As we mentioned in the previous report from Shisong, Cameroon, paying volunteers through BTCV were able to join the Trees for Water for Life tree planting festival in Cameroon. This was hugely successful with UK volunteers joining local Green Care volunteers and hundreds of local people planting out the trees grown in the Green Care nursery.

Green Care director Gilbert Njodzeka reports:

Global Giving Funds for 2011, provided Green Care Association and its grass roots communities the opportunity to plant 2500 trees this year in water catchment sources from May 15th to 29th 2011. The sites included Tiymenkan/Shisong water catchment, Kitiwum Water Catchment and Kumbo Water Authority.

In Tiymenkan/Shisong water catchment a total of 66 persons turned out for the planting of 500 trees. Trees planted included Prunus africana, Polysia fulva, Voacanga, Croton, and Ilexmetics. After planting there was time for group picture, local drinks (palm wine and corn beer), local food stuff, lots of appreciative speeches from local leaders and dancing animated by Kibanteh dance group.

A thousand trees were also planted at the Kitiwum water catchment. A total of 46 persons were happily present to plant Polysia fulva, Prunus africana, Voacanga, Croton macrostahyus, Pitosporum and Ilexmetics. Conspicuously present for the planting were the ‘Salama’ Muslim women group who help in distribution of tree samplings to planting spots. It was total joy after the planting exercise, as all the participants including BTCV and Green Care volunteers resulted in dancing at planting site and later at the reception site. There was local food and drinks to the satisfaction of all. The village head of Kitiwum, in the person of Fai Ngang Kidzeefor, was very happy to appreciate the trees donated and planted on behalf of his dear people. The president of Kitiwum Development Association also forwarded words of appreciation and the president to the Water Management Committee. The day ended with community launch at Kitiwum community hall, dancing and group photo.

Some one thousand (1000) trees were also donated to Kumbo Water Authority. It was not possible for Green Care and BTCV volunteers to be part of the planting exercise because the schedule was too tight for Kumbo Water Authority, as its coincidentally happened when there was lots of repair works caused by road maintenance around the town. Kumbo Water Authority however happily carried the trees to the appropriate planting site after extending serious apology for altering the planting schedule.

It may be worth noting that because of Global Giving, the participation of BTCV and Green Care volunteers, all the communities visited have appreciated the donations and have all been requesting for more help. Seven (7) BTCV and nine (9) Green Care volunteers participated in the whole of the tree planting festival, a situation that gave both leaders the opportunity to appreciate the various communities and their hospitality.

Shisong, Kumbo, Cameroon. 17th June 2011

Following the success of the volunteering project, we're working on making the opportunity possible in 2012 - keep an eye on our volunteering pages for more information. And if you can't join us in Cameroon, you can still continue your generous support through globalgiving.org and by passing on this link to anyone interested.

What a fantastic year it's been for Green Care!

With your help, we've managed to produce more seedlings than ever before - and now making use of local seed collecting and so much enthusiasm to help us grow them on. The picture is of Gilbert in the centre of the new nursery starting to wonder about how they're all going to get planted.

Gilbert returned from the UK at the end of December having spent three months on a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship learning about engaging community support and running an effective organisation. As well as warm clothing and hot-water bottles, he also stocked up on a wealth of new skills in developing volunteer projects.

All this means that instead of (or as well as!) seeking financial support, we're offering you and your friends the opportunity to get even more personally involved in the project - by coming to Cameroon and joining the village communities in this years' planting festival.

GCA and BTCV have jointly set up a volunteering project which truly is an amazing opportunity to live and work in the Bamenda Highlands of Cameroon. This project will bring us into daily contact with local communities. And as we work alongside them, we'll be doing more than just planting trees, we'll be helping to preserve precious water supplies.

Find out more about Trees, Water, Life - the volunteer project.

You've helped buy and grow the trees - why not come and plant them too!

Plant them!

Links:

• Find out more about the volunteer project here

Since our last update, we've been delighted to welcome Gilbert Njodzeka, Green Care's leader to work with BTCV for three months under a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship. This has given him the opportunity to join in the running of a UK based organisation, and collect some valuable training and experience in project management, fundraising and leadership - all essential to maintaining the good work in Cameroon.

We caught up with Gilbert and asked him how the Trees for Water for Life project was coming on.

"Thanks to GlobalGiving, Green Care and beneficiary community dwellers of BIKOV, have been planting 5500 trees in spring water sources to help stabilize the water table. Most of these spring sources are exposed to direct sunlight caused by ignorant human activity (farming and fires).

In trying to improve this situation, women, youths and men came out in their numbers  twice a week to help in the tree planting. Participants could either be seen distributing tree saplings to planting spot, digging of holes and planting proper.

Each working day ranged from 8 o’clock to 2pm after which there is general eating and drinking and planning for next work schedule.

Green Care Association took the opportunity of these gatherings to explain the species of trees planted, their local names and eventual benefits like bee farming and harvesting of Non Timber Forest Products. Some reasons were also advanced as to why Eucalyptus trees are not good to be found at spring water sources and also when and how to care for trees.

Messages of appreciation were then sent from Traditional Rulers and elders through Green Care,some appealing for more trees to help complete the remaining portions.

More villagers are now promising to go in for bee farming in the forest, a sign of collective responsibility.
The big message is ' Thanks to Global giving'"

Drinks and Education

Some of the new tools your donations bought

Advanced forest protection!

