Volunteering for Change

Changemaker: Rose Mary

Youths who comprise more than half of the population of the Cameroon are faced with various challenges which hinder them from maximizing their potentials to the fullest. In order to address these developmental challenges, the ‘Volunteering for Change’ project engages youths as agents of change in the development process of their various communities through capacity building and volunteerism. The project principally targets unemployed youths between the ages of 18-25 who are more vulnerable to these problems. The project will be carried out in the South West Region of Cameroon, in a small Town called Buea. The “Volunteering for Change” project provides youths with the relevant skills needed to be agents of change in their communities as well engages them in the process of creating sustainable solutions to the critical problems faced by the community and their generation as a whole. By so doing, they develop a positive attitude towards community service, volunteerism, active citizenship and inter-cultural responsibility amongst others. Selected participants from rural urban areas as well as those with formal and informal education undergo a capacity building training, after which they are placed at host/partner institutions for a period of one month as volunteers. The Commonwealth Youth Programme Cameroon and the department for youth work and Civic Education at the Ministry of Youth Affairs Cameroon are major partners of the project.