Local development: Babessi youths discuss community progress

Youths of Babessi, a village in the Ngoketunja Division of the North West Region of Cameroon  have discussed and adopted projects that will speed up developement in their community.

The youths met in Yaounde recently during the second edition of the Wushincho International Youth Conference.

Overcoming setbacks

Babessi village is one among many, hard hit by the crisis in the English speaking regions of Cameroon.

Many youths have fled the village, and others dropped out of school. Development has been on a halt for sometime now, but the youths want to change the narrative.

Babessi youths at home and abroad have agreed to work on improving access to portable water, health services, roads and the overall living conditions.

During the rainy season, floods are very recurrent in the village, destroying food in farms, vital documents and houses. These floods also serve as a breeding ground for mosquitos,  leading to high rates in Malaria infections and Typhoid fever.

The one-day conference was an occasion for the youths to find solutions to these problems that stand in the way of the community’s development .

Among key solutions discussed, is facilitating the acquisition of birth certificates for children in the village. Many of them lost their birth certificates during floods , others were razed by fire set on homes in the heart of the crisis in the English speaking regions. Accordingly, many of these children have not been able to register the Common Entrance exams or First School Leaving Certificate exams because of the absence of this vital document.

The organizers of this year’s edition of the Wushincho International Youth Conference say getting new birth certificates is a priority because it will permit these children pursue their educational dreams .

Youth empowerment

HRH Ndsodonebio lll of Babessi, Fon of Babessi particularly told the youths to uphold love, peace and unity regardless of  current challenges. He was accompanied by the Fon of Babungo, HRH Zofua Ndofua ll, who applauded the Babessi youths for upholding their cultural values irrespective of external influence.

During the conference, Babessi youths were drilled on how to write CVs, Cover letters that can help them easily pick up jobs , especially international jobs. They also learnt to make profitable career choices, and  how to start up small and large scale businesses from scratch.

Prior to the conference, a call for tender was been launched to select youths interested in acquiring these skills. Ten youths were selected, and will be virtually trained on improving their job search skills.

The next youth conference will take place in 2022, on a date yet to be announced.

Kathy Neba Sina