Dear friends,

on behalf of the AKUMALAM VILLAGE COMMUNITY, CHOMBA AREA, and the nearby villages, I take this opportunity to express our sincerest appreciation for your contribution of the community Library. Dorfschulproject e.V. is deeply grateful for your support and generosity.

It is through the support of (individuals, corporate representatives like Concept Promotion Maintal & Leybold Optics Alzenau) and you that we are able to continue to strengthen our programs, and to develop new and innovative projects to serve our ‘friends’ and the community.

As we approach the turn of the year, Dorfschulprojekt will continue to lead the charge in providing specialized services in the library, supporting the school pupils, the teachers and the community at large around the Bamenda area.

Again, thank you for making this mission rolling. Continue to support us, while we help this community. Visit our web page to see the latest stories and nice pictures from Akumalam and all the other communities.

Sincerely yours,

Ed, Kai + Anye

Dear friends,

Update: A Library Takes Shape with Books for Akumalam Community

Upon arrival the building was not completely constructed, thus we help the workers and contractor to complete the project according to our schedule.

This project was an effort to build a community library and Core Collection of books to serve the remote Akumalam area in the Bamenda province, Cameroon. Funds were raised from friends and supporters of the Dorfschulprojekt e.V. (Village school Project www.akumalam.org) registered in Germany.

A 3 room building (ground and first floor) was raised close to the Akumalam school and church. The piece of land was donated by the church community. This building would serve the Akumalam primary school, the community, and neighbouring schools. A total population of ca. 600 person will have access to this library.

Stocks so far are 200 books in the kindergarten, primary and some general knowledge section. Funds/Equipment are required to stock the library with appropriate materials (books for secondary, technical, ….), magazines and other useful audio-visual materials to provide information to the surrounding community which has no access to free information.

Funds Raised: 7,000 Euro (for building and 200 books)

Project Length: 16 months

Project Coordinators: Anye Chifen, Kai Atzert, Celestine Azieh (community chairman), Zama Peter (contractor), Henry Fru (Volunteer)

Results:

• Constructed a Library (size: ca. 100 m2)
• Employed a librarian & part time teacher
• Donated 200 books
• Shelves
• benches
• writing materials

Where children are first generation learners, where their homes have never seen different kinds of book before, this simple project will light up the lives of children with books, story cards, and experiments – this is another one step to improve and motivate education around Akumalam.

Background:

In January 2010 we introduced the ACL project. With the support of friends and supporters, we undertook this ambitious project. As of last April, we had a total of 200 books – donated and bought from donations.

The books include volumes intended for primary, secondary and higher-level school children, as well as an encyclopedia, a dictionary, maps and stationery. There are also toys for children available.

In rural areas where courses of study rarely vary year-to-year, libraries serve as crucial sources of knowledge but remain extremely scarce. The village school project hopes that community library will not only supplement the basic curriculum offered by village teachers but eventually help the larger community to become more literate.

With the establishment of the library, we employed a librarian and part-time primary school teacher. As she continues to supervise this project we can be rest assured that she has taken an enormous step in fulfilling the dream of improving the standard of education in her village.

As she said: “This is not my project, it belongs to all of us.”

We want to thank you all for supporting the project, we hope you will continue to support this work – we need more books, benches and shelves.

Miyaka,

Anye + Kai + Ed Jong

Dear all,

On behalf of the Village School Project we would like to thank you for your generous donation,; books, materials, cash….

Your commitment helping to build the library in the Akumalam community has been sincerely appreciated. Many Thanks from the pupils and village community.
Each year our association continues to advance its mission of promoting education. Through our diverse projects since 2005 we have seen many lives changed for the better. In particular the Library School Project is gaining great success in the last few months after handing over in March 2011.

Facts:

The construction of the building was financed 100% by Dorfschulprojekt e.V. The building was handed over to the community in March 2011. Final construction works were finished in July 2011. Diversity of books, classroom text books and writing equipments were supplied in April 2011. Additional books will be shipped soon to the library. We have been able to recruit a library assistant and the library has been operational since July 2011. The library assistant also works as a part-time teacher at Akumalam village school.

