About the Project
Consisted of the construction of a wheelchair-accessible, four-compartment, gender-sensitive pit-latrine with separate sections for boys and girls, combined with a rainwater-collection hand-washing facility.
Location
Bekoko-Yato Village, Mungo Division, South West Region of Cameroon
Quick Project Stats
| Funding Date | June 2021 |
| Luena Investment | $3,259 USD |
| CBO Partner | Rural Development and Care Cameroon (RUDECCAM) & Action For Change (AFC) |
| Village | Bekoko-Yato Village, Mungo Division |
| Country | Cameroon |
| # of Children Impacted | 210 |
| Community Contribution | manual labor, contribution of locally-available materials (sand) |
Caring for IDP Children in Cameroon’s Littoral Region
The community of Bekoko depends on farming and the extraction of sand from the River Mongo. An average household has 7 members but currently, about 40% of the population is made up Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).
This originally French-speaking community is located almost at the limit with the English region of the southwest. Bekoko’s location has made it possible to harbor a very significant number of IDPs from the troubled English-speaking region. Pupils trek from neighboring villages to school in Bekoko. Such pupils will trek for about an hour to get to school each day. Bekoko has no heath post and the nearest one could only be found in some 4KM away.
New WASH Infrastructure Expected to Draw Students Back to School
Our donation of $3,259 was used to construct a wheelchair-accesible, four compartment, gender-sensitive pit-latrine (with separate sections for boys and girls), combined with a rainwater-collection hand-washing facility. We also designed a changing room designated for the menstruating girl students and stocked it with female hygiene products. Our efforts benefit the 210 children attending Bekoko Primary School (104 boys, 106 girls, 4 teachers and 3 disabled girls), and is projected to further benefit some 600 students in the next two years following the steady increase in the school enrollment resulting from the current socio-political tension in the English speaking part of Cameroon.
Fighting Cholera Outbreaks in Rural Schools
The project was deemed of high importance by the community and beneficiaries because it would enhance education (increase classroom retention rates), ensure hygiene and sanitation, eliminate all forms of preventable diseases and deaths resulting from poor hygiene and sanitation (including COVID-19) and drinking of contaminated water. With the near absence of a school latrine, the community has once been a victim of an outbreak of cholera that claimed two lives in 2018.
Meet our Partner Community-Based Organization
RUDECCAM is a nonprofit organization registered in Cameroon. The goal of RUDECCAM is to empower and sustainably improve the living conditions and the environment of target groups through education, training, information dissemination and support programs. Principal areas of intervention are education, community development, environment and sustainable livelihood initiatives. RUDECCAM continually strives to address the structural causes of poverty and economic dependency affecting target groups which include the women, children and vulnerable youth living in poor and rural communities.
