Post on 24-Mar-2020
HITIP’s Cellphone & Community Radio Projects
Mbam & Kim Subdivision Central Region
An initiatve of Hope Interational for Tikar People
(HITIP), Cameroon, July 2014
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Introduction
This document describes and highlights the initiatives and projects of a community
organization, Hope International for Tikar People (HITIP), in the Mbam & K
im region. The projects focus on developing community health and access to
communication throughout the isolated region.
Background
HITIP is a Cameroonian non-profit, non-religiously, non-politically affiliated
community-based organization dedicated to improving the quality of life of two
marginalized indigenous communities, the Tikar and “Bedzan” Pygmy villagers, as well
as individuals with disabilities, in the equatorial forest of Cameroon. This region is
remote and isolated; with restricted cellphone service and difficult roads,
communication between villages is a challenge. Information and resources are slow to
reach the region. HITIP implements sustainable projects focusing on improving
communications, health, education, community organizing, art and creating
development opportunities for isolated villages. Every year HITIP hosts volunteers
from around the world to support the ongoing community-based projects in the
villages. Throughout the years HITIP has been involved in 30 villages and reached over
20,000 people. HITIP was officially legalized in Cameroon in 2009. All the board
members are volunteers (including the President); 94% of these individuals are based
in the villages. 6% live in the cities and relay information between the villages and the
rest of the world.
Since 2012 HITIP has been working to provide the region with cellphone service
and community radio. This project is called Radio Taboo, and when achieved, will
provide over one million inhabitants with the ability to share love in eight languages
with their friends and families outside of the region. People will also be able to
communicate with their doctors for medical consultations. In July 2013 a 50-meter
radio tower was built in the center of the region. Once a cellular service provider
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installs a repeater, the tower will provide communication services to the entire region.
Projects and Achievements of HITIP
Maps of the region
1. Radio Taboo
Radio Taboo is a community radio project conceived by HITIP to increase access
to communication and information in the region of Mbam & Kim. Currently
information is slow to reach the region as it is physically isolated and there is
minimal cellphone connection. It is also difficult for villages to speak between
themselves, much information and education that could be shared is not. The
project consists of installing a radio tower, developing radio programs and
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citizen journalists, broadcasting programming in eight different languages, and
providing cellphone service to the more than one million inhabitants of the
region. The project will have a significant impact on the people of the region,
changing their lives, as they will be able to be more connected with their families
outside the region.
Villagers and project supporter at the newly-built radio tower, July 2013
2. Water for Social Peace
Since 2010, HITIP, Rotary Le Mans Bérengères (District 1510), Rotary Douala
Bésséké, Tools for Life Foundation, and Engineers Without Borders, have been
collaborating to bring clean water to 20,000 people in Mbam & Kim. The
headquarters of the Rotary Foundation in Evanston, Illinois in the United States
awarded District 1510 a grant: AIPM, (Action d'Intérêt Public Mondial) to build
and restore ten water sources for 20,000 villagers by the end of summer 2013.
This goal has been accomplished: seven of these wells have been completed, and
three have been restored. Most of these indigenous people had never tasted
clean water. Villagers reported that evidence of infectious disease has
diminished significantly since access to clean water has become available.
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HITIP founder, Issa Nyaphaga, with the villagers of Nditam at the water pump.
The idea is also to empower local communities as beneficiaries of the water
pump by teaching them how to sustain their water source. HITIP put in place a
model of having a “Water Committee.” Each water source must have an “Elected
President of Water,” who is in charge of keeping the pump locked up two times a
day and making sure it is often cleaned. Each president serves a term of one to
two years. The president is also in charge of collecting a nominal fee from each
compound or home in the village so that villagers are invested in the water
pump. For the funds a book keeping record is kept, tracking the availability of
funds and any mechanical problems the pump should have. Mechinical training
has been provided to each village so that each community has technical
knowledge to maintain and fix mechanical problems. If it is something they
cannot fix on their own, the funds are used to contact an outside party and pay
for their services. The goal is for the water to be independity sustained by the
villages.