This project is only possible because of thoughtful contributions from people like you. Your generous donation will be used purposely for the purchase of books and other required materials - thank you.

We plan to raise the library to a recognisable standard, where the children, pupil and women of Akumalam community would use these books for a common use – to improve their level of education.

As you know, the cost of running all these activities does not go away. We hope for your continuous support.

As a reminder, our association do not have registered members, all donations are from friends, colleagues and friends of friends. Thus, with this limited budget we have, we do not allocate any donation for administrative purposes.

Thank you all,

Kai, Ed, and Anye

]]> http://www.akumalam.org/archives/755/feed 0 http://www.akumalam.org/archives/751 http://www.akumalam.org/archives/751#comments Sun, 09 Oct 2011 01:25:57 +0000 Anye Chifen http://www.akumalam.org/?p=751

Dear collegues,

On behalf of Dorfschulprojekt e.V. (the village school project), I would like to thank you for your generous cash donation. Your contribution makes it possible for us to foster our goals around the Akumlam community. This donation will be used to buy and transport books for the newly built library (April 2011)– Akumlam Community Library and also to repair both water supplies, that we built in 2009.

Since its inception in 2005, Dorfschulprojekt has been paying the school fees for poor and orphan kids, providing uniforms, school needs (pens, pencils, writing books), benches and also many sport equipments. We have introduced diverse programs, e.g. Dental care (providing all the kids with toothbrush and basics about teeth), Friendship Cup (motivation using sports, for kids to play together, win together, respect, determination and working hard)

Our aim is to motivate and support poor children, which we continue to strive by supporting the community too. In 2009 – 2011 we provided the community and school with drinking water supplies and also a community learning centre. Maintenance and support for both projects are required, i.e. repairs of the water supplies and also books for the primary, secondary and technical section.

These projects are only possible because of thoughtful contributions from people like you. Your generous donation will be used purposely for the repairs and purchase of books – thank you.

We plan to raise the library to a recognisable standard, where the children, pupil and women of Akumlam community would use this collection of books for a common use – to improve their education level. We employed a library assistant to supervise and administer this project. Also the Library assistant serves as a part-time teacher at the Akumlam village school.

As you know, the cost of running all these activities does not go away. We hope for your continued support in the future.

As a reminder, our association do not registered members, all donations are from friends, colleagues and friends of friends. Thus, with this limited budget we have, we do not allocate any donation for administrative purposes.

More importantly, the village community thank you. And that’s really who it’s all about.

Sincerely,

Anye Chifen,

Founder Dorfschulprojekt e.V.

Accredited by Charity Watch

Dorfschulprojekt has rendered enormous services in various villages of social development and its Orphan Support Program is one of many such programs. The Orphan Support Program (OSP) of our association has been extended to Chomba (about 30 km from Akumalam) since April 2010.

OSP helps in identifying the families in needy situations. It focuses on assisting children who have lost their parents or/and guardians and enables them to continue their education without any financial hinderance.

We pay the school fees and offer the guardians financial allowance to support the children.

In the Chomba village, we recently offered 60 orphans with stipends, sufficient enough to bear the expenses of their education and their basic amenities of life.

Join this program, sponsor an orphan 50 Euro / year.

This program was initiated by Kai Atzert.

Thanks to all our sponsors and Babenhausen sports club (Andi Humbert)

In 2009, we provided the Akumalam community and school with drinking water supplies. During our visit in April 2011, we realised maintenance for this project is highly required, i.e. repairs of the water supplies.

Target: Mechanical stabilisation of the well walls, replace the manual pump with an electrical pump.

The power supply (electricity) will be provided by the local community. The total cost estimate was provided by the local technician upon our visit in March 2011.

The maintenance for the Akumalam water supply was approved in August 2011. The funds for this repairs was provided by Leybold Optics GmbH, Alzenau.

