The Journey

by Jessica Rimington


RESPECT INTELLECTUAL CLUB
Buduburam Refugee Camp
Ghana

Cady and I have just recently left Ghana where we were working with the RESPECT INTELLECTUAL CLUB of the Buduburam Refugee Camp. Cady has returned to the States. I am at an internet cafe in the Kilimanjaro, Tanzania airport waiting for One World Youth Project Board Member, Allison Graham to arrive. As soon as we have more frequent internet access we will publish more travel journal entires regarding the RESPECT INTELLECTUAL CLUB and our time at the Buduburam Camp. But, for the time being we wanted to share the Declaration to the UN that the youth of the club created as part of the One World Youth Project workshops. It is an amazing document...really a policy statement! Around 30 youth collaborated to write this document...completing it in one-day!

I hope you enjoy it....

RESPECT INTELLECTUAL CLUB

(An initiative of RESPECT Ghana)
Buduburam Refugee Camp
P.O. Box 46, State House
Accra-Ghana.

DECLARATION TO THE UNITED NATIONS ORGANISATION THROUGH THE ONE WORLD YOUTH PROJECT

After the connection from Jessica Rimington was tight with Mr. Anthony Macedo Barlee the need arose to establish Liberian refugee intellectuals from various schools in the refugee settlement to enhance and promote culture exchanges and have intellectual discussions on global issues such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns, etc. after the first meeting was held, the name RESPECT Intellectual Club was suggested. RESPECT; an acronym meaning Refugee Education Sponsorship Program: Enhancing Communities Together. As the name suggests, members of RESPECT are refugees who are ready to effect change. It is also an initiative of RESPECT Ghana. The club is a youthful club which age range is from 13 to 20 years. Some are high school graduates, high school students and junior high school students. The club which was established on 17 July 2005 seeks advice from some community leaders namely: Mr. Amos Deeahn Wright Teacher(RIC), Mr. Anthony Macedo Barlee, Programs Coordinator(RESPECT GHANA), Mr. Fred Ayifli, Country Coordinator(RESPECT GHANA) and volunteers of the steering committee just to mention a few.

Culture and letter exchanges with our sister school in the United States of America, regular clean-up campaigns, peer mediation, fruitful community discussions, youth journalism, youth leadership training workshops and promoting gender equality are some of our activities. RESPECT Intellectual Club has over 150 members - most of them have been here since the official opening of the refugee camp in 1990 during the Liberian civil crisis with the motto: Connecting and Enhancing Communities for Youth Action.

The Club has its aims and objectives which are outlined as follows:
1. To develop intellectual skills in youths.
2. To discuss global issues to effect positive change.
3. To find African solutions to African problems.
4. Youth empowerment and gender equality.
5. To develop leadership skills in youth
6. To develop youth in public speaking and interaction
In order to solicit funds for operations, as youth, we collect regular dues from members, depend on other partner organizations like the One World Youth Project, Dominion Christian Academy, and Center for Leadership Empowerment.

To have our aims accomplished, we educate young people about global issues and how to achieve the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by the year 2015.
We also educate people about the significance of education. Awareness and campaigns about having a career is one of our priorities.

After carefully studying and keeping in mind the goals set aside by the United Nations, we the members of the RESPECT Intellectual Club are all ready to effect change and in this light have come up with our views in achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) as a declaration.

The eight Goals of the UN are as follows:
1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
2. Achieve Universal Primary Education
3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
4. Reduce Child Mortality
5. Improve Maternal Health
6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases
7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability
8. Develop a Global Partnership for Development

In eradicating extreme poverty and hunger in this world, the UN should empower its agencies which are responsible for world food to provide food for the people. The UN should also provide farming materials and equipments to farmers to promote agriculture. We believe that this will help reduce poverty and hunger since more people will be involved in subsistence farming. The farming materials can be in the area of fertilizers, seedlings and the lot.

