and appreciated, is not sufficient to start a new organization up from scratch. The dangers of offering such help are the repercussions of false promises; because a smaller grant is not enough to create and stabilize a new association, it instead brings in the ideas, expectations and hope for change without adequate means to accomplish it. Then, in the face of disappointment, people become disillusioned and resistant towards future help. The brevity of the UCOMAS grant is not the fault of Vital Voices or the AMA Women Project. In fact, both Vital Voices and AMA achieved what they intended to and then some. However, the fragile state such success has left UCOMAS in is indicative of a disconnect between aid-granting institutions and circumstances in the field.

As Marilyn said, “il faut être sur le terrain,” (It is necessary to be on the ground). And she is so right.

Workdays here are characterized by a lot of waiting (for people, for electricity, for internet…), giving us a lot of downtime and ample opportunity to have many interesting conversations. Every conversation I’ve had in the past 2-½ weeks, it seems, has included a mention of corruption in one capacity or another and has shown me just how aware and engaged the people I’m working with truly are. Many of these problems, complicated by a colonial past, permeate Cameroonian society and directly influence UCOMAS.

Now, before I get into the meat of my post, I have to make a disclaimer:
*The following is based off of personal conversations and opinions, and is not meant to be taken as hard fact or with any political or partisan intent. Just read it for what it is— a glimpse into how problems, circumstances and history are perceived and understood by the people I’ve met.*

From the scramble for Africa in the late 19th century, through WWI, II and the Cold War, to modern day capitalist intervention, formerly occupied regions have struggled to find stable and independent ground, and Cameroon is no exception.
Even after the wave of independence that swept through Africa in the 1960s, and despite appearances of subsequent reparation and recompense, the controlling influence of the West has not been and can never be fully removed. Among the most common problems Eric, Johanna and I have hashed and rehashed is the degree of foreign presence in Cameroon’s economy and culture.

On the economic front, primarily French and American corporations have mastered the art of exploiting natural resources in Cameroon, exporting loads of raw materials without cultivating a manufacturing industry in the country. Eric gave us several examples, one of which was eerily (or expectedly) similar to the well-known Firestone controversy in Liberia. I say eerily because at the time of this conversation, I was reading This Child Will be Great, the memoirs of Liberian president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. In her book, she documents the Firestone Tire & Rubber Company’s extensive exploitation of Liberian land and people, exposing how corruption, intimidation and pressure gave the company so much leeway, and the right to continue as-is until 2025. Although Firestone was not a product of colonialism, its treatment of Liberia reflected the colonial mentality of western imposition and exploitation of Africa. The example Eric described was that of an American company that extracts rubber from Cameroon’s ample reserves, but as he explained, the tires are made in China. It’s reminiscent of the same colonial dynamic, only justified through new means.

Colonialism left its mark on culture as well. Last week Johanna and I attended a conference at the Centre Culturel Francais (CCF) on the Rights of the Child in Cameroon. When we told Eric about the event and what we heard, he offhandedly made a comment about how it was the French cultural center that was conducting a seminar on Cameroonian issues. Commendable, yes, but he found it upsetting that the CCF is very well known in Douala, as is the German cultural center, but no one is aware of a small Cameroonian cultural center in Yaounde— the French and German organizations are much more popular.

Furthermore, the languages spoken in Cameroon expose another relic of colonialism. Of course, French is the dominant language spoken in Cameroon, directing business and government. However, the country’s colonial past left it with a bizarre and complicated mix of Anglophone and Francophone regions. As a minority group, English speakers in Cameroon are marginalized and excluded from services as a result of a language barrier within their own country. Citizens of the same state are separated along linguistic lines, making communication between countrymen and women exceedingly difficult.

Such barriers are prevalent in Sandaga as well. The market, which is separated into sectors according to product, service or other factors, has one sector allocated specifically for merchants from Anglophone Cameroon (mostly from the city of Bamenda). The woman pictured above is an English-speaking trader in Sandaga, and while women already confront numerous constraints in the market, the Anglophone workers have the added language barrier making communication that much more strained.