Plan:

• Down payment – 40% (August 2011)
• Supply of materials required (August 2011)
• Maintenance work (September 2011)
• Final assessment by Mr. Henry/ Mr. Ngufor (September 2011)
• Second payment – 50 % (October)
• Delivery of pictures to Dorfschulprojekt – October 2011
• Final payment – 10 % (upon delivery of pictures)

Cost estimate (Akumalam water supply)

1) Electric water pump 425,000 fcfa

2) 1 trip of Sand 60,000 fcfa

3) 18 bags of cement at 5,500fcfa each 99,000 fcfa

4) Aggregate 20 wheel barrows at 4000fcfa each 80,000 fcfa

5) Labour (digging of well) 150,000 fcfa

6) Labour (moulding of 8 rings) 25,000 fcfa

7) Electric cables and connetions 12,000 fcfa

Total 851,000 fcfa

This task is supervised by Kai

Village School Project / DORFSCHULPROJEKT e. V. constructs a community library for Akumalam.

April 2011: Books provide an exciting view to a wider world. Unfortunately, in Akumalam, Cameroon, text books are rare and if available, expensive. The Akumalam Community Library will assist in overcoming these challenges.

We refurbish the Akumalam community – donated a 3 room building, transforming them into a space to read and study. The library has been stocked with 200 books by local and foreign authors in English, French, German languages to a little extent possible. We expect more donation of books for this Library. Please feel free to send up interesting books for this library.

In addition,  VSP employs a librarian and a teacher for the school and provides for Illiterate parents evening classes. Thereby empowering locals with knowledge.

Words cannot express the gratitude from the community – Thank you all for donating.

“The creation of new learning opportunities for the school and community has started, we thank you all”  - Head techer Akumalam school.

Kai, Anye, Ed for the VSP

Background:
Books provide kids an exciting view to a wider world. Unfortunately, in Akumalam, Cameroon, text books are rare and if available, expensive. The ASLC will assist in overcoming these challenges. With a mix of books in English, French and German and with a focus on books for young children, the library will provide a unique offer for Akumalam pupils. Donate a book and make this exciting idea a reality!

These books will be divided into three categories:

1. school/classroom books (english readers, arithmetic, science and nature, …) the school administration will provide us the list of these books, which we will be locally purchased in Bamenda

2. general knowledge which would serve to expand the learning in all fields (e.g. English language books on animals, sport, simple science books..like „how things work“), this would encourage the children to spend time in the library

3. picture aided books (with some text in various languages, english, french, german, italian, spanish, …) for school children ( 5 – 8 years old)

With the help of the teachers in Akumalam, andother pedagogists, they will compile a catalogue of books that will provide the library with a unique profile. You can contribute by donating books or money. The money will be used for the acquisition of these books, and also to renovate the library (shelves, cupboards …). The average value of each book is about $20 (15 Euros).

Any personal donated book will obtain its unique character through the mention of your name in the inner cover of the book. Any other exciting books for children not in the above mentioned category are heartily welcome.

Please pass this on to your friends who helped you get the package.
Thank you and best wishes.
Dr Awasom
Director Bamenda Regional Hospital

Total = 608,- €

continuation of fees &uniform list

as yet another year draws to a close I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your commitment to the Akumalam Project. We would like to look forward, to see what we still need to accomplish for the upcoming projects.

While your ideas are always appreciated, your contributions to this project are more than appreciated. With your help to this organization, we have been able to fulfill some of our projects in 2010.  But perhaps even more important, you all continue to make someone happy in Akumalam and the neighboring areas!

We do not need to mention our routine tasks; school fees, uniforms and an extra teacher’s salary, …. that you all continue to support them in 2010. However, none of our group members or friends were able to travel to Akumalam to realize some of our initiatives. The reason is simple: we are working hard to execute one of our major task in 2011 – THE AKUMALAM SCHOOL LEARNING CENTRE. Our target has always been to motivate and support education. With this project, we continue to drive our strengths to improve the education level around this area. With your help, we can make it.

In 2010, some items (books bought with your donations from OXFAM and also donated equipments) have been transported to Akumalam and the construction of the ASLC building kicked off.

