from: Kingsley Fomunyuy Njoka
Before it will be Christmas, orphans and destitute children in the diocese of Kumbo will have been two months old in this year’s celebrations, as “Father Christmas” recently paid them a surprise visit.
It was at the Catholic Youth Centre in Tobin, Kumbo, where the cream of traditional, administrative and religious authorities turned out to witness a donation of a 40ft container of highly enriched packets of food for these children, which was estimated at a value of 35 million FCFA.
The gift was from and American based Non Governmental Organisation known as Nascent Solutions. The ground breaking donation came to inaugurate a year-old partnership between the Ngo and the Federation of Catholic Youths in Kumbo, and the Kilum Strategic Development Group (KISDEG) another NGO that works for humanitarian interests.
Speaking at the occasion, the chief executive officer of Nascent Solution Dr. Mrs Beatrice Wamey, who personally handed the donations to the more than 2500 orphans and destitute children already identified in Kumbo, declared that this was the beginning of a journey that will never end.
Promising many more things for the people, in as much as they continue to work in collaboration with each other to identify the basic needs of the people. Dr. Wamey presented Nascent Solutions as that organisation which hasn’t solutions to the people’s problems but that will have proposals depending on the ideas of the people for whom they work.
Working with the Federation of Catholic Youths, Nascent Solution is by so doing dealing with all other structures of the Church destined at elevating the standards of the Rural masses, and this is one of the reasons for which the Family Life Apostolate of the Diocese of Kumbo, which has an extensive project for these orphans and destitute children, was present at the occasion.
The Family Life representative Mr. Lukong Ephraim, did not hide his joy and gratitude to their benefactors, but emphasised the need for the donations to have a religious dimension. He promised his collaboration in building a strong and transparent partnership with Nascent Solutions, through feeding them with information and statistics about the poor and destitute in the diocese.
Rev. Fr. Daniel Ache Amungwa, diocesan Youth Chaplin, explained the difficulties experienced in getting the donations through the port in Douala and identified the support received from some personalities from the diocese during the exercise, citing Customs Officer Yah Angeline of the Douala port as having been of immense support.
He appealed to the administration of Kumbo for administrative support for projects of this kind and emphasised that the program was not denominational, as was quite evident from the broad representation of al other religious groupings, to share and furnish the Family Life Office with useful information that could help the destitute. An orphan is an orphan, Fr. Daniel said, no matter his or her denomination.
Welcoming the donors to the Kumbo municipality, first deputy to the Mayor of Kumbo Madame Lukong Margaret, thanked Dr. Wamey for the great move and promised the support of the council when ever need be, and like Oliver Twist, she asked for more, drawing a standing ovation from the many orphans who were present.
To the representative of the Fon of Nso, it was a matter of confidence in the donors, for more to come. As he put it, when it is said to be gratuitous, it should be so as to maintain confidence and emphasised that it should never be found in the market for sale so as not to betray the trust of the donors.
The delegate of the Apostolic Administrator for Kumbo Rev. Peter Watson, was overwhelmed by the gesture as he gave a hand to Dr. Wamey for the great job. Created a year ago in November 2004, Nascent Solutions has as its mission, the enabling of Rural women, youth and the disabled to be self sufficient and meet up the challenges of life through the use of indigenous knowledge and skills.
It also aims to help them to integrate local resources and knowledge into the development effort. This they do through training and capacity building programs, outreach and networking, market development research and basic health care. Nascent Solutions so far is open to a support pool of donors worth some 80 million US dollars from where they can have donations depending on the needs of their beneficiaries and operates in partnership with the Federation of Catholic Youths and the Kilum Strategic Development Group.
The trip that began on Thursday November 10th 2005 took the organisation and its partner to the various parishes of the diocese for the food distribution exercise and to some of their project sites like the KISDEG women empowerment centre in Jakiri.
November 22, 2005
http://www.leffortcamerounais.com/2005/11/christmas_2005_.html