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3. Tippy Tap
Started in 2012, the Tippy Tap Project targets communities where there is no
running water and water is hard to access. Tippy Tap is a structure built in the
village that enables villagers, especially women and children, to keep their hands
clean. This project has helped reduce the spread of disease and decreased the
rate of infant mortality. The project is also innovative in its use of murals to
engage and teach villagers about the structures. A total of 30 murals were
completed reaching approximately 10,000 people, most of whom are illiterate.
Next we hope to print and distribute a Tippy Tap poster to illiterate populations
to hang in their homes as educational tools.
Villagers at a Tippy Tap structure, located centrally in the village.
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Picture of villagers in front of education mural of Tippy Tap project.
4. Mobile clinic – ASCOVIME-Busch Doctor Partenership
ASCOVIME is a non-governmental humanitarian organization dedicated to
providing free medical care and educational supplies to marginalized villages in
Cameroon and Central Africa. It was created by Cameroonian Dr. Georges Bwelle
ten years ago. ASCOVIME’s primary activities are weekend mobile medical clinics
in which Dr. Bwelle and his team of volunteers distribute educational supplies
and medical care to villagers. Dr. Bwelle visits about 25-30 villages per year,
seeing up to 1,000 people in a single weekend. Nine months of the year, Dr.
Bwelle, along with local and international volunteers, travels to villages and
provides no-cost medical consultations, medications, and surgeries. All of this
work is provided free of charge for villagers and is done with the consent and
understanding of the local traditional chief. The resources for each trip come
from Dr. Bwelle’s contribution of his salary and from volunteers’ collections of
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donations and medical supplies from their home countries. Dr. Bwelle’s team
campaigns against tropical diseases, administers anti-parasitic drugs, and
provides educational sessions that engage villagers in providing their own
community healthcare. Cameroonian and international medical students and
community volunteers teach villagers water sanitation and hygiene techniques
that help prevent the spread of disease, effectively giving them information they
can use to make their communities healthier.
Dr. Bwelle and his team of volunteers arrive at a village.
Since 2009 HITIP has been working with ASCOVIME to provide free medical care
to the inhabitants of the Mbam & Kim. Dr. Bwelle and his team of volunteers
were the first doctors most people had ever seen in their lives. They have
performed many successful surgeries with limited resources and provided
invalubale education about hygeine and health. They visit the region biannually.
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Dr. Bwelle with HITIP founder Issa Nyaphaga
5. Wheelchair Project
The first project of HITIP, the wheelchair project seeks to help villagers with
physical disabilites. The project started when Issa met Ibrahim, a polio survivor,
in 2002 in the village of Nditam. Ibrahim had lost the use of his legs and was
crawling around like a snake. Issa decided to take action and provided him with a
wheelchair. Ibrahim has now completed his primary and secondary education, is
the village technician, trains the football team, and has become a leader in the
community. Because of Ibrahim, HITIP has provided 300 villagers with mobility
challenges with wheelchairs, canes, and crutches. HITIP is currently working to
expand this project to other communities throughout Cameroon.
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Wheelchair and crutches distribution. Ibrahim pictured above right.
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6. Solar
The solar energy project is an experimental partnership between HITIP and
Linux Friends Solar, a Cameroonian nonprofit based in Limbe. Since 2010, five
communities in the region of Mbam & Kim access solar energy in their
compounds. Along with that, the solar project piloted two low-energy, solar-
powered, computer systems in the villages of Nditam and Ngambe Tikar. These
computers support the women and children’s literacy project. There is hope in
the long-run that the computers will be able to access internet, facilitating
communication and access to information. Another part of this project is a solar
mechanics training. Some villagers of the region are participating in a continuing
education and training on solar panel mechanics.
Trial run of low-energy computer in Nditam.
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7. Football Spirit in the Jungle
The “Football Spirit in the Jungle” project brings together indigenous
villagers--including villagers with disabilities--from the Tikar and Bedzan
Pygmy tribes through local football tournaments. The goal of the tournament is
to promote disability rights and
awareness, conflict resolution,
community organizing, health
promotion, and leadership
development. "Football Spirit in the
Jungle" creates unique opportunities
for people with disabilities and women
in underserved communties to
participate equitably in football
tournaments in key leadership roles
including; coaching, community
organizing, teaching, promotion, and
public speaking.
