Over the years, INMAAT Foundation cemented its place as one of the main pillars of Survivors’ Network by helping us achieve our goals and objectives, which were to eliminate all forms of human trafficking and gender-based violence against women and children through vocational training programs and economic empowerment.
As a continued sponsorship, SN Cameroon received a donation from INMAAT Foundation worth $15,000, equivalent to 8,961,147 Fcfa, in November 2023 for the implementation of projects in 2024.
From our previous experience running a vocational training center in Kumba in the South West Region of Cameroon, we witnessed the positive impact it created in the lives of the beneficiaries and communities, especially among internally displaced persons, vulnerable women/girls, and survivors of human trafficking. However, due to relocation to the East Region, we had to close the center in Kumba. Once we settled in the East, we noticed through our usual awareness and sensitization campaigns that there were many vulnerable women and girls in the region who needed vocational training to become self-reliant and financially independent, thereby preventing their vulnerability to trafficking and other forms of gender-based violence.
So, we decided to use the donation for the year to recreate and improve the vocational training center in the East by purchasing more equipment to add to the existing ones and expanding with additional departments.
The center was set up in November and December of 2023, and the training started in January 2024 with the following departments:
- Pedicure and Manicure
- Body and Facial Massage
- Hairdressing Salon
- Barber Salon
- Fashion Designing
- Crocheting and Traditional Markings
- Information and Communication Technology (ICT)
Even though all the departments were not fully functional due to various challenges, over the course of six months, we enrolled more than 30 young girls in different departments, and they actively participated in their respective training programs. Those who began in January mastered enough skills to establish their own small businesses.
The major challenge we faced was how to support those who had completed their training in starting their own small ventures.