The UN through her educational agencies should be able to provide free primary education in member states. They should also empower teachers to be able to make research on new inventions that people need to know at the primary level. Member states should prioritize the launching of awareness on the advantages and disadvantages of education as well as motivating and encouraging young people to create love for and develop interest in learning. This can be done through workshops, symposiums, debates, intellectual forums, as well as youth involvement in national and international issues. This will motivate others to want to do the same, thus causing them to go to school to get informed and empowered

To this goal which is to promote Gender Equality and Empower Women, we believe that if there are more qualified men than women, gender equality will not be achieved. And on the other hand, if there are more qualified women than men, gender equality will still not be achieved. Therefore, equal opportunities should be provided for both sexes. Not only providing these opportunities, but for women to be empowered, they should be informed about the opportunities they have and their rights as well. These rights should include all human rights ranging from economic through social and political as well. In looking at women empowerment, culture sentiments will also come to play. Some cultures have drawn a line of demarcation between men and women. It is those lines of demarcation and segregation that we feel should be broken. There should be nothing extra both sexes should have taking rights and opportunities into consideration. This we believe when achieved, will promote gender equality and empower women.

The rate of child mortality can be reduced to the minimum. This means that initiatives should be undertaken to reduce it. There should be maternal care for pregnant women when they fall sick or when they are affected with sicknesses. Women and men living with HIV/AIDS should be prevented from having children. Doctors, nurses as well as physician assistants should be trained in the area of facilitating delivery. There should also be the promotion of good sanitary conditions in the community. Family planning should also be promoted.

To improve maternal health, medical facilities should be made available as well as trained medical personnel. Separate maternal centers should be established to cater to more maternal needs. This will give the medical personnel enough time to spend on the job and to work carefully. Women should seriously be educated on their bodies. This education should include sex education, pregnancy, delivery child rearing and every necessary thing that has to do with good maternal health. Unqualified medical personnel should be stopped from performing duties with respect to maternal care so that there can be no lost of live due to their ignorance. If unqualified personnel are caught in this important and vital area, they should be seriously penalized according to the law. Herbal treatment can also be improved and promoted through education and training. This will enhance maternal health.

To combat HIV/AIDS, awareness and campaigns should be launched against HIV/AIDS. People should be educated on its dangers since everyone is vulnerable. Some preventive methods like the use of condoms, abstinence, and faithfulness should seriously be encouraged. The UN should also help cater to people living with HIV/AIDS and sustaining them. To combat malaria and other diseases, education should not be left out. Good sanitary conditions should not only be promoted but maintained. The idea that prevention is better than cure should be seriously inculcated into the minds of everyone as these campaigns and awareness should be launched in various schools, hospitals, churches, mosques and religious centers, workplaces, and even in entertainment centers and everybody should be involved from students to musicians, teachers, preachers, doctors and indeed, everyone.

To ensure environmental sustainability, people in the environment should be educated. Deforestation should be frowned at. There should be good drainage systems. Government and community leaders should ensure that there is no air pollution. Noise pollution should also be frowned at. Waste management should be promoted and there should be land set aside for agriculture and non-agriculture purposes. Rivers, steams and other water bodies should be properly cared for. There should be campaigns on good sanitary conditions. Solid refuse should be properly catered to.

Government of member states should first develop that partnership and should be ready to share technologies and technological know-how. Talking about developing global partnership for development, they should also be ready to share resources. Developed member states should help under-developed member states to attain a certain level of development. There should be intense education on political stability in member states. Warning and treats against political instability should be put in place. Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) should also be encouraged to form partnership with government and other NGOs for development. Member states cultures and values should be respected. Students and everyone should have their minds ready for development and get involved in developmental activities with cordial relationships.

