COL Cameroon Link Project Shared With FECABPA

By Cameroon Link
Email:camlink99@gmail.com
The different articulations of the Commonwealth of Learning were shared with the members of the Federation of Cameroon Breastfeeding promotion Associations, FECABPA, on the 18th February 2011, at the head office of Cameroon Link in Douala on the occasion of the 8th ordinary general assembly. Members of FECABPA used the opportunity to review their past activities in 2010 and exchanged on ways of introducing the open distance learning strategy into their 2011 action plan.
Considering that the World Breastfeeding Week, WBW, celebrated in August each year falls within the scope of maternal and child health protection, FECABPA resolved to work with the COL Cameroon Link partnership liaison for the preparation of activities at the national level with the support of the ministry of public health.
The theme of WBW 2011 – “Talk to Me! Breastfeeding, a 3D Experience” was discussed. The theme is made available each year by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, WABA. This year’s activities will focus on youths around the world.
World Breastfeeding Week is an annual celebration and awareness campaign highlighting and recognizing the benefits of breastfeeding in communities across the globe. While there has been overwhelming support for breastfeeding from various international agencies (UNICEF, WHO, etc), women still face significant barriers and obstacles in their breastfeeding experiences. WBW aims to bring breastfeeding to the forefront of community agendas so everyone can be part of the dialogue!
Within the planned activities of mother and child health care radio design programmes, COL Cameroon Link exchanged with members of FECABPA on the meaning of the WBW theme, what the different nutrition and health associations want to accomplish in 2011,
Issues related to the theme include;
 Poverty Reduction, Hunger & Breastfeeding – MDG 1
 “double burden” & breastfeeding – MDG 4
 Maternal health & breastfeeding – MDG 5
 Unethical formula marketing – Quick fact about the Code,
 Environmental protection & breastfeeding – save x% waste from conserving on trash & cows milk
 Breastfeeding in the workplace – one of the places gov. play the BIGGEST role is policy to allow mothers to work and breastfeed
 Youth & breastfeeding and
 Breastfeeding and human capital development
The COL Cameroon Link Partnership Liaison, James Achanyi-Fontem, who doubles as the International Coordinator of WABA Men’s Initiative for promoting, protecting and supporting lactating mothers called on FECABPA members to work on ‘community’ or ‘communication’ oriented action ideas and highlight new ideas suggestions to improve the promotion breastfeeding activities using communication and youth involvement as well as other humanitarian movements (as organizations that work on the right of the women and children, gender issues, violence against women’s and children’s ,etc)
He added that research highlights will fit in this programme context, if associations looked at “Recommendation” section of studies that deal with counselling breastfeeding mothers, because often it seems like information is passed, but mother does not abide by the advice given by medical professionals. Participants during the events organized from the 1st – 7th August should highlight disparity and need for proper communication.
“With so many communication channels at our finger tips, now is the time to truly share and empower. It is also a challenge for us to think creatively about how to get the timeless message across and involve non-traditional audiences. All a mother needs is to feel supported, and this support must come from all angles, and all social contacts. This year’s theme is meant to remind us that breastfeeding really is a 3D experience – an outreach opportunity, an investment in a healthy future, and ultimately, a unique lens by which to see the world. Remember, men often are uninformed, women need encouragement, and youth are our future, questioning everything. We are the world out there, and we want to know. Please, Talk to me!!”
16 members representing 9 active infant and young child feeding associations based in Limbe, Yaounde, Ebolowa and Douala took part in COL Cameroon programme sharing exchanges meeting, which was reported on Cameroon Radio Television (CRTV) and Canal 2 Tv.
On the way forward, members adopted the following general orientations during the year 2011:
 Expand on COL and FECABPA action partnership to include ministry of public health, ministry of education, ministry for women and the family, WHO, UNICEF, and other potential funding organisations.
 Focalise activities on youths in conformity with the theme of the World Breastfeeding Week 2011, “Talk to me about Breastfeeding”
 Organise more COL Cameroon Programme sharing of activities outcome with more national groups, as a means of reinforcing capacities of their members.
 Work closely with associations at health district level for targeting grassroot populations.
 The next national working session with associations was scheduled for Ebolowa, in the south region of Cameroon on Saturday, 25th June 2011.

