“The New School Infrastructure provides conducive environment for studies”

 CHILDREN OF BANGEM e.V an NGO led by an elite of Muakwe based in Germany-Bavaria

has constructed and donated a 53million and above worth school infrastructure to the village community to help improve learning of

students in the area. The construction of the

school with support from friends in Germany

is just one of the many community

development activities the NGO has been

carrying out in KupeMuanenguba.

At the official handing over ceremony of the school to the community and government

authorities in MUAKWE Sunday March 2,2025 ECO OUTLOOK Bangem reporter,

Mesumbe Nelly caught up with the initiator of the project Prosper Nokwe for a chat.

(Excerpts);

 

1) Please can we know what prompted you

to embark on this school construction project.

I come from Muakwe village and I know the

very perilous conditions the pupils here are

going through. So I thought it I should do

something to improve the schooling

conditions of the children here so they could

have a more better schooling conditions

2) Q This must have cost you a fortune

Yes, honestly this has cost some

approximately Fifty three million fcfa and the

project is still going on. So we are not

completely finished.

Q 3) Is this project self sponsored or you got

some assistance from development partners.

We are an NGO based in Germany-Bavaria

and we raise most of the funds ourselves. Ofcourse this means contacting others to

support our development project.

Q 4) A big problem with schools in our rural

areas is that of staff. Getting qualified and

steady staff is a big challenge. Have you

thought of that?

Actually my organization, CHILDREN OF

BANGEM e.V we provide just the structures.

This is a government school and it is left to the

delegate of basic education here to see how

he can support this school with more

teachers. The school requested if we can

support with payment of part time teachers.

Unfortunately we don’t have funds for that. I

am pleading with the authorities here to see

how they can endeavor to provide more

teachers for the school.

 

Q- 5) Can we Know more about your NGO

and some other activities you have been

carrying out here in Bangem and

KupeMuanenguba generally?

First of all, I got myself engage in projects

here in Muakwe 2001 when friends of mine in

Germany visited me and my family here and

ask what they can bring them some goodies .

And I told them to come and see for

themselves the school and what support we

can organise for the school. It was a school

campus with straw buildings.

After their visit and return, we were able to

raise about 2500 euros with which a wooden

structure of the school was built. Some 20

years after, the wooden structure was

virtually wearing out. So we had to now raise

funds to put up a more permanent structure

that you see here today. The size of the

building today is the same size of the wooden

structure that has been converted.About our NGO it started with a football team

called Dynamo Almosensturm in Obernburg,

Germany.

His teammates wanted to organise a nice

evening with their wives and Prosper who is a

hobby bar keeper will mix drinks. A theme for

this evening was needed, and this is when

Prosper Nokwe told his friends that he has a

school in his village Muakwe, which he

supported in 2001.

This is when the idea drinking for Cameroon,

“Cocktails for Cameroon” in 2013 was born.

So our NGO CHILDREN OF BANGEM e.V later

emanated from that.

We are engaged in many other activities like

the provision of books since 2014 to school

children not only in Muakwe but this entire

community. And this has continued since

then.We help support families in Muakwe and the

surrounding villages right up to Muangwekan.

The numbers of recipients increase yearly. We

give textbooks and exercise books yearly since

2014 to pupils/students. To ensure

sustainability, the textbooks provided are

returned at the end of the school year for

those who got promoted to the next class.

These books are then given to the next

generation of students. The year where some

textbooks are taken out of the curriculum

means we have fewer books to give out.

Generally we are focused on sustaining

development and cooperation through

charitable and productive socio-economic

activities in the bid to transform the lives of

disadvantaged, have-nots and the less

privileged populations in both rural urban

poor communities of Cameroon.We have support for individual kids who are

orphans worth 100,000 fcfa every year in this

area.They are 37 in number for now.

We also supported Bangem hospital container

with of beds and working on other projects to

better help the hospital.

Q 6) Any future plans?

Of course, we plan to continue improving on

the school infrastructure project put on solar

panels to help the school have constant

energy supply. Given the challenges with

electricity and security, we also bring solar

energy on the different streets so people

don’t move in the dark at night.

7) Impact of the project in the community.

 

This school building today is a symbol of hope

and dreams – it shows that you can pursue

and achieve your dreams. I am very grateful

that l am able to achieve this personal dream

of improving the learning environment for this

children.

It should also serve as an inspiration and

motivation to other young ones.

With great pride, we can all state that the

decades-long conflict in Muakwe has suddenly

ended. The youths brought the elders

together and conveyed the necessity of acting

as a unit to give this project the push it

deserved. This was very well received by the

elders. I thank the young people for this

initiative. You can be very proud of

yourselves. Also children here will develop self-confidence because of the modern infrastructure they enjoy back home and the enabling environment. So even when they go for higher education in big cities like Yaounde

they will not have any complex.

THANKS FOR TALKING TO ECO- OUTLOOK.