February 2009 was a month of some good news for Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) in Cameroon.  On February 6 a ceremony was held at the African Synergy against AIDs and Suffering headquarters, to present food gifts from an Italian NGO to 150 vulnerable children.  (Cameroon Tribune – http://allafrica.com/stories/200902091189).  

The Italian NGO, L’Association Senzaconfini Onlus, has worked with African Synergy since September 2007.  This recent event involved the Junior Farmer Field and Life School project and four other organisations that take care of orphans and other vulnerable children.    The ceremony also praised the involvement of the First Lady of Cameroon, Mrs Chantal Biya, who is a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Education and Social Inclusion.

The Minister of Social Affairs, Catherine Bakang Mbock, spoke at the ceremony about the Cameroon government’s policies in assisting PWDs, including the National Solidarity Day which aims to combat discrimination and segregation of disabled people. 

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The Cameroon government was also involved in the second disability good news story in February: Christelle Djonko Tchuendem Nadège, a blind student, was honoured by the government after excelling in a competitive entrance exam for the International Relations Institute.

Christelle, aged 24, came second out of 25 candidates who were admitted into ‘Masters 1’.  An official ceremony was held to honour the student on February 16, presided over by the Minister of Higher Education, Professor Jacques Fame Ndongo, and Christelle was offered an encouragement payment of FCFA 1 million.

Christelle started developing signs of blindness aged six, and by 12 years old she was completely blind.  Her journey has not been easy, and she told the audience at the ceremony how:

‘I started attending the Blind School of Promhandicam where I began to learn the brail.  The tablets became my new companions and replaced my pen and my books…’.  Christelle has overcome many barriers to education (such as expense) through her own achievement – her performances have earned her scholarships to pay for five years of study at the Catholic University of Central Africa.

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These encouraging stories follow the positive news that, in January, a French NGO called Aide France-Cameroon pour l’insertion des handicaps, donated 60 wheel chairs, 22 blankets, 2 kinesics therapy tables, 34 hospital beds, a medical bed, TV sets, walking sticks for blind people, chairs, clothes and shoes for PWDs. Alain Scheir, the president of the organisation which aims to enable PWDs to achieve dignity, autonomy and the right to happiness, spoke at a ceremony marking the handing over of the equipment.  He said that the idea of donating equipment was suggested by his wife, Cameroonian born Leclerc Martine, who had pointed out that PWDs in Cameroon go without vital resources, when  such equipment was being thrown away in France.

Christelle Tchuendem herself has highlighted that more opportunities need to be given to disabled people in Cameroon; but these stories show a promising start to 2009.