Knowledgeforchildren 3 pager by GlobeMed

Knowledge for Children + globemed at morgan state university KUMBO, CAMEROON

Quick Overview Knowledge for Children strives to improve the futures of today’s children by working directly with primary schools to improve their eﬀectiveness and quality of education. Speciﬁcally, the organization works to provide children with schoolbooks, instill in them a joy for reading, and educate them on the diseases particularly prevalent in their communities. Knowledge for Children works not only with the children, but with the principals, teachers, parents, and communities in order to assure a measurable, sustained impact.

WWW.KNOWLEDGEFORCHILDREN.ORG

Country: Cameroon ! Cameroon is a Central African nation on the Gulf of Guinea, bordered by Nigeria, Chad, the Central African Republic, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, and Gabon. It is nearly twice the size of Oregon. ! Early inhabitants of the Cameroonian territory included the Sao civilization and the Baka hunter-gatherers. Portuguese explorers reached the coast in the 15th century and named the area ‘Rio dos Camaroes’ (Shrimp River), which became ‘Cameroon’ in English. In the 19th century, Fulani soldiers founded the Adamawa Emirate in the north. The land escaped colonial rule until 1884, when treaties with tribal chiefs brought the area under German domination. After World War I, the League of Nations gave the French a mandate over 80% of the area, and the British 20% adjacent to Nigeria. In 1946 the country came under a UN trusteeship, and was granted selfgovernment. The Cameroon People’s Union emerged as the dominant party by

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COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

campaigning both for the reuniﬁcation French and British Cameroon and for independence. Accused of being under Communist control, the party waged a campaign of revolutionary terror from 1955 until it was crushed in 1958.

Cameroon Statistic s Cameroonian popula tion: 20,549,221 Over 8 ethnic group s Agriculture 70% of lab or force Urban population: 58% of total Life expectancy: 55.02

In 1960, the French-administered part of Cameroon became independent as the Republic of Cameroun under President Ahmadou Ahidjo. The southern part of British Cameroon merged with it in 1961 to form the Federal Republic of Cameroon. The northern section of British Cameroon voted for uniﬁcation with Nigeria.

The country was renamed the United Republic of Cameroon in 1972, and the Republic of Cameroon in 1984 when prime minister Paul Biya took power. Compared with other African countries, Cameroon enjoys relatively high political and social stability. This has permitted the development of agriculture, roads, railways, and large petroleum and timber industries. Nevertheless, large numbers of Cameroonians live in poverty as subsistence farmers. Corruption is prevalent, and environmental degradation remains a concern. Despite slow movement toward democratic reform, political power remains ﬁrmly in the hands of Paul Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement Party.

Knowledge for Children achievements to date 110 schools and their communities benefitting from programs 34,725 schoolbooks distributed 27,500 children in North-West Cameroon receiving an improved quality of education 40 Health Clubs founded in 40 schools Schools working with Knowledge for Children score 10% higher in government exams than schools not enrolled in programming

Health Statistics HIV rate: 5.3% in 20 09 Infant mortality rat e: 58.51 per 1,000 children 0.19 physicians per 1,000 people in 2004

Cameroon is a member of both the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie. The country’s main ally is France. In June 2000, the World Bank agreed to provide more than $200 million to build a $3.7 billion pipeline connecting the oil ﬁelds in neighboring Chad with the Cameroon coast.

are not able to read or write. To ensure a better future for today’s children, Knowledge for Children has taken up the task of improving the level of primary education in rural Cameroon. Knowledge for Children strives for sustainability by working toward the financial independence of the local population and stimulating local involvement and ownership. They focus on training local teachers in the hopes of increasing the effectiveness and quality of education in local schools for the long term. Knowledge for Children is constantly looking to innovate and monitor their results with a focus on the efficient use of resources. They cooperate with government bodies in Cameroon and have a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of Basic Education PROGRAMS:

Organization: Knowledge for Children Knowledge for Children is an independent, non-religious nonproﬁt established in 2005. They started their work in the rural areas of the NorthWest region of Cameroon and are now working to expand. Knowledge for Children believes that knowledge is the key to a promising future for children in developing countries. Although most children in Cameroon go to school, education standards are low, especially in rural areas. Teachers are insuﬃciently trained, and schoolbooks are often completely absent. Many children leaving primary school at the age of 12