In the last year alone, the "Football
Spirit in the Jungle" reached more than
8,000 villagers who live without
phones, newspapers, television, or
internet. In spite of those challenges,
thousands of villagers received information, training, and resources as they
learned about HIV/AIDS prevention. Inspite of these communication challenges,
the project has also brought together many diverse indigenous communities in
the equatorial rainforest of Cameroon, around the game of football. There is
increased cooperation between villagers, as well as increased interaction
between village chiefs both on and off the football field, realizing a profound
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impact on communities in the Tikar region.
Overall, the project has had a wide inpact on many issues. It has increased
awareness about disability rights, providing opportunities for people with
disabilities to build their self-esteem and confidence. Local football tournaments
have become more inclusive and accessible for women and people with
disabilities, brought free medical care to villagers for the first time, delivered
medical equipment to polio survivors and people with paralysis, mobilized
youth to participate in problem solving at the community-wide level, and
offered health education workshops for families and increased educational
opportunities for children and adults.
A participating team, picutred with Coach Ibrahim. Above is picture of Aicha, the
tournament coordinator.
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So far, we have experienced success in terms of community organizing,
leadership development, and opportunities for women and people with
disabilities. This is a pivotal moment for the project in which increased funding
would allow the project to reach even more villagers. We will continue to
increase the sustainability of the project through a variety of actions and
activities including: nurturing our ongoing partnership with ASCOVIME, access
to reliable transportation between villages, acquiring equipment and materials
for the annual football tournament, green energy development, and creating
connections with other Cameroonian organizations doing similar things. These
things combined will all contribute to the continued success of the project.
By 2015, we hope to increase the financial sustainability through tournament
sponsorships, which will generate income to support the project. We would also
like to share this innovative idea with other communities throughout Cameroon
and eventually throughout Africa.
8. Women Fund Medical Initiative
Burn injuries and goiters are both public health concerns in Mbam & Kim
region. Women and girls are disproportionately affected by burn injuries in the
area because of their household responsibility of food preparation that is often
done over open fire. Because of the poverty in rural areas and lack of burn or
surgical centers, victims who survive these injuries often face severe
debilitation that prohibits them from school or work and entraps themselves
and families into a cycle of poverty and stigmatization. Women suffering from
goiters also suffer similar social and economic consequences.
This project provides a monetary fund to support medical and surgical
interventions for individuals who suffer from these conditions in rural
Cameroon. The objective of this fund is to provide financial support for
transportation of the affected individual and a companion to the nearest capable
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center and to provide one-time or ongoing medical and surgical care for the
patient. Medical and surgical care is prov ided by qualified healthcare providers
at equipped medical centers across the region. The goal of the project is
empowerment of
women and girls who
sustain injuries and
the improvement of
their lives and the lives
of their families.
Pauline, a burn victim,
with medical volunteer.
Pauline has received an
examination and is
awaiting further
treatment.
Profile of Founder
Issa Nyaphaga was born in Douala, Cameroon
in 1967 and grew up in the small village of the
Tikar tribe, called Nditam, in the very heart of
Cameroon’’s equatorial forest. The Tikar are
primarily farmers and as a child of the fields,
Is sa spent his time in close contact with earth
and nature. Like other Tikar children, Issa was
introduced to traditional painting in his early
childhood. His father is an herbalist and a calligrapher, and Issa grew up next to
shaman pygmy women deep in the region of “Mbam and Kim” in Cameroon. As a
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child, Issa didn’t like his last name Nyaphaga. “My son, you’ll only be successful in
life if you like your name,” his mother said. In 1996 Issa moved to France, and
now resdies in the United States. He pursues these projects as a contribtion of
the Diaspora, in order to bring opportunities home.
Conclusion
Thank you for taking the time to read this document and hear about our
projects. Please feel free to contact us with any question sor comments. We are
very hopeful for the success of communication techonologies and community
development in Mbam & Kim and other communities throughout Cameroon.
Conact Information
Entreprise HITIP – Cameroun – Sari
Siege Social : Ngambé Tikar Département du Mbam et Kim – Cameroun
B.P. : 01 Ngambé Tikar – Cameroon
Phone : + (237)99 80 98 00 - + (237) 76 49 31 06
Email : connect@hitip.org - Website : http://www.hitip.org
Issa Nyaphaga Oumarou Mebouack Eva Beal Michel Togue
Founder Project Cordinator Communications Legal Rep.