1. SUMMARY:

Bund für Geistesfreiheit supports an ongoing development project in Cameroon, organised by the Business Enterprise Development Organisation (BEDO), by raising funds among its supporters. 100% of all donations will be passed on to the organisers of the Cameroonian project, whose objective it is to give long-lasting help to the poorest of the poor by getting them onto their own feet through training in essential skills and by giving them the necessary support to start their own small businesses.

There are very few employment opportunities with a steady salary in rural Cameroon so that starting an independent money-raising activity is often the only alternative. The type of business depends on the local circumstances, but includes micro-scale activities such as (a) cooking for sale at schools or in the street, (b) producing soap for sale, (c) drying fish for the local community and (d) bee keeping. Further businesses involving larger groups such as villages include (e) planting trees for firewood and (f) growing fish in ponds for sale.

3. Training through workshops:

During organised three-day workshops in different areas of the country, the project organisers try to identify the needy and to give them ideas of what they can do to support themselves. They are given training in financial management such as basic bookkeeping and the calculation of minimum sales prices. Furthermore, the benefit of accumulating some savings to survive periods of hardship is stressed and communal saving schemes (njangi) are encouraged.

4. Starting a business:

People who, after the workshop, are willing to start their business, usually in small groups of three to five partners, are given concrete advice regarding their business idea such as evaluating with them whether their business idea can be successful under the local conditions, thinking of competitors, etc. Once the organisers are convinced that the partners have the honest intention of starting their own business and that the idea can be successful, they give them seed money to acquire the basic tools they need. For our standards, this seed money of about 40 Euro is very little, but it allows these poor people to buy the required tools such as a pot, fire wood and matches as well as food ingredients such as oil and flour. Whenever the business partners are in need of advice, the project organisers help them. If, after a three-month period of active work, the business is still alive and successful, the business partners receive a booster grant of another 40 Euro. Splitting the 80 Euro in two sums allows to motivate the business partners to persist for a few months, to give them the time to practise their newly acquired skills and to show them that they can be successful.

In the past, about 90% of projects started in this way survived and about 50% were very successful. There are even some outstanding success stories of people producing products which are then sold abroad. The members of each project have to keep book of their financial activities and each business is monitored for a period of about a year. At the end of each year, a report will summarise the achievements and expenditures.

The organisers do not get paid for their work and even contribute themselves by money or in kind. The contribution you give will be used for holding the initial workshops and for providing the seed money and the booster grant. Holding a workshop costs about 750 Euro each. It involves hiring teachers, purchasing teaching and writing material, sometimes paying for the bus fare of participants who could not otherwise participate, for some basic food, etc. The seed money and booster grant together are about 80 Euro per project on average.

8. Aim:

We aim to raise 3.000 Euro (2 million CFA) per year, which would pay for two workshops and about 20 grants (seed money to start up the business plus booster grant for encouragement and support). However, the more money we raise, the more people we can help.