By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi
The Buea School for the Deaf on Friday February 9 2018 had an august visitor to the school campus. Staff and students of the institution were graced with the presence of the Orange Foundation led by Elizabeth Ehabe, the secretary general of the Foundation and her delegation.
The main purpose of the foundation to the institution was to officially open a vocational workshop as well as donate some sewing machines and carpentry tools to the students to aid them in their vocational training exercises.
Aloysius Njok BIBUM is the founder/director of the Buea School for the deaf and according to him; he is overwhelmed with the kind gesture from the Orange Foundation and hopes that the bond gets stronger. “The building and the tools donated by the Orange foundation are very important. Our mission here is to provide deaf children with the opportunity to have a good education and also job training. The deaf people have skills but they need encouragement. Currently we have 65 students which is half of what we use to have before the crisis in the region”.
The director equally noted that, despite the situation in the country, his institution is preparing candidates for the GCE Ordinary levels.
“We function like a normal school, we have students who write public examinations and as at this year, we have 12 students sitting in for the examinations just at the ordinary level because we do not have a high school section yet”.
He urged parents who have such disabled children not to feel discouraged. He urged them to send those children to school so that they can equally have a sense and feel of belonging in the society.
To the secretary general of the Orange Foundation, Elizabeth Ehabe, “the reason for such a gesture from the Orange foundation Cameroon to the Buea School for the Deaf is that of inclusion. We believe that every single child in Cameroon has potential that can be developed, they each have a lot to contribute to their society but they need to have the resources put at their disposal and the tools to achieve success”.
She added that some of the kids get to school a little older because their parents do not have information about educational and training opportunities available. “It was therefore necessary for the Buea School for the Deaf to set up a vocational training section for the kids in addition to learning the Basic English, mathematics, French etc and also to learn practical skills which can give them a career in the future”. She added
Adding his voice to that of the other speakers was the representative from the Regional service for persons with disabilities and the elderly, John NjanjoLuma who maintained that, the initiative from Orange Foundation Cameroon was an impressive one and shall never be forgotten.
The building and tools ,he said, will not only help the students at the Buea School for the deaf but it will go a long way to help the community at large because the students who will obtain training from the vocational workshops will become independent one day and be of help to their country.
“This is indeed a project that will be sustainable and our institution is doing a lot to ensure that many people get to be aware of such opportunities” he added.
Buea School for the deaf is a boarding School for deaf children. It was opened in 2003 and placed under the authorization of the Ministry of Social Affairs. Its main aims are to promote the effective integration of deaf children and youths into society as well as promote access to education at all levels of deaf children and adults.
It is important to note that this is not the first time the Orange Foundation Cameroon is extending its philanthropic hand to people in need especially to children with disabilities.