By Ikome Christie-Noella Eposi in Buea
With an objective to draw communities in the North west and South west region towards peaceful values through the concepts of conflict resolution, peace building and peace education, Women in Alternative Action (WAA Cameroon) in partnership with the German Federal Foreign Office’s funds (IFA-ZIVIK) have recognized and appreciated some 8 schools in the SW region for their participation and contribution towards the realization of peace education at their respective institutions.
The award ceremony/ awareness raising program which took place on Saturday September 24 2022 in Buea saw a massive turnout of heads of institutions as well as their students and pupils who received trash cans, buckets, jars and trash papers from WAA Cameroon. The 8 beneficiaries appreciated the laudable initiative by WAA Cameroon for spearheading the peace education project successfully.
Talking on behalf of the Women in Alternative Action (WAA Cameroon), the project advocacy officer Alemnji Eballe welcomed all for the award ceremony which she noted falls within the framework of the project, ‘peace education for a more peaceful NW and SW Cameroon’. “This is a project that we are currently implementing in the NW and SW regions. We are rounding off with the project and that is why we decided to reach out to you all today who have contributed greatly to this project” she noted.
She appreciated the warm reception the WAA Cameroon team got during their peace visit to the various schools concerned. “Normally we were supposed to visit 5 schools in the region but we ended up visiting 8 and all the 8 will benefit from our awards today for their active participation in our peace education project”.
Adding his voice was a peace champion at WAA Cameroon, Yuven Chrispin Ntumfon who noted that the award ceremony is also geared toward acknowledging and encouraging the efforts of teachers, heads of school institutions, the ministry and the entire student body in their efforts in implementing peace education at their various institutions. He stated that after the award ceremony, WAA Cameroon shall continue to encourage other institution heads, curriculum development experts as well as different stakeholders especially in the educational sector to adopt peace education in the school curriculum as a mainstream subject.
Emmanuel Njie Wong is the vice principal of the commercial section of P.C.S.S Buea who opined that the initiative from WAA Cameroon is a laudable one because there is no price for peace. “For us to forge ahead there is a need for peace so development can take place”.
He added that at the level of his institution they have an existing peace club and WAA Cameroon visited them and gave them a road map. “We have been preaching peace through these peace clubs, we have also planted a peace plant in school and we intend to launch the clubs by October 15 2022 and we shall then have peace ambassadors in each class disseminating the peace education message to their peers”.
The heads of the various schools present expressed their readiness and willingness to work with WAA Cameroon in their drive towards the promotion of peace in the NW and SW regions of Cameroon. The peace education project is also geared toward engaging school children and students to use arts and foster positive behavioral change and to create peace clubs in schools through which the pupils and students will learn about peace and gain skills to deal with conflict.
