Akumalam.org

…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