Thanks so far to all the donors and the crew working on this project. We still need books (see report) for this ASLC, and also financial support for the cupboards and shelves for the execution of this project by March 2011.

The inauguration of this centre is due April 2011, Kai and I will be in Akumalam in April to finalize this project.

May GOD continue to bless us, and guide us through 2011. I wish you all the best of health

thank you,

Anye C.

Construction – Akumalam school learning centre

An existing building will be transformed and erected beside the Church building.

Construction of building should be finished be April. 1. 2011

Building will consist of 3 Rooms, the library, Study room and office

Timeline

Dec. 2011 Level one Construction kick off

Feb. 2011 Level two Final construction

March 2011 Level three Shelves and cupboards construction

April 2011 Level four Books and other Service installed

At the Akumalam Village School, basic hygiene is not an important issue. However, the hygiene of the pupils should not be neglected despite the other problems faced by the Akumalam village school.

The Dental Care Initiative is to awaken the kids and parents of the pupil about dental care/prevention by donating a toothbrush to all the pupils in the village. More than 95 % of all the akumalam village pupil (318 pupil enrolled for the school year 2007/2008) do not brush their teeth before coming to school. Some use a „chewing stick“, charcoal or their fingers to clean their teeth. It might sound absurd to many people that have never lived or visited a „real third world village“.

Two facts:

This is not much for you and I to invest it for a kid’s dental care!!

Not having good oral health posses’ a number of oral diseases in children such as dental caries, cavities, and gingivitis, which if not treated can lead to other severe problems like inflammation and infection. These problems are further provoked by poverty, poor living conditions, lack of dental awareness, and the absence of appropriate state policies and funding to provide basic oral health care. However, oral problems are avoidable and preventable. You can help a child by also donating a toothbrush and fluoridated toothpaste.

Numbers
350 Toothbrushes were distributed in 2008

Thanks
This Project was sponsored by MPIP, coordinated by Dr. Hatice Duran.

December 2009: during this christmas season we received 40 soccer balls from TFI (Talentschmiede Fußball International), Babenhausen, Germany. The donations of the molten brand balls were handed over by the CEO Andreas Humbert to the Dorfschulprojekt coordinators. These items will be donated to the Akumalam school and other village schools upon our visit in April 2010. Dorfschulproject will continue to improve sports infrastructure for village schools as another method to motivate kids to study. Dorfschulprojekt would like to thank the TFI team. For more information, please do not hesistate to contact us.

The teachers at Akumalam last received their salary in July 2009. The main reason is because of outstanding school fees from the pupils. Thus, all the fees we pay are used 100 % for the teacher’s salary. Normally, the regional education board decides the division of the total fees collected for other expenses. We have been able to communicate the need for the teachers salary (between 20 – 28,-€ /Month), and the fees will be henceforth be used only for Akumalam teachers.
This school year 37 pupils received their school fees from Dorfschulprojekt, 7.000 FCFA (11,- €) per academic year and 1 teacher’s salary, the total sum of 610 Euro will be allocated for this project. Here follows the list of the selected kids. It also gives you the reason why we chose to support them, and you will understand that helping them is the right thing to do. On behalf of the school, the pupils and Akumalam a big Thanks goes to all who support this project!

 

After the successful Friendship cup 2008, co-organised by Steffgen Umzüge & Lagerung Enterprise (Trier, Germany) and the donation of soccer kits for pupils in Akumalam, they have found their heart for enthusiastic children in Akumalam.

“After seeing the pictures of the pupils rejoicing with the soccer shoes at the friendship cup, we kept our eyes wide open for further possibilities to support this great project. Our Enterprise is not financially doing well, so we are not able to donate cash, however we transport items around Germany for diverse customers. During the closure of a medical practice, Our Company Steffgen Umzüge & Lagerung rapidly stood up, to get the items, which can now be donated.” (cit. Steffgen Umzüge & Lagerung)

Village School Project directs the donation…

The Medical equipments obtained by the company will be donated to the Bamenda General Hospital, located 20 km from Akumalam. These equipments are seriously needed in the Bamenda hospital and they are presently stored in the company’s warehouse.

