Welcome to Building Schools For Africa

Building access to education and hope for the future with communities in Cameroon.

Our Projects So Far – Interactive Map

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110

Schools helped

325

Classrooms built

68

Health centres/water projects

100

% of donated funds go to projects

Building schools with SHUMAS

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Impact of our projects

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This is our latest school project being handed ove

This is our latest school project being handed over to the community at Kongola in Far North region of Cameroon today. Looking wonderful.

We are delighted to announce the handing over (on

It’s International Women’s Day and we are cele

It’s International Women’s Day and we are celebrating the fact that, this year, we have been able to help 300 destitute women who are victims of the war in Cameroon. They are all now running their own small businesses and are able to feed their families again and send their children to school.

Rebecca is 70 years old. She came to Bafoussam fro

Rebecca is 70 years old. She came to Bafoussam from Ndop when her house was burned down during the fighting. She would love to go back but she doesn’t know if that will ever be possible. She has eight children, who are all grown but are not earning enough to put the five grandchildren through school, so Rebecca was put on the empowerment programme to enable her to pay the school fees. She now runs a small stall outside her one-room shack, where she sells the corn, beans and oil provided by SHUMAS and has branched out to include salt, gari, Maggi, Kola nuts and firewood.

She remains very cheerful even though she is not in good health and lives in absolute squalor. She saves small amounts when she can and her dream is to buy herself a mattress.

Maimuna is 26 years old. She is one of five siblin

Maimuna is 26 years old. She is one of five siblings who were sent to Bafoussam by their parents in order for them to continue their education. All the schools were closed down in the NW region because of the war and their home in Ndop was in one of the hot-spots for the fighting.

Maimuna, acting in loco parentis, at first found a job doing housework but the work was too heavy and paid very badly. She was put on the empowerment programme so that she could fulfil her wish to put her siblings (aged 19, 17, 13 and 11) through school. SHUMAS provided her rice and oil to sell on her stall but she has used the profits to branch out into textiles.

She has also learned how to embroider clothes and is now selling traditionally embroidered dresses on her stall. She makes a good profit on her textiles and has already had to re-stock her stall four times. She says she is very happy with her new way of life and, as well as keeping her siblings housed and fed, she is managing to pay their school fees (totalling 220,000 CFA (£290) each year) and still saves 1,000 CFA (£1.30) most weeks.

Lariza is another former resident of Kumbo who mov

Lariza is another former resident of Kumbo who moved to Bafoussam because her house was burned down during the war. She arrived with her husband, her child (aged 2) and her sister’s child (aged 8) one year ago. Her sister was not able escape with them.

Her husband tries to earn some money by occasionally borrowing a motorbike from a friend and using it as a taxi but the young family was really struggling. Lariza was included on the programme and has set up a small stall in the quiet residential area where they are renting two rooms for 20,000 CFA (£26) per month.

She sells mainly wood and charcoal and supplements these items with onions, garlic and soap. Her weekly profits are around 6,000 CFA (£8) and she would like to expand her business to include groundnuts, which are popular locally. Her sister’s daughter has recently started going to school for the first time. She is doing very well and, when the first term’s exams were set, she came 7th out of a class of 32. Lariza cannot afford to pay the whole year’s school fees 35,000 CFA (£40) but pays in 10,000 CFA (£13) instalments when she can.

Judith fled from Kumbo with her husband and daught

Judith fled from Kumbo with her husband and daughter three years ago, because her house there was burned down.

Her husband died when they got to Bafoussam and last Ocober she was burned out of the house that they were renting and lost everything for a second time. She was begging for food on the streets before she met with the SHUMAS team and was included as a beneficiary on the programme.

She used to have a business making Omo when she lived in Kumbo so chose to do this again after her training on the project. SHUMAS provided her with the ingredients to make the Omo, and this is selling very well. Judith is a very determined woman and is now making good profits in her business. She has found a shack to rent and has opened a small bar beside her shop, where she sells palm wine and corn beer. She has also expanded her range of shop goods to suit her customers.

Her daughter had a child soon after they arrived in Bafoussam and is expecting a second one. By tradition, she cannot share a bed (and therefore the small shack) with her mother. Judith is paying rent and food for herself, her child and her grandchild, ploughing profits back into her business, and still manages to save 5,000 CFA (£6.50) per week.

Vivian, who has six children, came from Kiyan (a v

Vivian, who has six children, came from Kiyan (a village near Kumbo in the NW) two years ago with nothing. She was destitute. Soon after her business training with SHUMAS and having been given items to sell at the market, she had a house fire and lost everything again.

SHUMAS helped a second time with gari, tomatoes and beans to sell on her stall. Over the last few months she has managed to add yams, potatoes and some other small items.

Vivian can pay for the four children of school age to attend classes which costs a total of 210,000 CFA (£277) per year. She has no savings yet but keeps her capital.

Emmerencia comes from Kumbo. She has three childre

Emmerencia comes from Kumbo. She has three children (aged 20, 15,14) and pays 170,000 CFA (£225) for school fees each year.

Since her training with SHUMAS Emmerencia now rents a stall at her local market for 3,000 CFA (£4) per month and sells groundnuts, red oil, agussi (shelled pumpkin seeds that used in many popular African dishes).

She makes about 1000 CFA (£1.30) profit on each of the items on her stall and is able to pay for the school fees, the rent for the stall and the room in which they all live.

“SHUMAS made me smile again”. Hortencia left

“SHUMAS made me smile again”.

Hortencia left Kumbo in 2018 because of the war. She moved in with her sister when she first arrived in Bafussam but now rents a room for herself and her five children, three of whom go to school. She has been suffering from high blood pressure because she was so frightened at her change of circumstances.

SHUMAS gave her charcoal to start up her business, the profit from which allows her to pay for her healthcare, the children’s schools fees and save each week.

Hostenica has now learnt French and her business is growing. She is now starting to feel settled and happier.

Rose came from Wum to Bafussam three years ago wit

Rose came from Wum to Bafussam three years ago with her three children (twins aged 2 and 7). She also looks after her sister’s children (aged 15 and 16).

She shares a stall at the market with someone else so she doesn’t have to pay rent however she has been asked to move from her current location so needs to find a new site in the coming weeks.

Rose sells the fresh ingredients for Eru which are Kandar (cow skin), water leaf, huckleberry and water Fufu.

Odilia is from Donga Mantung in the NW region. She

Odilia is from Donga Mantung in the NW region. She has 6 children and has been renting two rooms for 15,000 CFA (£20) per month, but the landlord has put the rent up to 20,000 CFA (£26) so she is looking for a smaller place. Three of her children are in primary school and the others are in secondary.

When she arrived in Bafoussam, she took a job doing housework but the work was so hard and the pay was so little (just 15,000 CFA (£20) per month) that she became very stressed and lost a lot of weight, and she had to give up the job.

She was given a place on the programme and, after the training, was given beans, rice, corn and gari to start her small business. She makes about 7 – 8,000 CFA (£9 – £10.50) profit each week and manages to save 3,000 CFA (£4) a week after paying all her expenses and instalments on the children’s school fees.

She is very happy with how her business is going and is gradually getting over the trauma of the past few years: she is even putting some weight back on!

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