Janet Atam (above), the secretary of UCOMAS, was born in Limbe, an Anglophone village only 40 minutes outside Douala. During UCOMAS’ General Meetings and at each executive board meeting, Janet has to take extra time to clarify and translate points made during the discussions. I’ve noticed that some other members become frustrated when Janet asks follow-up questions, but everyone knows it is absolutely necessary, both for Janet’s knowledge and for transmitting the information to the other women in the Bamenda sector. Despite their efforts, though, Janet’s ability to contribute and participate is hindered by her native language, making UCOMAS face this obstacle in addition to all the rest.

Because the varying languages are an accepted aspect of day-to-day life in Cameroon, the problems they create are easily dismissed. However, in an effort to give UCOMAS the best possible future, such problems must be identified, understood and addressed.

I am struck each day by the unbelievable courage, strength and power of the women Johann and I have been working with in Douala. For nearly a week and a half, we have listened to their stories, learning about their lives and the obstacles they face everyday.  I hope this post does not come across as over-the-top, but what the women here are struggling to do deserves every bit of it.

Because one of our objectives for UCOMAS is to produce a documentary that presents the purpose, need and future of the market women’s association, we have been conducting interviews with each of the members of the UCOMAS executive bureau. Even though we ask the same questions to every woman, (Describe your typical day at work. What constraints do you face in the market? What obstacles do you encounter as a woman? In Sandaga, in general, how are your interactions with the men? And so forth…) each perspective is different and each response gives me a new found appreciation for what these women are attempting to accomplish.

During a typical day, they wake up at 4 AM, spend 12 hours in the market, then go home to clean, cook and take care of their children and families. That stripped down and shallow depiction alone is worthy of enormous respect. However, the conditions for women in Sandaga market are much more complex and daunting. Officials from the Communauté Urbaine, for example, abuse their positions of authority to manipulate the commerçantes, making women pay almost 8 times the legal amount in taxes and other fees. Sanitation is non-existent—no potable water, no toilet facilities, and no way to conserve their produce or keep their sectors clean.  Rapport with the men is also harsh, oppressive and at times dangerous. The market women are generally perceived as inferior to their male counterparts, and are treated as such. They are given the less desired places to set up shop in the market, are victims of verbal and physical abuse, and are often harassed.

When we asked why UCOMAS was created, the women were very clear. And very strong. As many of them described, they are coming together in solidarity and together, with one voice, standing up to defend their rights and themselves. This is not an easy task, and they have already confronted much resistance. The environment in Sandaga is not accustomed to such a show of force and UCOMAS is doing something groundbreaking. During one of our first interviews with Adelaide Foute Tega, the president of UCOMAS, Adelaide discussed the barriers the association has already faced and candidly said something pretty striking in response. We had asked her if she had any ideas for UCOMAS’ future and her answer was powerful— if they have support, someone who can defend and help THEM, UCOMAS has the potential to be very, very strong.

UCOMAS has much to do and a lot of potential, but they are still in development and need help.  Adelaide is not the only person who recognizes this weakness; AMA manager Eric Dongmo has been preoccupied with the same problem. At the beginning of the fellowship, AP requires that we solidify a work plan, which outlines what we hope to accomplish by the time we leave. When Johanna and I covered our work plan with Eric, he was extremely interested and persistent on going over our plans to outreach to other international organizations for financial and structural support for UCOMAS. It has become increasingly clear to me that one of Eric’s biggest worries is the financial and long-term security of UCOMAS; they desperately need continued help and they are counting on our communication support to find more opportunities. I am determine to do the best I can and hopefully leave UCOMAS stronger than I found it.

Also, upon request–Check out our progress via Flickr photostream at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/advocacy_project/sets/72157616999219583/