Past Projects

Why was the Project Needed

Oshie is located in the North West region of Cameroon. It is an agrarian community that depends on the production of cash crops and consumable crops for sustenance. The main cash crop produced is coffee. The consumable crops produced are plantains, cocoyams, yellow yams, white yams, various types of beans, cassava, and various types of fresh vegetables. Central in the production of these crops are the women of Oshie. Agricultural production in Oshie is not mechanized. The major tool used in the production of these crops is the hoe. To improve the productivity of the women’s efforts, SOH USA & Canada INC. decided to supply them with hoes.

Data Collection.

To successfully and efficiently execute this project, data was needed. We had to engage the head of the College of Traditional Rulers (Okum) and other organs set up in the village that participate in community development activities to conduct a census of all women actively involved in farming. The data was collected and availed to SOH USA & Canada Inc. With the data provided, the next step was how to raise the funding needed to accomplish the project.

Financing of Project.

With data comprising the total number of women involved in farming, the total number of hoes to be purchased, the price per hoe, and the transportation cost involved in moving the hoes from the point of purchase to that of distribution in hand, SOH USA & Canada Inc. had to deliberate on how to raise the funding required. Through a unanimous agreement, all members of SOH USA & Canada Inc. agreed to contribute all the funds needed to accomplish this project.

Logistics and challenges

The state of the roads in the North West Region of Cameroon is not the best. Those in Cameroon who assisted us in the execution of this project through ingenuity, hard work, and creativity were able to purchase and transport these hoes to Oshie via motorbikes and cars.

Distribution

The mobilization of the farming-eligible women, date of distribution of hoes, and location of the distribution was done by the head of the College of Traditional Rulers of Oshie and the head of Oshie Sisters in Development (OSID) representative resident in Oshie. On the day of distribution, the head of the College of Traditional Rulers of Oshie, Kum Wilfred Awanayah ensured that the exercise was perfectly executed and problem-free.  SOH USA/Canada Inc. President Dr. Helene Oyebog-Tayong on behalf of the group sent a thank you letter to all those who participated in making this project a success.

Summary

The project was successfully executed. The mechanism is still being set to collect the data needed to determine the effectiveness of this project as reflected by changes in output. Consideration is ongoing about the facilitation of the introduction of new crops that could be cultivated and marketed.

Project Purpose

The goal of Sisters of Hope (SOH) USA & Canada Inc. is to engage in activities that shall improve the condition of the Oshie girl child/woman socially, educationally, emotionally, health-wise, and economically. We do recognize that a good education is cardinal in attaining these goals. Success in educating our girls must start from kindergarten and primary school where the foundation base is laid that shall propel them to higher academic success. Oshie is cold around the year and this might be negatively impacting the ability of young girls to arise in the morning, get ready for school, get into class, and devote themselves to studies. In cognizance of this fact, SOH USA & Canada Inc. believes that a donation of sweaters to all primary school girls shall provide the warmth needed as they go to school every day. This gift we believe shall provide the enabling condition for better learning.

Data Collection

SOH USA & Canada Inc. understood that to effectuate this project, data was needed on the number of primary schools in Oshie, the number of girls in each primary school, the size of each girl, the cost per sweater, and trustworthy individuals who shall collect the data. The Head of the Traditional Council of Oshie, Kum Wilfred Awanayah, and Mrs. Rose Oyebog, a primary school teacher were contacted to constitute a team that shall collect the needed data. Expeditiously the data collection team was constituted and the required data was gotten and summited to SOH USA and Canada Inc.

Financing of Project

With the required data submitted to SOH USA & Canada INC., a meeting was convened where every member agreed to contribute the amount of money needed to satisfactorily execute the project.

Distribution of Sweaters

The constituted project team in Oshie visited the primary schools and informed the girls of the availability of the sweaters, the date of the distribution of the sweaters, the venue, and the time. At the market square of Oshie (Edom Market), at the date and time agreed to, the primary school girls assembled according to their schools. The already labeled sweaters were distributed.

Conclusion

This project was meticulously executed as planned. The girls were happy, sang so many songs, danced, jubilated, and promised to focus a lot more on their education.