Update on projects and other news, August 2011
on Tomas in Africa (Cameroon), 31/Aug/2011 15:18, 34 days ago
Project Uisce BeathaThe project to repair forages has gone well.  To date 40 forages have been repaired.  There are 13 forages which are so seriously damaged that it would be better to replace them with a new model of forage but to replace an existing forage it is necessary to get the approval of the Ministre de l'Energie et de l'Eau.  Correspondence was put in train before I left Cameroon to seek this approval but it has still not come through.  Recently I rang the local member of parliament, who was in Yaounde at the time and had previously promised to help, and asked him to talk to the minister and try to persuade him to give the approval.  I have also spoken several times to the local delegate of the ministry to try to get him to break this deadlock.  This is urgent since the rains have come and there is currently a very serious outbreak of cholera which sounds more severe than last year's.To help combat the current outbreak of cholera, Plan Cameroon, an NGO, has promised to contribute 3,000,000 fcfa (€4,500) towards repairing the forages.Project for the handicappedTricycles have been delivered to 20 handicapped by the Fondation de Bethleem.  The local council made a substantial contribution to the costs.Of the two children who had operations to improve their joints, the little girl can now walk for the first time and the boy (who used to travel 500 metres to school on his hands and knees) cannot walk but has been given a tricycle.Other newsAs part of the programme to prepare and launch the council's development plan, two people with experience in development and finance, respectively, have been recruited and their salaries will be paid by the state in the first year and 50% will be paid in the second year.  The council has completed recruitment to other posts which willl strengthen it and is waiting for the approval of the Prefet to proceed with this.A state organisation, FEICOM, has promised to give Maga's schools 1,000 desks.In July I received the sad news of the death of the Sultan of Pouss.On a happier note, the wife of my friend Halidou Mal Oumar had a son and they have called him Tom Alipa Saleh.