Cameroon Covid-19: the indigenous peoples of Niete prepared against the spread of the pandemic

The African Wildlife Foundation (AWF), a non-governmental organization, has been crisscrossing the nine camps of the Bagyeli indigenous communities in the  Niete division since the beginning of the week, in order to support them in the fight against the pandemic. COVID-19. The support granted consists of holding training workshops for the manufacture of barrier tools (mask, soap, hydroalcoholic gel), educational talks to raise awareness, and the delivery of various types of aid (buckets, masks, etc.) The NGO and its partners BACUDA, TF-RD) thus make their contributions alongside the public authorities.

We can never say it enough, the COVID-19 pandemic is very real and its devastation within society can be counted more and more, on the social, economic and health levels. The implementation of measures to combat the latter, seems for the vulnerable strata difficult to access in Cameroon in view of the economic situation. And the pandemic does nothing to help the situation. In the absence of a vaccine and of a precise treatment for the moment, it is therefore more than ever essential to observe practical measures in order to inhibit, failing to halt the spread of this disease.

In the Niete division, there are nine camps, over 400 peoples, the vast majority of whom are among the vulnerable. Among these are the indigenous Bagyeli people. It was therefore with a view to helping them cope with the pandemic that the NGO African Wildlife Foundation mobilized with its partners to provide the latter with logistical and intellectual support in order to block the way to the pandemic. . Stéfany NOUMEYI is project manager at the African Wildlife Foundation, an organization that campaigns for wildlife and wild lands to thrive in modern Africa. « It is on the strength of this mission that we thought that the indigenous peoples, guardians par excellence of these lands and this fauna, should not be harmed in these times of global health crisis, » she explains.

She adds « we wanted these activities to take place in such a way that they are participative and that they can concern all of these vulnerable communities so that no one in this specific group is excluded. This is the reason for which we included among the facilitators people or groups close to these communities, such as the BACUDA association « .

At the end of the training workshop given by Tropical Forest ans Rural Development (TF-RD), nearly 40 Bagyelis women who came made almost 550 pieces of soap which will be distributed to all nine camps, in addition important material consisting of buckets, foodstuffs and masks. And to ensure that the fight continues, a vast awareness campaign on barrier gestures has been organized at each stage. An initiative welcomed by the local authorities, who did not fail to assist the caravan from start to finish.