The Landscape Restoration Assistant of Voice of Nature (VoNat), Ful Stanley Kom, has defended his Masters Thesis in Geography. He defended his thesis on August 6, 2024, at Classroom Block 2 50A in the University of Buea, South West Region of Cameroon. The Executive Director of VoNat, Ndimuh B. Shancho, was present to represent the organization and to support him.
The researcher investigated the Role of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) Towards Livelihood Improvement in Idenau- Bibundi, South West Region of Cameroon. His research project examined the contributions of NGOs towards health and livelihood improvements in Idenau.
Standley Kom noted that that NGOs in Idenau have played a significant role in enhancing the entrepreneurial skills of community members, providing job opportunities and contributing to infrastructural development like the building of primary schools. According to him, NGOs have also been very instrumental in carrying out vaccination campaigns on Malaria, Cholera and COVID-19. He noted though the impacts of the NGOs are appreciated by the locals, some of them complain that it does not meet their real needs, given that most projects the projects are usually developed without their involvement.
The researcher recommends that NGOs should always conduct a baseline assessment to understand community needs and tailor their projects to address them. This, according to him, will yield more sustainable impacts. He is also ready to implement some of these discoveries in the development and implementation of projects at VoNat.
By Kang Brita Ebude (UB Journalism Student on Internship)