Summer 2021 Newsletter & 2020 Annual Report

Here in Cameroon, despite the ongoing conflicts, we are celebrating the progress made on our water project in Kompina. The solar panels and pump have been installed!  Installation of solar pump in Kompina Water flows! We are also happy to present to you our 2020 Annual Report, complete with a letter from our Board Chair, Jeff Walton, program updates, and a financial overview. A complete list of financial reports can also be found on our website. As we continue our work this summer, we need your support as much as ever. Please consider joining us today by making a donation. On est ensemble, Paul Zangue Executive Director

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.

Winter 2020 Newsletter

A New Normal?

Cameroon, a unique Central African country that has for decades remained relatively stable, is experiencing multiple complex crises impacting Breaking Ground’s ongoing community development efforts. The Islamist sect Boko Haram has increased its armed attacks in the north and rebels from the Central African Republic are making violent incursions in the east. Since 2016, the northwest and Southwest provinces have been plunged into an armed conflict resulting in more than 679,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), 60,000 people seeking refuge in Nigeria, children of all ages missing years of school, and young adults unable to find employment.

The consequences of these crises are widespread across the country. According to the last FAO 2020 Synthesis Report on Food and Nutrition, Cameroon is now among African countries with a significant threat of food insecurity. The arrival of COVID-19 in March 2020 has further complicated the situation in Cameroon. In light of these dramatic changes, Breaking Ground has conducted a self-study and context analysis to realign our mission with the needs of the communities and individuals we serve. We want to share with you what we are doing now, and why your support is so important at this moment.  

Breaking Ground in a Time of Crisis in Cameroon

Since 2006, Breaking Ground has been working in Cameroon to help communities achieve lasting solutions to their self-identified needs by investing in local knowledge, empowering women, and promoting economic development. This approach has resulted in highly successful sustainable development, education, and empowerment initiatives across Cameroon, and has produced an important network of trusting relationships with individuals, communities, civil society organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and ministries within the Cameroonian government.

In response to the violent social and political crisis in Cameroon’s Southwest and Northwest provinces, Breaking Ground has maintained its mission and focus by adapting its operations to meet a new landscape of need by partnering with local and international NGOs and other humanitarian organizations, and has committed to promoting and engaging in an international grassroots peace-building initiative.

Kompina Water Project

Breaking Ground is the implementing partner for a water project in the community of Kompina, funded in part by ICA Canada and CIC Cameroon. The project aims to provide drinkable water to 20,000 people in this village 40km from Douala. The project includes construction of a storage tank of 12 cubic meters, 4 kilometers of water pipe, and 5 water fountains. Much of this project is complete, and Breaking Ground is now preparing to receive the water pump, which is in the Port of Douala. Reflecting Breaking Ground’s mission, this project is a community-driven initiative and we, along with our partners ICA and CIC, are working alongside community leaders to help complete this important addition of vital resources to the community. 

Field Research in a Time of Violence and Political Crisis

Based in part on Breaking Ground’s history of developing relationships with local communities, we have been partnering with ICA Canada and Children Believe Canada to conduct critical field research in the West and Littoral regions. This research is intended to determine the needs of internally displaced persons and to provide valuable data to inform a project proposal for educational and educational support in several communities receiving internally displaced persons. The data demonstrate that these communities require and will benefit from Breaking Ground’s agricultural development and women’s entrepreneurship expertise, in conjunction with ICA Canada’s school building expertise.

Peace-Building

Since 2019, Breaking Ground has been working actively with several partners to develop a peaceful solution to the socio-political crisis that primarily impacts Cameroon’s two English speaking regions of the Northwest and Southwest. This includes initiatives in education, agriculture, entrepreneurship, conflict resolution, and basic community development. Our partners include researchers, journalists, activists, nongovernmental organizations, universities, and other civil society organizations from around the world.

We are working in the field with local NGOs (e.g., REDHAC) to ignite a peace initiative now in some communities by organizing inter-community dialogue. Four dialogue meetings were organized in 2020 in Bamenda, Dschang, Bafoussam, and Buea. We also submitted a collaborative peace-building proposal to Global Affairs Canada and we expect a decision in early 2021.

We also joined a consortium of NGOs in a joint proposal to the United Nations to support IDPs and returning refugees once the current conflict ends. The consortium includes ICA Canada, Children Believe Canada, the Dallaire Institute, South Africa’s Graca Machel Foundation, Germany’s Engineers Without Borders, and CIC Cameroon. Negotiations with UN agencies is still ongoing, and the consortium plans to submit proposal in 2021.

What This Means

Breaking Ground needs your continued and sustained support to continue to play its critical role in all of these ongoing efforts. We can’t predict when the violence will end, or when families can return to their homes and land, when children can go back to school in their own communities, or when people in Cameroon will receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

What we do know is that Breaking Ground’s ability to do its work in this beautiful, war-torn country depends on you. Please consider making a generous end-of-year donation to help Breaking Ground continue what it’s doing – saving lives and securing a future of peace in Cameroon. Thank you!

Breaking Ground in Contact with Community about Possible Project

source of water in the communityBreaking Ground has recently been in contact with a community outside of Douala, in the Littoral Region of Cameroon, about a possible project.  The community has little access to clean drinking water.  Access to clean drinking water is a pressing issue faced by many communities throughout the 10 regions of Cameroon, especially in rural areas.  Only 53% of Cameroon’s rural population has access to improved water (UNICEF 2015).  Breaking Ground is in the process of gathering information from the community, looking into different ways that our organization can help this community gain the access to clean drinking water that they need.  Further information will be provided as the project progresses!

Breaking Ground Soccer Team educates others on International Day of Peace

BG soccer teamIt is common to find young girls from the age of 7-22 hawking (selling goods) on the streets in the North of Cameroon during a school day.  This part of the country has many local cultural values that do not actively encourage the education of young women.  Due to the continued prevelance of many patriarchial structures, the place of a woman is often thought to be in more domestic roles, such as in the kitchen.  Some of these women have frusturations with their roles within society, often having limited opportunites.

Our female soccer team in Djohong has been doing a great job in promoting new opportunities and ideas for local girls. This year on the international day of peace, they decided to use this opportunity to educate other girls in their community on the importance of educating a girl child. Recently, on the UN's International Day of Peace, the young women held a soccer game open to other local girls in the community.  In addition to providing the young women with an opportunity to play, the game gave local spectators a chance to see the girls working together and competing.  Following the game, the team gathered with local spectators and educated them on the International Day of Peace.Girls educate their friends after the soccer match

Back in Dschang, our executive director, Paul, had a radio talk in which he educated others on this year's theme, "Together for Peace: Respect, Safety, and Dignity for All."  This year's campaign specifically promotes respect, safety, and dignity for refugees and migrants.  Its aim is to change the negative narratives on immigration and to strengthen the social cohesion between host communities, refugees, and migrants.  It is our goal to use this program to strengthen the socio-economic security of these women and allow them to continue to reside in their communities.