A JOURNEY TO OROKO VILLAGES TO PAY THE CHILDREN’S SCHOLARSHIP 

By Victor Male Isele. (Chief Co-ordinator, Cameroon)

My journey to the Oroko villages started immediately after I received the scholarship packages and instructions from Angels for Oroko Children, Inc in the United States of America.

After consultation with Dr. Justin Okolle on the strategies of the journey and how to distribute the scholarship money to the beneficiaries, we were ready to start our journey to the villages. Being a worker with the Regional Control of Finances, I took a one Month leave of Absense from my job in March of 2009 inorder to volunteer my services to our junior ones who were lucky to be recipients.

In fact the journey to the villages was an uphill task because of the horrible nature of the roads in Ndian Division in particular despite the fact that it was still the dry season in this part of the country. On March 5th 2009, inspite of this difficulty, I succefully made it to the first village on my list. This was the village of Bekondo. All the problems on the way were worth the trip when I noticed how happy the children were and also the principal who hails from Mbonge, was very proud to praise one of the Sponsors and kinswoman, Iya Melissa Nambangi.

The principal told me that he knows Iya Melissa and went as far as to show me her family home in the village. The selected child from this village had just graduated from primary school, and was now a student at Government Secondary School Bekondo. After showing the list of selected beneficiaries to the principal, he was very happy and praised the initiators of such a project because it had never been done in Orokoland.

Dikome Balue.

From there, I moved on to Dikome Balue which was another horrible trip because the vehicle never reached the village even though it was dry season. Hence, most of the journey was done treking for about four hours. Being Dr. Mercy Mabian's hometown, I was given the VIP treatment because the people were very happy that their daughter is working on financial assistance to Oroko school children in the villages. I was also warmly received because one of my university schoolmates is a tutor in the school. In addition, since Dikome Balue had the highest number of beneficiaries, the villagers were very happy and thankful for the blessings that have been given to them.

I met the Discipline Master who told me that the principal was in a meeting in Mundemba with the Divisional Delegate of Education. The discipline master gathered the children in the assembly hall where I was introduced, and then paid the school fees of the selected beneficiaries. Those children who never got to register for the program were understandably sad, so they filled out the application packets. I took pictures of the school and the children.

Next Stop.

After I left Dikome Balue, I travelled to Madie Ngolo.  Being a neighboring village and with no motorable road linking Dikome Balue to Madie Ngolo, the whole journey was done trekking again for several hours. In Madie Ngolo, there was a lot of euphoria because it is my village. I met our chief and I told him about the project and he was very happy about it. When I told him that the Project's Founder is from Dikome Balue and her name is Dr. Mercy Mabian he told me that he knew her father and mother since he is a retired Inspector of Basic Education in Dikome Balue. He prayed for the growth of the organization and that God should continue to bless everyone involved in Angels for Oroko Children program. Although a man from Manyu Division, the newly appointed Discipline Master of the Government School in Madie Ngolo was very happy with the initiative and praised the organization for their afforts in sponsoring the children. The four beneficiaries from Madie Ngolo were formerly in primary school and are now in the newly created secondary school. I paid their school fees and from there I moved on to Toko which was one of the hardest trips to make because of the lack of road. On arrival, I met with the vice principal who expressed a lot of happiness and goodwill with the Program even though none of his students were beneficiaries of the Sponsorship program. None of his students had registered since they were ignorant about the organization. However, by the time I left the village, several children were registered. 

From Toko I travelled to Mundemba the Divisional Head Quarter. There I met with the principals of all the schools in Ndian Division in a meeting with the Divisional Delegate of Secondary Education held at Govt Bilingual High School. I was given one hour to introduce myself and the project. There I told them the main aims and objectives of the project. After telling them that I had already been to Bekondo, Madie, Dikome Balue to pay the school fees of the beneficiaries, the delegate then encouraged the principals to assist in registering their children. When the delegate read the list of the beneficiaries that I handed to him and noticed that Dikome Balue had the highest number of sponsored children of ten students, all the principals scrambled to obtain the forms and register their children. 

I travelled to Matoh, Konye, Ngolo Bolo, Ibemi, Koba, Kake, Wone and Bole. The ambiance was the same because the people were now more committed than before because of the gesture that they have seen.

Lessons Learned

The major problems that I encountered on my journey to these villages are the lack of roads, school buildings, school supplies, medical supplies, and heath center repairs. For instance, the newly created Government High School in Dikome Balue lacked many resources to be called a High School. Resources such as classrooms, science labs, textbooks, desks, library and even teaching Staff are lacking partly due to the enclaved nature of the school and other schools in the areas. 

By the time I completed the trip and returned to Buea where I lived, I fell sick as a result of the toll the journey took on me. But my joy at seeing the smiles on the faces of these children cannot be measured in money. I undertook this journey as my own small contribution to see the success of the sponsorship program. I want to thank and encourage you all in United States for the excellent work in sponsoring our junior ones. Rest assured, because now there is a lot of interest and awareness to Angels for Oroko Children, the Oroko Child Sponsorship Organization.

Victor Male Isele

Chief-Co-ordinator.

Angels for Oroko Children, Inc ( Cameroon Bureau)