Kumbo: CBC Health Services, Partners Barnish Darkness from Inclusive School and Braille Centre
Kumbo – October 13, 2024 – Everyone at the Inclusive School and Braille Centre (ISBC) Kumbo is clad with smiles. The joy of an electrified campus is so obvious that it pins even onlookers with admiration. To everyone on campus, at every level, the relieve is genuinely expressed.
Moved by this transformation, Madam Celine Kibong, house parent and teacher at the Multimedia Centre sings to the Glory of God. “I am so so happy for this transformation that has taken place …aaiii,” she exclaimed. “We now have electricity 24/24. It is amazing how it has made work easy at the Multimedia Centre, she furthered. Her excitement is felt similarly by the learners whose studies would be substandard without the Multimedia Centre. “I now have enough time to study without the interruption of electricity,” 16-year-old Bavile Kembung, a low vision learner attests. To Abbu Yaya a blind student who shall be siting for the General Certificate of Education Examination this academic year, it is an assured excellent performance for him. “With electricity available always, I have enough time to do my research, complete my assignments using the computer, and this would greatly improve on my performance at school,” he expressed
On October 11, 2024, a team from the CBC Health Services was on hand to dedicate and officially handover the 15KW Solar Power.
The Solar Power, tested, approved and already serving the indispensable needs of learners and staff of the ISBC Kumbo addresses an eight-year period of darkness that significantly hampered the teaching-learning process. Since 2016, electricity supply in Kumbo, Headquarter of Bui Division in the North West Region of Cameroon has been drastically disrupted due to the ongoing armed conflict in English-Speaking regions of the country. “Electricity in Kumbo is like the tears of a dog to see it. Sometimes we go for two, three months before we see electricity in just few minutes,” the Senior Administrator of Banso Hospital, host hospital of the Inclusive School, Mr. Nji Richard Nkeh describes.
During the ceremony to dedicate the priceless gift, the Head Chaplain of Banso Baptist Hospital, Rev Mbeng Austin offered a prayer, asking the Lord who provided this jewel through the donors to bestow a heart of gratitude on the beneficiaries and the goodwill to care for the installed equipment. Inspired by Proverbs 12 vs 10, he admonished staff and learners of the Inclusive School to be carers of the things which God has blessed them with and not act like the evil one that would destroy them.
The Inclusive School and Braille Centre runs a Multimedia Centre where exams and lessons are embossed and printed, both blind and learners with low vision take lessons with the aid of diverse digital devices to facilitate learning for this category of learners. These equipment require electricity to function and the need to run throughout the academic year for the performance of tasks is inevitable. Before the installed Solar Power, staff and learners of this institution relied on current supplied from the hospital’s generator. Due to high cost of fuel, the hospital operates its generator three hours daily – two hours from 10am to noon and one hour from 7pm to 8pm. This had greatly limited the performance of learners and the productivity of teachers of ISBC Kumbo.
A Decade of Sustainable Energy
As disclosed by Ghakanyuy Sebastian, a biomedical engineer who was part of the installation process, this Solar Power “would run for a minimum of ten years, supporting the running of all equipment at the Multimedia Centre of the inclusive school plus bulbs in the dormitories and offices before it would require any maintenance.” The 40 panels of 250W each installed on the rooftop generate 10,000W of energy which can power the campus of ISBC and its equipment during the day while at the same time charge the 15KW battery of the solar plant for use at night and days of prolonged bad weather.
Generous Donation with Long-lasting Impact
The solar power system is a donation from MIVA, secured by the Liliane Fonds and granted to the CBC Health Services through its Empowerment and Disability Inclusive Development (EDID) Program. Kenchi Joseph, CBC Health Services’ Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) Supervisor affirms the donation “… can only be valued at tens of millions, with a huge lifespan to facilitate the education of children with visual impairments.”
“This donation would facilitate a society that includes everyone. We want all learners with disabilities to feel like every other person in a learning environment,” he added
Our Donor Partners
MIVA is in a strategic partnership with Liliane Fonds to support healthcare and education of vulnerable populations especially those in the Global South. MIVA is keen on providing transportation and communication tools to partner organizations in order to facilitate their lifesaving works in communities where help is most needed.
Liliane Fonds is an INGO whose works are centered on providing support to children with disabilities through education, livelihood, healthcare and other components. The organization has sustained a strategic partnership with the CBC Health Services through the EDID Program since 2014. In Cameroon, they have touched thousands of lives in nine regions of the country, working with over 30 partner organizations to provide diverse support to children and youth with disabilities.
Thanks to their benevolence, a bleak situation has been transformed into a beacon of light in Kumbo, guaranteeing smooth and quality education for learners with disabilities.