The Regional Director of the Buea-based Pan African Institute for Development, West Africa, PAID-WA, Dr. Essia Uwem, has stated that life constitutes the management of a series of problems from birth to death.
He made the statement in Yaounde on November 29, during the second graduation ceremony of the Cameroon Community Development Project, CamCODA. The 76 graduating students benefitted from the National Youths Scholarship Programme offered by CamCODA.
Dr. Uwem said all young people must bear in mind that life is difficult. “Life is a series of problems and that is how God made it. From birth to death, there will always be problems. It is when one is well disciplined that one can successfully grapple with such problems. Even those who lay their hands on your head in an effort to help solve your problems also have their own problems,” Dr. Uwem stated.
The PAID-WA Regional Director told the audience that “those who sow in tears shall always reap in joy. The beginning of success has to be marked by servitude and the output of every grain depends on the quality of the seed and the ground on which it was sowed,” he said.
Dr. Uwem said PAID-WA and CamCODA have the same vision for development, considering the type of socio-professional training the latter is offering to beneficiaries of the National Youths Scholarship Programme. PAID-WA is the trainer of students shortlisted for the scholarship by CamCODA.
On such basis, Uwem added, their graduates are good products for sustainable development.
“We share the same vision of job creation with CamCODA. Many young people are not employed because they don’t have the skills or their skills are irrelevant to the dictates of the job market. So, CamCODA and PAID-WA offer socio-professional training not only to solve the problem of unemployment, but for those trained to get decent jobs.”
Stating that the scholarship benefitting students receive training for virtually nothing, the PAID-WA Regional Director urged the graduates to still approach CamCODA in order to get possibilities of pursuing their training. He also told them that there is nothing wrong in donating to support CamCODA assists others, especially when they must have picked up the decent jobs.
The Director General of CamCODA, Clarence Ekili Tange, said their major goal is to promote community development at the national level and beyond. Reiterating the partnership with PAID-WA, he said the National Youths Scholarship Programme is aimed at socio-professionally empowering young people from all walks of life.
He said CamCODA has already contributed to community development in Cameroon, noting that, so far, 659 youths drawn from the 10 regions of the country have received socio-professional training in various domains.
Ekili projected that by 2035, CamCODA must have offered scholarships for the training of some 100, 000 young people in collaboration with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Civic Education, as well as other donor institutions. “Join us to provide food for the hungry, education for the illiterates, health for the sick...” he appealed.
The Regional Delegate of the National Youths Scholarship Programme for the Southwest, Rebecca Eposi, said young people are a vibrant labour force that could not be overlooked.
“Your skills must be sharpened for you are the leaders of tomorrow’s Cameroon,” she maintained.
According to her, some 230 students under the scholarship scheme are currently receiving training at the PAID-WA Buea.
She told the graduates that they are already ambassadors of CamCODA and the PAID-WA, that have provided them with skills for national and international jobs.
Eposi challenged them to contribute their quota to the development of Cameroon that is endowed with huge natural resources. According to her, the graduates also have the socio-professional ability to create jobs and employ other people.
The laureates also received words of encouragement from officials of the Ministries of Employment and Vocational Training, Youth Affairs as well as from the Regional Delegate of Secondary Education for the Centre.
