For Merline Momo Azeufac, a teacher at Balefock village in western Cameroon, the days of fearing nightfall while correcting pupils’ work are over. She’s no longer hostage to the poor light provided by kerosene lamps. At the end of last year, Balefock received four solar panels to produce power, under a grant from the Rural Entrepreneurship Foundation.
Just more than a decade ago, Cameroon drafted a law that was intended to regulate commercial use of the country’s forests. In spite of this, corruption and uncontrolled exploitation are putting forest areas at risk, say NGOs. The 1994 Law on the Regulation of Forests, Fauna and Fishing contains clauses that limit logging, with a view to protecting the environment.
In the run-up to examinations, students frequently complain that teachers pile too much work on them. In Cameroon, however, the opposite is true. Since the academic year got under way in 2004, strikes by teachers have disrupted the education of millions of secondary-school pupils, and the sight of small groups of students roaming the streets when they should be in class has become common.
The term "blood money" has come to have new meaning in Cameroon, where certain patients and their families complain that a brisk trade in trafficked blood has led to shortages in hospitals. "Getting hold of a pouch of blood for a patient who has urgent need of it can be an experience akin to Calvary," said Martin Djomo, the husband of someone who is dependent on blood transfusions.
Mention the word "electricity" to Cameroonians and the chances are that they will laugh ruefully. For several years now, power cuts have been a fact of life in this West African country — crippling businesses and eating into economic growth. The predicted 4% growth in the country this year is significantly lower than the previous two years, and has been blamed on the erratic electricity supplies.
As candidates in Cameroon square up to each other for presidential elections in October, the Catholic Church is doing its best to ensure that the poll will not be an occasion for "politics as usual" in the West African country. "We’re going to shine a spotlight on the need for free and transparent elections," said an archbishop.