Meanwhile, the Akumalam project has already contacted the director of the hospital about the donation of these items and they are delighted to receive them. The Akumalam project wants to take care of the transportation expenses from Germany to Cameroon. We therefore request for donors to assist this project to transport these items to Bamenda.

Equipments to be sent via AirCargo:

• Ultrasonic with two heads and monitor
• Electrocardiogram ECG with monitor
• Rollcar/Trolley for the ECG
• Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) equipment
• Sterilization oven
• Incubator chamber
• Blood pressure measuring equipment

…full of emotions, full of new impressions and full of acknowledgement – on both sides! Pictures of the trip: http://picasaweb.google.com/akumalam

On the 20.03.2009 I started my journey with Anye Chifen to  Akumalam, a small village close to Bamenda, in the northwest of Cameroon.  As a young boy from this area of the village, he still feels connected to his old friends and relatives around this part of the world, despite his „home“ in Germany. Due to this reason, he founded a non-profit organization, the village school project, registered in Hanau. He and his friends raise money to support the village school and also other neccessities for the villagers, e.g. Water Supply.

It was great luck for me to know Anye, I work with his former soccer colleague, Benny „Spielmacher“ Dauster. Anye engaged me to carry out the final touches and inauguration  of the last  project; water supply for the school and the village. The water supplies were handed over during a big ceremony, organized by the village elders, the church and also the school of Akumalam.

Thus, I had the opportunity to visit the village, get to know the people personally, the pupils and also to visit Cameroon. Additionally, with the support of Concept promotion GmbH in Maintal, Macma and Staedler in Nürnberg, Adecco in Düsseldorf, SV Wolfgang, and TSG Bretzenheim, over 250 pupils at Akumalam school received school bags, pens, pencils and erasers, which is one of the core activities of the Dorfschulprojekt e.V. Furthermore, we paid the school fees of 120 pupils (14,- Euros each) from the budget we had received from friends and sponsors. We also constructed 10 new benches for the school and also we cemented some of the classrooms, which were muddy.

I wish I could have been able to witness someone from our degenerated, poor-feeling industrialized western world, that doesn’t understand the expressions of „gratitude“ and „gestures to be thankful“, to be present with me in Cameroon. It is difficult for us Europeans to imagine, how the africans are grateful for such an assistance.

With comparatively little money and some personal commitment we could substantially improve the standards of living of many people in Akumalam and Africa as a whole.

Now, the villager and also the pupils do not need to travel far distances to fetch for water. Clean water is now available at the village centre and at the school premises. They are really grateful, it was a sensation and a big relief for many kids around this area. You see the joy in their eyes, all the kids where singing, rushing to us, and saying thank you, whenever we visited the village and school to do some work, or distribute their school items. The gratitude would make you to reflect on life, especially how you can make people happy with little presents.

I would like to mention one of the numerous highlights during the two weeks visit. The president of FC Bamenda, a second league team, is Anye’s old school mate, who is resident in America.
Anye had informed him that I was a soccer player and a holder of trainer licence A, and he was thrilled about my visit, and asked me to offer the team some training sessions. Of course, I had prepare some lessons for the team, and I did it with a lot of fun. It was great experience to train technically good young players. They didn’t want me to go back to Germany, this showed how they enjoyed the training. They promised me  everything they can afford, so that I should stay longer in Bamenda.

The team was happy about the training sessions and what a nice gesture, they offered to play a game in the village during the inaugaration of the water supplies. We had a small present for the team, we supplied them with sports bags and baseball caps, which was donated by Adecco. The former assistant coach of Winnie Schaeffer, Mr. Ndanga Paul Fon, was also present during the soccer game. What a pleasure, I think that was the begining of a big friendship, with the village, pupils, FC Bamenda and many others. I would like to continue to write here, but if you have any questions send a mail to info@akumalam.org

Let me conclude:

In Cameroon, there is a lot of disorder, corruption and poverty…., but the people have enough food. The weather is not only ideal for holidays, but also for the cultivation of food, vegetables and fruits. Our meals were delicious, I had enough fruits, all the families we visited, offered me delicious meals and exotic fruits.
The crowning part of the meals in Cameroon was the grilled fresh fish at the atlantic coast in Limbe. I would recommend Cameroon for a visit, not only the food is great, but it is a place to visit. I’m grateful to have seen a lot of stuff and experience the unexpected!

