Spring 2021 Newsletter

Amidst the unprecedented multiple challenges facing Cameroonians today — a pandemic, a political crisis, attacks by Boko Haram, and incursions from rebels from neighboring Central African Republic — Breaking Ground is forging forth on projects that bring us hope for the future.

Kompina Water Project

In the village of Kompina in Cameroon’s Littoral Region, we are completing a water project begun in 2019. Funded by International Children’s Awareness (ICA) of Canada and the Center for International Cooperation (CIC) of Cameroon, the project consists of the construction of a water tower for storage, the digging of a borehole, and the installation of piping to deliver water to the various neighborhoods of Kompina. In Kompina, as in many rural areas in Cameroon, electricity from the grid is unreliable. Thus, our project utilizes solar energy to supplement the supply of electricity and power the water pump. In all, the Kompina Water Project will impact 15,000 people, including five primary schools, one secondary school, and one health center.

Water tower construction at Kompina

Installation of piping for Kompina water project

Young Girls and Women for a Sustainable Peace

Since 2019, Breaking Ground has partnered with other organizations in Cameroon to advance peacebuilding initiatives. With the support of Global Affairs Canada, Breaking Ground collaborated with the human rights defender organization REDHAC (Réseau de Défenseurs de Droits de l’Homme en Afrique Centrale) to launch a project aimed at building the capacity of girls and women at the grassroot level to engage in a sustainable peace process and conflict prevention. The project runs through December 2022 and will be implemented in Cameroon and the Central African Republic with the participation of REDHAC, Breaking Ground, and the Cameroon-based partners LIBRA Association and CESOQUAR and the Central African Republic organization RONGDH (Réseau des ONG des Droits de L’Homme).

Representatives of partner organizations at launch of project

(Executive Director Paul Zangue in white collared shirt)

Understanding Today’s Challenges in Cameroon

Here at Breaking Ground, we are proud of being able to continue advancing our mission to achieve lasting solutions to their self-identified needs by investing in local knowledge, empowering women, and promoting economic development. Because the scope of our work has changed in light of the socio-political challenges facing Cameroonians, we want to ensure that you, our supporters, understand the crises taking place in Cameroon.

The primary destabilizing force in Cameroon today is the Anglophone Crisis in the Northwest and Southwest Regions, an armed conflict between the military and separatists forces, which has resulted in 705,800 internally displaced persons (IDPs) and 63,200 refugees to date. In these first months of 2021, there has been an upsurge in violence. Civilian populations continue to be either directly targeted by these violent incidents or caught in crossfire. In January, two mains incidents were recorded in Mautu in the Southwest where nine people including children and elder women were killed and 17 others were wounded, and in Meta in the Northwest where four teenagers were killed. Apart from being directly victimized by the violence, school children throughout the region are losing critical educational opportunities, as schools remain closed in most of the area affected by the conflict. For us here at Breaking Ground, the violence and instability has required us to pause work on our successful agricultural programs in the Southwest Region.

In October 2019, the Cameroonian government organized a Major National Dialogue with the stated aim of ending the crisis. This dialogue, however, was held without the participation of Anglophones leaders. Whereas representatives of civil society and religious leaders in Cameroon have called for an inclusive dialogue, echoed by the support of the United States, UK, and Canada, the Cameroonian government has persisted in its claim that ongoing measures are effective to end the armed conflict in Northwest and Southwest

Meanwhile, attacks by Boko Haram have forced more than 100,000 Nigerians to seek refuge in Cameroon’s northern regions and repeated incursions by rebel groups in Cameroon’s neighbor to the east, the Central African Republic, have resulted in a refugee population of more than 290,000 putting pressure communities in the East and Adamawa Regions, whose resources are already limited.

All of this takes place within the backdrop of the global pandemic in which Cameroon has identified 40,622 cases of Covid-19, of whom 35,261 individuals have recovered and 601 have died. While the government calls for respect of protective measures, the roll-out of vaccines has yet to begin, skepticism of vaccination is growing, and Covid case numbers are rising. 

Next Steps & How You Can Help

While the crises in Cameroon have caused us to suspend our long-running Southwest Region agricultural program, we quickly pivoted to focus on the specific needs that arose as a result of the new challenges. Nutrition, education, and shelter are the most critical needs among Cameroon’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). Of the 75,000 IDPs in Menoua division where we are headquartered, only 3,711 are enrolled in school (OCHA, 2020). We are currently supporting IDPs to grow their own food by providing seed, fertilizer and training. Education is our next target intervention on behalf of IDPs.

With your support, we can continue to work with communities to meet their most pressing needs. Please consider joining us today by making a donation.