Cameroon wins Carton Rouge competition

The Cameroonian delegation at the 10th edition of the International Carton Rouge final has emerged first, winning FCFA 2.5 million.

Cameroon competed with Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Turkey in the domains of brain trust, dancing and the presentation of the message of the day in a fashion parade.

The Carton Rouge initiative is sponsored by NESTLE, a nutrition company through its product NIDO, with the aim of promoting academic excellence and the nutrition in children.

The competition is organised annually and includes countries within the Central African Sub Region; though Turkey was exceptionally invited because of the bilateral relations she enjoys with Cameroon.

Turkey was represented by the prestigious Amity International School.

The finals were organised in Yaounde under the supervision of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, and officials from the Ministry of Basic Education. In separate domains, Cameroon lost first position to Chad, but maintained the first position in dancing and presentation of the message of the day.

Presenting the message in a three-minute timeframe, six-year-old Laila, of Government Bilingual Primary School Kollere in Garoua, marveled the crowd when she presented her message in English, French, Spanish and sign language within the given time.

Her message centered on the importance of breakfast to children, given that, good breakfast guarantees the wellbeing of kids, facilitates the learning process of children at school and fights malnutrition.

Highlighting the reasons for sponsoring the Carton Rouge initiative, the Category Manager of Nestle, Rosane Makwet, said they are interested in promoting academic excellence.

“Promoting the fundamentals of basic education through educational activities explains our support to the programme. However, Nestle had, in the past, been organizing local educational enriching programmes, but decided to support the Carton Rouge international project due to its vast visibility and greater impact. In addition, Nestle has its branches in other countries in the Sub Region, reason why an annual educational come together should be supported,” she stated.

For the Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Manager for Central Africa, Richard Dongue, the competition also promotes values of discipline, morals and good behaviour.

“We intend to start inculcating certain values in children, such as the importance of breakfast and, especially, milk, in their daily diets,” he said.

Meanwhile, Benin and Central Africa Republic were absent from the competition. The Post learnt that Carton Rouge will, from next year, reach out to Ghana, Burkina Faso and Rwanda.

By EulaliaAmaboNchang