Schoolbooks - In Cameroon, out of a class of 60 children about 2 will actually have schoolbooks. Knowledge for Children contributes to an increased quality of education by donating schoolbooks to primary schools. The book norm for the organization is three schoolbooks per child in every school. Knowledge for Children coinvests with the community, meaning that the community itself makes a significant financial contribution. As soon as the program starts at a new school, the school sets up its own book foundation with which they can purchase extra books and replace old ones. This book foundation expands continually as the school remains in the program. After five years of this program,

each school receives a further three years of assistance while working towards full autonomy. Knowledge for Children counted 110 beneﬁciary schools in 2012, and hopes to expand to 200 by 2015. HIV/AIDS and Malaria Education - HIV/ AIDS is a major problem in Cameroon, and many misconceptions exist on how one can become infected and how to interact with those already infected. Furthermore, every year around one million Cameroonians become infected with Malaria. Knowledge for Children aims to educate children in these areas from an early age. Education on HIV/AIDS and Malaria prevention is also given to parents and teachers in cooperation with local hospitals. In 2011, Knowledge for Children built up a network of now 40 Health Clubs in primary schools. The children, called Health Scouts, and they parents are informed of the dangers of these diseases through interactive role-play and via train-

Education Statistics

Education expenditure

: 3.2% of GDP Literacy: male - 84% female - 75.9% School life expectan cy: male - 11 years female - 9 years

the-trainer workshops. They hope to expand to 80 Health Clubs by 2015.

Meanwhile the organization strives to improve the eﬀectiveness of the current Health Clubs and invest in supporting them. Structural Exchange of Knowledge Knowledge for Children cooperates with Cameroonian experts to organize interactive seminars in which the quality of education and proper use of schoolbooks are central themes. The focal point of these workshops is to promote the exchange of knowledge between schools, school principals, teachers, parents, and institutions, particularly between experienced and less-experienced schools. Knowledge of Children also works with municipalities, inspectors of primary education, local hospitals, and other organizations in order to improve the quality of education in the schools they reach. Quality of Education - This year, Knowledge for Children is starting a new program particularly targeted at increasing literacy rates among primary school children. The organization is working to set up reading tests in primary schools in order to assess the level of literacy for each new school. If unsatisfactory, Knowledge for Children will oﬀer the school a training program, employing trainers to hold workshops with the teachers and provide on-the-job coaching. To stimulate experience in reading, Knowledge for Children is establishing reading clubs in their schools. Children are provided with storybooks to encourage them to read and instill in them a joy for reading.

What will you bring to the GlobeMed network?

GROW IDEAS

“Knowledge for Children believes there is no one organization that can do everything for the community, and that is why we can do so much in partnership... One thing is that the group of students have a lot of innovation and ideas... At the same time, Knowledge for Children shares a population of 7,500 people in about 10-15 different communities. By recruiting students, we are bringing a new perspective of the rural areas of Cameroon that will enable GlobeMed students to have a unique experience... and might also give them a chance to recommend some ideas.”

“GlobeMed students will be of assistance for Knowledge for Children staff trainers in the areas of health, monitoring and evaluation, and quality data collection. GlobeMed students will also be allowed to view current training material and brainstorm with staff on sessions with parent teacher associations on income generating activities and how to improve family nutrition... This will ensure a more robust Knowledge for Children after the interns are gone and will make the impact on the communities even more visible.”

M DEVINE SUIVEN, HEALTH PROGRAMS CONSULTANT FOR KNOWLEDGE FOR CHILDREN

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country resources CIA World Factbook https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-worldfactbook/geos/cm.html# International Human Development Indicators http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/proﬁles/ CMR.html Human Rights Watch http://www.hrw.org/africa/cameroon World Health Organization (WHO) http://www.who.int/countries/cmr/en/ Top Headlines for Cameroon http://allafrica.com/cameroon/?aa_source=main-nav-t3