In conclusion, we hope these views will be considered as we gear towards making the world a better place to live.

by Jessica Rimington

Getting there
transit to Ngaoundere, Cameroon

So there are really two phases to our story. The first and perhaps the most stressful phase began in Newark, New Jersey airport on a cold, cloudy, windy Tuesday. Our flight arrived into Newark from Boston 45 minutes late due to air traffic... causing us to subsequently miss our flight to Paris, and our flight from Paris to Cameroon, and subsequently our connecting flight from Douala, Cameroon to Ngaoundere, Cameroon. It was insane! Continental Airlines told us that there was no way for us to get to Ngaoundere until the following Thursday, January 5th...because the in-country flight only ran once a week. .........What followed was 1.5 days in Newark airport. On demand, I could draw you a map of Terminal A, B, and C - including bathrooms and Starbucks locations. I won't get into it all... because probably the only thing worse than experiencing those 1.5 days of stress would be reading a detailed account of them. But...in brief: after changing our tickets multiple times, being caught in the middle of a feud between Air France and Continental, speaking to 3 different airline superintendents/managers, talking with over 13 airline employees, taking a 737 plane, a bus, a train, a small plane, a taxi, a motorcycle, then a short walk, we made it to Ngaoundere by Friday December 30th (only one day late!). ...even if our final arrival to Cameroon did involve Cady throwing up due to a malaria pill reaction.

Cameroon Children's Environmental Forum
Ngaoundere, Cameroon

As soon as we stepped off the small plane at the Ngaoundere airport, I saw two small children holding up a sign: "Welcome to Cameroon Jessica and Cady". For the first time we met Alice (teacher and primary organizer of the Cameroon Children's Environmental Forum) along with her fellow teachers/group leaders and her brother Willie.

We went straight to the hall where the students were waiting for us! We spent this first afternoon getting to know each other. The Cameroon Children's Environmental Forum was founded by teacher, Alice Kongla, after attending the Young Agenda 21 conference in the Netherlands. Although, the group has only been around for one year there are over 300 youth involved from 5 schools!! We worked with a small, selected group of 35 students. Most of the students were of primary and middle school age, but there were also a few high school and college students who participated.

The following day we began the first day of the One World Youth Project workshops.

We began by letting the youth open the cultural exchange box from their sister-school in Burkesville, Kentucky! They were so excited by every item! I think our most difficult task was explaining what a 'snowman' was (there were several things within the box that pictured snowmen).

Next the students watched the documentary from Kentucky. Everyone giggled when the Burkesville students shouted on film, "Hello Cameroon!" A crowd formed around the computer screen to watch the footage and interviews of Kentucky. At one point all the students faces looked confused and then they expressed looks of sympathetic pain. "What is in her mouth!?" one of the youth members asked. I looked at the screen. "Oh! Braces." I explained the concept of braces -everyone seemed satisfied and not as concerned. I ended the explanation by stating that youth will often keep these braces on for 3 years. This created another wave of shock, and perhaps a bit of horror.

Everyone seemed to enjoy listening to the Kentucky bluegrass music in the video! Cady and I tried to teach a few of the youth how to square dance.

After a break for lunch, we began the UN Millennium Development Goal workshop.

Each sister-school pair in One World Youth Project is assigned one of the UN MDGs to work on together. Cameroon and Kentucky are working on Goal 6: Eradicate HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases. By the end of the day on Saturday the children had come together to write an action plan for a project to help prevent malaria and diseases caused by poor sanitation (ie: Cholera). Their plan is to host a town-hall-style discussion for the community regarding disease prevention techniques....and then raise funds to purchase trash cans for the community. There are no public trash cans in Ngaoundere. Trash is piled up on every corner. We watched small children wade through it looking for food and plastic bottles to sell. In the past any trash cans installed, were stolen and used as drums (or for other uses). The children came up with the idea to get or make trash cans with hard metal legs that can be secured into the ground. I'm hoping their sister-school in Kentucky can figure out a way to participate in this project, or adapt a version of this for their community.

Glances of Cameroon

I saw much of Cameroon moving. Sitting on the back of a motorcycle, clutching on with a bit of fear, but enjoying the way the wind hitting my face made the temperature seem not as hot. When I picture Ngaoundere in my mind, it's very much an image of blurred colors. We were both moving: me and Cameroon. And, therefore I think we saw each other differently than if one of us were stationary. I suppose that's very much what travel is. The visitor is only transient -trying to catch glimpses of movement and paint them into a scene of life -into something cohesive. Let me catch some glances for you:

1. A few policemen sit on the side of the street. Both of their faces glistening with sweat. They sit staring at the dusty road. Next to them is a Fanta sign.