Freigericht,  20.04.2009

The aim was to provide the Akumalam school and village community with clean drinking water. In October 2009 the coordinators carried out a feasibility study to donate clean water to the school, the church and the village community. As part of the the organizational activities, during the visit some of the core activities were carried out, i.e. donation of school items, evaluation and paying the school fees for orphans and poor kids, social activities (soccer games and handball) were organized by Dorfschulprojekt to enhance the ongoing education at Akumalam. As a step ahead, we decided to improve the health of the community by donating fresh water. The people and pupils in Akumalam normally fetch water from distant water points, in the dry seasons, the water points dry up! Thus, this initiative to donate water was more than a necessity for the village inhabitants and for the village school pupils.
With the assistance of Anye and the engineering staff of RUWAS based in Cameroon, a well was drilled both at the school and at centre of the village. This construction work was completed within 11 weeks. Both wells are equiped with hand pumps, washable filters and a storage tank capacity of 2.000 litre each. The pupils and villagers can now collect clean water from the storage tanks via the installed water lines. The direct beneficiaries of the project are about 1,400 inhabitants in the village and the school Akumalam. This project was handed over by Pa henry, Anye and Horst to the school pupils and the people of Akumalam on the 30.03.2009.

The handing over ceremony was celebrated with a lot of activities, traditional dances, soccer game of FC Bamenda (2nd Division), many speeches and thank you messages from the people of Akumalam.

Presently, the people and pupils of Akumalam are grateful of their drinkable water which has been donated by numerous donors. Drinking cups were also donated to all the school kids during the handing over ceremony.
Special thanks to all our sponsors, without mentioning all the names, but we are grateful for your support and and financial assistance.

Total project cost: 5.700 Euros
Thank you all,
the coordinators, Dorfschulprojekt
pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/akumalam

This project aims at supporting all the children (from the poorest families) with a school bag. This is more than a school equipment, it motivates the kid to run to school daily with his/her new school bag. Therefore we aim at raising 350 school bags for the village school and other premises! It is our plan to deliver the first school bags in March 2009!

Concept Promotion Maintal (Horst Benzing) donates school bags for children in Akumalam school. Horst Benzing and Anye will deliver these bags in March to the pupils of Akumalam. Thank you to Concept Promotion Maintal for this donation.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if you also want to donate a school bag!

For our German members: Concept Promotion Maintal (Horst Benzing) spendet Taschen für Schulkinder der PC Schule in Akumalam. Horst Benzing und Gründer Dr. Anye Chifen werden im März diesen Jahres bei einem Besuch in Kamerun die Taschen an die Schulkinder übergeben. Ein herzliches Dankeschön geht an Concept Promotion Maintal für die Spende dieser Taschen!

“Far back in 1985, my brothers and I used to spend holidays with my grandmother in the village, we never had tap water, it is still the same in the village.”

People often take water for granted. But clean water or rather, the lack of it, is one of the key reasons hundreds of children in Akumalam or the world succumb each day to wholly preventable diseases. The people and pupils in Akumalam fetch water from distant water points, in the dry season, the water points dry up!

This project aims at providing Akumalam village and and the village school pupils access to clean water in both dry and wet seasons; improving health and quality of life, and helping organize and mobilize local communities by involving them in the construction of the water systems.

As you can clearly see in the pictures below, the current water source is absolutely insufficient. The new well and water lines will enhance the fresh water quality and quantity, the hygiene and provides healthy living conditions at school and in the village. The latter four pictures show that the construction has begun!