Men Supporting Mothers through COL

Learning from Community Media:
Participation, Education & Development
By James Achanyi-Fontem
Email: camlink2001@gmail.com
Sir John Daniel, the President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning, COL, Prof. Asha Kenwar and Ian Pringle respectively, are names that media professionals, who attended the 6th Pan COL held at Kochi, India from the 24th – 28 November 2010 will live to remember for consolidating partnerships on how the agenda of Mother and Child Health Care can be taken one step forward.“Linking Media to Health Development”, which Cameroon Link addressed, was demonstrated through a Radio in a Box experiment at the Meridien Forum Centre in Kochi.throughout the period of the forum attended by over 600 delegates.
The Vice President of Col, Prof. Asha Kenwar, who also doubles as the Programme Director, was taken live on “Radio Commons” at the PCF6 Centre. This COL Forum Initiative aimed at showing how all sectors of the community can be involved in project design, decision making, execution, monitoring and evaluation for Mother and Child Health Care promotion.
The WABA Men’s Initiative Coordinator and Executive Director of Cameroon Link highlighted the current project in Lebialem, south west region of Cameroon producing programmes on the issues of “Mother and Child Health Care” delivered through Lebialem Community Radio as a good example.
Cameroon Link mapped the community’s human resource, and gave equal participation opportunities for involvement of both men and women, including young persons living within the community to tell their stories as a Community of Learning process.
The involvement of men and youths in communities for mother and child health care support creates an enabling environment where men and youths, particularly fathers or partners, participate actively in sharing responsibilities with women as far as caring for their infants and young children is concerned.
In mapping the human resource capital, representatives are drawn from the radio station, the public service sector, traditional leadership, health, education, social welfare and civil society organisations. In effect, the mother and child health care community of learning action is participatory.
The small people in the community are used to address big issues. They are invited for exchanges and decision making meetings regularly. It is during the community development committee meetings that the issues are introduced. Those selected are people who are readily available and accept to service as volunteers, they are respected and accessible by their peers within the community.
During the process, it is often discovered that most of those elected for training to produce the radio programmes are already playing a role of animators within their community or development committee.
Almost every man or woman in the community is known to belong to a meeting group, where regular exchanges take place on weekly basis. Training the members of the orientation committee of local broadcasters only comes to add to their existing skills and capacity; especially as the language of delivery of the healthy community learning programmes for behaviour change is a popular local language.
Cameroon Link’s current activities focus on “Mother and Child Health Care” rights as part of the men’s advocacy channel for behaviour change communication.
As such, the health programmes,
• Continue to challenge trade laws that prioritize profit over access to life-saving possibilities.
• Create men’s, women’s leadership and ownership training opportunities within local communities by the establishment of or collaboration with local health area men/women gender councils and related health taskforces.
• Educate, inform, lobby funding organizations and service providers for the involvement of young persons, especially teen mothers in care and support activities,
• Promote social norm change campaigns through publications, participation in local community radio and television programmes, fostering relationships with media outlets and through well recognized male and female celebrities for the promotion of women and child rights.
• Participate in planning, organizing and broadcasting programmes during UN international and national days with women’s involvement in radio live shows and pre-recorded programmes on Mother and Child Health Care rights..

OBJECTIVES
The Community Learning Programmes on Radio
* increase the awareness of need for and the value of male and youth to participate equqlly in the execution of the radio programmes.
* disseminate information updates on mother and child health care though the radio programme.
* create optimal conditions for the provision of support to the mother

Specific objectives
It is understood that the subject of mother and child health care is very vast and this explains the reasons for putting in place an orientation committee to discuss and decide on the issues treated during the week’s session. This explains why the specific objectives are:
- To inculcate the mastery of basic principles of mother and child health care.
- To advocate for gender equality and women's empowerment through government’s increased allocation for gender-sensitive policies and programmes.
- To vulgarize the main points on the support that mothers merits from their partners;
- To create radio mothers’, fathers’ and youths’ support clubs within the communities to encourage mothers to breastfeed their babies for the first six months exclusively and continue with complimentary feeding, thereafter with continued breastfeeding up to six months and beyond.
- To educate youths and men on the international code advocacy and monitoring of marketing by formula producing companies and distributors.
- To Organize HIV prevention and home care radio campaigns.

Perspective
It is the role of the radio station to create conducive environment for their involvement of men and youths to appropriate and own the programme through their support to mothers.
- The other media, tv and newspapers, are used as complimentary channels and tools for community outreach on the involvement of men and youths for mother support.
- Youths Social mobilization conferences are organized in colleges for students of examination classes. This is seen as a special target in the community for the acceleration of behavior change.

Cameroon Link Activities Sheet
Cameroon Link, acting as COL Partnership Liaison makes sure that an activity sheet is designed and used for monitoring and evaluation. Key activities on the sheet are:
• Radio Press Releases
• Radio, television and video programming.
• Radio Press Conferences
• Past Events Film Screening on market days
• Recycling and organization of workshops for community broadcasters
• Seminars for community leaders and heads of educational institutions
• Organisation of panels recording of programmes.
• Photos, posters, story and drama competitions for colleges
• Lectures, educative talks, debates and testimonies
• Concerts, street drama, plays and theatres
• Community social mobilisation: Organisation of Radio Quiz, distribution of stickers, message leaflets, information kits and other promotion publications