By Etienne Mainimo Mengnjo
Sustainable Peace Foundation (SPF) has officially launched the Skills and Habilitation Center aimed at catering to widows and orphans. The center was launched in Yaoundé on April 13.
Speaking during the event, the Founder and CEO of the Foundation, Linda Kekwi Kanjo, described the event as a milestone achievement that will give widows and orphans an opportunity to rebuild their lives.
Talking about the center, Kekwi Kanjo said the initiative was born following various community engagements that revealed a number of causes as to why violence is on the increase.
According to her, trauma, challenges related to diverse health issues, lack of skill development, and human rights abuses, especially on widows, are some of the problems associated with the continuous rise of violence in the communities.
Faced with these threats, Kekwi Kanjo pointed out that the Foundation decided to embark on solving these problems. Knowing that trauma has a high tendency to cause violence, the center has made available trauma healing specialists who are ready to guide and counsel those going through trauma.
Concerning challenges related to diverse health issues, the center has decided to offer free medical campaigns, and for those who are not widows or orphans, it is done at a minimum rate. In skill development, the center is training and assisting them in acquiring skills in diverse fields ranging from tailoring to hairdressing and many others.
However, more than 80 percent of those currently receiving training are widows who have been trained in diverse fields. For widows whose rights have been trampled on, human rights specialists have been made available to support them, even up to the level of courts, to ensure that their rights are reinstated.
According to the Foundation, children, widows, and orphans are at the heart of their activities, but special attention is focused on widows and orphans because they are considered vulnerable.
Rejoice Njieba expressed her appreciation to the Foundation and her sister for giving them the opportunity to go back to school after facing difficulties following the death of their parents.
“I am particularly happy and thankful to the Foundation because they have played a role in my life and in the lives of many others, including my sister. They may not know what they have done for me and my sister, but this is great because it will go a long way to help especially some of us who lost our parents,” said Rejoice Njieba.
Besides testimonies shared by those already in the center, an exhibition of what has been produced, including dresses, beads, handbags, liquid soaps, detergents, and others, was presented to the public.
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