In order to solve this very basic practical problem – the need for clean drinking water at very low cost – engeneering company RUWAS will drill a well and install water lines to transport the water from the well towards the school and village. Last week, the first payment has been been transferred to RUWAS and they have commenced their works. The whole installation should be finished by March 2009. We are still raising money to complete this project!

The village water project will enable the pupils and villagers to have access to clean water. The direct beneficiaries of the project are about 1,400 people in the villages of Akumalam and Nchualam. The project is meant to complement educational projects in the above mentioned region.

Time line and Numbers

The received donations now cover about 44% of the total costs (€4840,-) of the well. The other 56% should be received by the time we have to fulfill the final payment to RUWAS. The first payment of 21% of the total costs has been done last week. The second payment of 16% will be transferred by the end of January.

Main Sponsors
Concept Promotion Maintal, H. Benzing, SV Wolfgang, K. Fritzius, A. Billmeier, TSG Bretzenheim

Technical Details (from RUWAS)

Financial estimates (RUWAS)

As this project has been running since 2003, many smaller projects have been carried out. This varies from paying school fees to providing necessary school materials sunch as pencils, chalks and books. Here we wish to give you a combined overview of all projects that have been started or that have been successfully completed already between the start of the Akumalam School Project in 2003 and now. As from next year on, we will give you a yearly update.

	Please download our Report 2003-2008 here.
	Please download the version in German here.

Dear all, Kids in Akumalam village love to play football, just like you and I. But football remains a game, which you can make it to be your job and sustain your future. However, education remains the key to many aspects in life. Not everyone is born bright, same as not every one was born as a talented soccer player.

We therefore use football as a way to motivate kids in the village to know certain aspects in life, which are necessary on the soccer pitch; e.g. play together, win together, motivate your team mates, respect your opponent, determination to win, working hard…..just to name a few! These characters are also neccessary, when you are not bright and strong to study at school. Thus it bridges sports, education and friendship, reagardless of the social or financial background of the pupils. This idea is not only good for the pupils in my village but also for the parents around this area. Thus, we organized a soccer tournament (September 2008), in the Akumalam village. Four village schools participated in this “Friendship cup” tournament. This tournament should become a annual event. Here follows an impression of this wonderful activity.

All the teams received football kits (13 shirts, 13 pants and shoes). The shirts and pants were donated by Specki (TSG Bretzenheim, Anye’s former soccer team), and Riko Stärz organized the shoes from TSG E-Jugend!

The tournament was a big success ad the children have enjoyed this day incredibly, imagining themselves being small soccer stars in their new outfits!

The participating schools were PC Akumalam, PC Ntaturu, PS Alabukam and SbS Ntarinkon. The poorest school amongst the competitors, Alabukam, booked the first place in the Friendship Cup finals with a 1-0 victory over Akumalam, which created some pressure on Akumalam’s team manager Anye Chifen. Nde Martin’s 18th-minute opener saw the Alabukam’s striker run almost the length of the pitch to put the finishing touch to a swift counter-attack.

A Thank You for the village coordinators, Pa Fru Henry and Pa Akenji, for their local supervision of all projects.

If you are interested in sponsoring this particular event, please contact us.

Online version

Hanau, 07 Sept. 2008 – As one of the sponsors of our water project, Oxford Instruments and SV Wolfgang donated €1.000,- to the Akumalam Village Project. The donation was jointly presented by Mr. Schaffert, President SV Wolfgang and G. Armin (Oxford Instruments). On behalf of Akumalam village, we are very grateful for their support!

Uniforms give a sense of identity to a school. They also give a feeling of “belonging” to the pupils, and to a certain extent avoid obvious differences between rich and poor kids.

The idea of supporting poor village pupils (in Akumalam) is based on three main issues:

The Akumalam Project continues to acknowledge the generosity of all its donors, among which are friends, sports fellows, colleagues, which offer financial and moral support for the work we try to do. Your donations to this Project continues to make a huge difference in the life of the young kids unable to have basic education.

Numbers
Since 2003, the Akumalam Projects has provided 37 kids with proper school uniforms. This corresponds with an investment of €732,-.