Our Approach

A new primary school classroom block in Meyomessala.

Every penny counts

We guarantee that every penny donated to our charity will go towards the construction of new classroom blocks, new latrines and clean drinking water and other related projects, in remote rural communities in Cameroon. We can do this because all our charity’s overheads are covered by our Trustees, who are volunteers.

Built on trust

We work exclusively in Cameroon with our partner SHUMAS, an NGO that has a proven track record of working with transparency, total honesty and providing excellent feedback and value for money. It’s not an understatement to say that we could not have had such a huge impact with the funds we’ve raised, without them.

The inspiration for our first school building project – GS Ntseimbang in NW region of Cameroon.

Stephen Ndzerem, SHUMAS and Marianne Johnson, BSFA working on an impact assessment. 

Community participation to build a school at Ntahkekah.

Participatory development

It is gradually becoming more widely recognised that simply giving Aid to communities in developing countries can, ironically, be counterproductive and disabling.

Many of the schools, health centres and water projects that we help to construct are located in very poor villages in isolated locations and, in order to ensure sustainable development in its own country, SHUMAS follows a model of Participatory Development in all its programmes: in fact, they help communities to help themselves.

SHUMAS motivates the villagers to contribute as much as they can towards their development projects such as unskilled labour and local building materials (sand and stones). Without this commitment to participation, they will not be accepted onto the development programme.

Their investment in the project is significant because it ensures that the community takes real ownership, whilst keeping the cost of construction low.

Empowering citizens

One of the most powerful pillars of the SHUMAS model of development is the focus on empowering individuals and communities to reach their potential without having to always rely on outside financial support.

‘For Cameroonians who have become displaced because of war, empowerment focuses on regaining the ability to earn their livelihoods and to regain their sense of worth.

A group of trainees from the Economic Empowerment for Education (3E) programme.

Delivery of emergency supplies by all means necessary in remote parts of Cameroon.

Agile response

SHUMAS is a small local NGO who are well connected to the county’s tribal, religious and government networks. It also has a very large volunteer support base across Cameroon which allows it to respond to changing situations and develop strategies to quickly meet the needs of the people. We are always guided by SHUMAS on priorities and our funding approach seeks to match this.