2. The Christmas tree inside the teacher's house was about 4 feet tall. It had plastic flowers and shiny bits of paper sprinkled throughout its branches.

3. At night time tens of people crowded outside of the clubs and restaurants. It was so dark outside that you really only knew of their presence from listening and seeing a vague sense of movement. Maybe if my eyes were better adjusted things would have seemed different. But, I could see the stars clearly- very clearly -blue and white.

4. Alice's two neighbors came over one morning. We talked of Condaleeza Rice, Bush, Kerry, and the environment. They said they cried when Bush was re-elected. They said they had loved Clinton. They were impressed with Clinton and Bush senior's recent relief efforts in the wake of the tsunami and Katrina.

5. The church was set apart from the road by a thick stretch of dirt. If one were to just pop into the scene and see this church, one would never suspect that a large town existed just a short motorcycle ride away. But it does. The church was painted white and made of cement. Inside everyone was already sitting. I'm not a religious person, but when we sang it really did seem like the light from the windows poured in with more strength.

6. The local Nestle company had donated supplies and small visers to all the students of the Children's Environmental Forum who were involved with One World Youth Project. So everytime we saw the children they wore their Nestle visers.

7. We saw a lizard. Big, fat, juicy tail of mulled red, clamoring stickly under parked cars. It was hot and my face sweat shiny - like the slippery lizard's body I suppose.

8. As we walked up to the Muslim temple/shrine, I felt as though I easily could have leaped years back in time. It looked just as it might of over 100 years ago. Cady, all the children, and I took off our shoes and poured into the temple. All of us were equally fascinated. I touched my hand to one of the stone pillars inside. "A female virgin was buried alive in that column as a sacrifice," someone told me. As we walked through the temple we came across men sitting on the ground (some on mats) chatting. My most vivid discovery was the peacocks. On top of each building (the roofs were thatched straw peaks) was a peacock. It looked as though the peacocks were sitting on huge nests of straw. On one straw peak I saw an egg.

New Years Eve in Cameroon

Alice's brother, Willie, invited us to attend a New Years Eve party he was emceeing. Willie is a prominent figure in the community and there were only about 25 guests in attendance -most in fancy gowns and suits (we were in t-shirts and stretchy pants...and felt under-dressed!) The dinner/party lasted all night (till 5am)...but Alice, Cady, and I left around 1:30am. After saying 'Bon Anane' many times, joining a cha-cha line, making fools of ourselves after being pressured to try a traditional dance, and taking many photos -we departed having thoroughly enjoyed our New Years away from the USA! The party was held outside in the courtyard of a professor's house. It was a very beautiful scene -open night sky above us, fancy red colored candles on each table, sparkling Christmas lights strung around the courtyard. Everything seemed to be glistening- the lights, the stars, people eyes.... yes, we learned that people in Cameroon very much like to drink on New Years Eve. Alice, Cady, and I only dranks Fanta...but the entire night we were pressured to switch beverages.... people just kept putting down huge bottles of champagne, beer, and wine on our table...at one point Cady and I counted 14 bottles! This seemed to be about average for each table (the only difference being, ours were unopen).

Leaving with...
Ngaoundere, Cameroon

I leave Cameroon with ... with... inspiration from the youth who all shouted in unison the last day: "We are the future leaders of Cameroon". And, I think they probably are -the girls and the boys. And, I leave Cameroon being overwhelmed by the hospitality and warmth we were shown. I leave Cameroon amazed that during our entire time there- no one was ever rude to us. Everyone was friendly, nice, and helpful. (Okay- well there is one exception... the flight attendants of Cameroon Airlines were some of the most unhelpful people I have ever met...but I guess that is a well known fact in Cameroon). We saw so many smiles in Cameroon.

And, I remember Alice's laugh. It traveled from down deep -somewhere unmistakenly gutteral and motherly and it projected out, out -with smiles of bright white teeth. It bounced off the walls of her house and enlivened the dimples on the cheeks of her twin daughters. It seemed to make even the noisy clinging and clanging outside become more cohesive.