For over 3 years, we have been living in war in the English Regions of Cameroon. It started with a simple strike action by the teachers and lawyers who complained about the francophonization of the English subsystem of Education and the Law. Then the people joined the strike action to complain about the marginalization of English speaking Cameroonians. The result was peaceful protests with peace plants which later on upgraded into protests with stones. In response to their peaceful protests, the government used live bullets to shoot her own people. In self defense, the people upgraded from stones to machetes and dane guns. But where we are today, is more unbelievable. I can't describe the horrors of living in my community.

First, let me talk about the kidnappings. Today morning, i received very disturbing news of two children who had been kidnapped for going to school, one man kidnapped for reasons i don't know and then a man, his wife and child kidnapped for reasons i don't know. I know all these people and they are my neighbors and i am totally confused. I even saw the woman who was kidnapped yesterday evening and we had a great conversation only to learn that she was kidnapped in the night. This is very frightening and one thing is certain, all these people will pay heavy ransoms before being released. As to who is responsible for the kidnappings, i am not sure for now.
Then as i left the house, i met another neighbor who told me two guys threatened him with a gun this morning. As i write, i feel very confused and uncertain about the future.

How is life worthless in my community?

Today, morning i drove pass a dead person who was shot early this morning. About 3 meters from the corpse, people were doing their business and going about their daily activities as if nothing had happened.
This may seem normal but i can't say the number of human heads that have been placed in public locations in my community. Its common to wake up and see two or three persons that have been killed. I remember a child who was cooked alive in hot palm oil. The other day, the delegate of Public Health signed a communiqué calling on people to come and identify corpses at the morgue as well as a human head that was among. Honestly, dignity of the human person has been deleted in my community both by the separatist fighters and the military.

Violation fo the right to education.

For over 3 years, our children haven't had access to education. The seperatists declared no school in the English speaking regions of Cameroon and till date, 90% of the schools in the English speaking regions of Cameroon are not functioning. Some school children have died, others have been kidnapped and others severely beaten or wounded just for going to school. The other day at the University Campus, a student was taken by a stray bullet from an exchange between the military and the separatist fighters. Yesterday, they kidnapped my neighbor’s children. Education means nothing to the separatist fighters and they say, when the war is over our children will go back to school. When will the war be over?
Over 40 teachers and 12 principals have been killed because they are teachers. What about those who have been disabled and those who have been beaten and money extorted from them? The number is too much to count.

My (@mr-greens) personal experiences

On the 5th of January, i narrowly escaped death from sporadic military gunshots. I was on a bike with a bike rider and as soon as we heard the gunshots, we drove into a valley but luckily for us, we were held by an old abandoned gate.
One month later, i witnessed a military confrontation between the military and separatist fighters.
Yesterday, i missed getting kidnapped by the Separatist fighters on my way back from the University of Bamenda. I saw them take somebody and his car to their camp just before me.
Last month, my mum was attacked and a gun shot right infront of our home.
A lot of my cousins have been killed from the war and my elder sister's Mitsubishi Pajero was taken by the separatist fighters. As if that was not enough, they kidnapped her husband and we paid almost $500 before he was released. The experiences i have had from this war are frightening and how we survive, only God knows.

I am very afraid that if the international community does not act rapidly, more souls will be lost, illiteracy and crime wave will be on the rise, etc

By the end of the month, we will launch a project on @fundition known as Creative Arts and Digital Environmental Education for the crisis hit North West Region of Cameroon
The project aims at using art (poetry, music and art) and digital tools (mobile application, website and radio) to educate and engage the young people of the North West Region who haven't had access to education for over 3 years as a result of the crisiss to conserve their rich biodiversity and environment.
Stay tuned to updates and get ready to support.

You can learn more about the crisis on the Crisis Group Website

#Call2Action

The Greens is a grassroots environmental organization that strives to educate, inspire and engage young people to take action to combat climate change and be at the forefront of biodiversity conservation and waste management.

Founded in 2010, @thegreens have been able to use arts, sports, media and ICT to educate and engage more than 10,000 young people in Green Poetry, Green Music, Green Arts, Green Radio, and Conservation Champions League.

Her tree planting programs have seen the organization create 04 Community Tree Nurseries, planted more than 300,000 trees and together with @kedjom-keku we have acquired 1000 hectares of afromontane forest in Kedjom-Keku Village of the Bamenda Highlands of the North West Region of Cameroon for the creation and conservation of Kedjom-Keku Community Forest

@thegreens is currently engaged in Waste Management (Waste Business Hub); Plastic Waste Upcycling, Tire Upcycling and Textile Waste Recycling via @ecodesigns.
Her #EndPlasticPollution Campaign has seen the organization sensitize more than 100,000 people about plastic pollution, upcycled more than 10,000 plastic bottles to create UPB Vertical Gardens, UPB Tree Nursery Pots, etc.

Her Textile Recycling Project (@ecodesigns) is currently training 13 young girls for free in textile recycling and fashion designing and has recycled more than 5000 pounds of textile waste.

Her Tire Upcycling Project is educating and engaging young people in schools and communities to #StopBurningTires and upcycle them to create Mushroom Tire Seats, Tire Flower Pots, etc

Support us to continue to educate, inspire and engage young people to take action to combat climate change and be at the forefront of biodiversity conservation and waste management.

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