On Saturday 28th June 2020, the Association for Training and Rural Development (ATRUD) in partnership with Coeur D’amour went to a local neighborhood in the city of Douala precisely Makepe Missoke to reach out to the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). These IDPs have been in this locality since 2016 after they fled from the crisis-hit zones; the North West and South West regions of Cameroon.
They have been hosted for all these years by a good Samaritan, Chief, Dr. Mofor in his compound. The over 100 IDPs, most of them women and children, have been faced with various challenges like illnesses; typhoid, malaria, body rashes, chicken pox in children etc., lack of food, lack of education and lack of jobs. These challenges have even led to the death of some, in spite of the efforts of their host.
Team ATRUD, considering all what they have been going through, and abiding by our motto which is “Changing Lives and Empowering Communities”, went to preach a message of hope to them. “We told them that they still had a future, despite the hardship and the troubles they were going through” said ATRUD’s General Manager E.L Tabot, leading the team at the ceremony. Team ATRUD in partnership with Coeur D’amour, put together an AID package of mostly food items: rice, pasta, onions, maize, beans, vegetable oil, maggi, garri, tomato paste and salt. In addition, the package also had toiletries and some medication.
Speaking at the reception ceremony, the host, Chief, Dr. Mofor thanked the two NGOs ATRUD and Coeur D’amour wholeheartedly for the gesture of goodwill towards the suffering people and asked the almighty to replenish the efforts of the team in their humanitarian projects and their kindness towards mankind.
On a personal note, ATRUD’s General Manager expressed the wish to have some of the IDPs trained in income-generating activities that could help them sustain themselves instead of waiting for AID packages from donors. Skills like hairdressing, sewing, ICT, baking, farming, etc., petty trading like fish roasting, plantain chips, etc., would all go a long way to improve the livelihood of these unfortunate victims of the ongoing crisis in the country.
It is our desire to teach them how to fish for themselves rather than always providing them with fish.
Team ATRUD,
Reporting from Douala