Links:

• Green Care now have their own website! Take a look...

Green Care Shisong's project restoring and protecting valuable water supplies and supporting local livelihoods through tree planting has completed a full cycle since fundraising through GlobalGiving began.

Money raised so far for this project hsa allowed seeds and seedlings to be collected and grown up in the Community Nursery. In June this year, a series of planting days, one in each community, took place. Gilbert Njodzeka, Green Care's leader describes the days.

"We select the appropriate seedlings, load them in bigger Trucks and transport to planting sites. Volunteers ( Green Care and communities concerned) come in their numbers to do the planting.

"Those without planting tools help in distributing the seedlings. Work is divided into digging, distribution of Seedlings, and planting proper.

"After work, everybody assembles together for some annonucement if any, appreciation of work done by leaders, drinking and eating of local foodstuff and drinks( palm wine and corn beer) and then departure.

This is usually the scene in all planting sites. Virtually everybody is useful during planting ie young, old, male and female."

The project will continue, and early success has led to Green Care Shisong being given responsibility for management of community sacred forests by the area's traditional rulers.

Here at BTCV, we've been successful in gaining funding for three Commonwealth Professional Fellowships to allow three of our African partners to come to the UK and work with us for three months later this year. Gilbert will be joined by representatives from Uganda and Lesotho in Oxfordshire where they will work to develop a plan for sharing experience within and between African countries.

Kumbo Council supports Green Care's tree planting

And after... the celebrations

Links:

• Find out about and support the wider work of BTCV International

Seeds of all kinds planted last year when this project was launched are now bearing fruit - a direct result of contributions through globalgiving. See what's happened so far in 2010...

The Nursery :: 4000 seedlings grown from collected and purchased seeds are being prepared for planting out in June by each of four village communities. The trees will be planted in water flush areas to maintain the quality of water-supply for the community.

The Organisation :: Green Care Shisong is very proud to have been given responsibility for the direct management of Bikov community forest. This is a large area of community owned forest which has suffered from over-exploitation and increasing pressure on resources. Green Care now plan to develop a project to protect the forest for the future by promoting its sustainabloe use for food, timber and tourism. A plan for a guided trail has already been proposed and we all hope that volunteers with BTCV will also be able to help out with its construction in 2011. Watch this space...

The People :: Cajetan Ndzedzeka who spent three months working in Britain with BTCV last year funded by a Commonwealth Professional Scholarship is back at home now, but we look forward to seeing him again soon - he's applying for post-graduate study in Environmental Management in the UK. We're hoping Green Care Director Gilbert Njodzeka can join us in a similar way this year and along with partners from Uganda and Lesotho start working on an African network of organisations that can share and replicate their experiences.

The Funding :: during his time with BTCV, Cajetan attended training courses in a number of things, including fundraising. This training formed part of the support provided by the Trees for Water for Life in Cameroon project. Last month we were delighted to hear that Green Care has been awarded just under £6000 from the Rufforf Maurice Laing Small Grants scheme to develop the work in Bikov community forest.

This isn't a multi-million pound project - it's small, practical and locally driven - just what we in BTCV like best. It's great to see real success already, but importantly, the seeds that you have helped to plant are even now, only starting to show their potential.

Six months on, we can now look back at the successes of the Trees for Water for Life project. In one month, 60 people helped raise £1,660. This money was sent, and five BTCV volunteers travelled to Shisong in North West Cameroon in May to join hundreds of villagers in the great community tree planting.

To reciprocate, Cajetan ‘Junior’ Ndzedzeka, Green Care’s volunteer project manager has recently arrived in the UK to work with BTCV’s international department for three months under a Commonwealth Professional Scholarship. As well as gaining new experience to assist his work back home, his local knowledge will help BTCV to develop its African support programmes further. He brought us this report from the project:

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Our conservation programme this year was aimed at planting 5000 trees in 4 communities, Njavnyuy, Kingomen, Ntseni and Royal Palace, and the Kumbo Water Authority catchments area in order to secure the quality and constant flow of water described as ‘the greatest food’ by a traditional leader. Due to their location beside farm and grazing lands, water catchments areas are subjected to pollution and destruction through bush fire burning, firewood quest, cattle pollution and inorganic farming inputs. Following your generous donation, and the assistance of 5 BTCV volunteers, we made it possible, this year, to give hope to these communities by ensuring that 4,900 trees are planted with and the water catchments areas are protected from water lost and pollution. Subsequent to your donation, we received 400 additional trees (to make it 5,300 trees planted) to support the efforts of BTCV and Green Care from the British High Commissioner’s representative, Mr. Gilles Montagnon, who came to Shisong during the ceremony of restitution of the 2008 ‘Green Heroes’ award we won in absentia.

The active participation of BTCV through its volunteers has been a crowd-pulling factor that has contributed in instilling the spirit of volunteerism amongst our local communities for the betterment of the environment. The ‘Trees for water for life’ project also contributed in the peace-making process between 2 neighbouring communities as both communities have been sharing the same water catchments source.

Our traditional leaders are not left behind in this conservation process and have been giving us their support in this effort, His Royal Highness the Paramount Fon of Nso, the head of our tribe has been promoting our activities and has on several occasions thanked BTCV for choosing his tribe and appreciated the enormous work rendered by its volunteers. He contributed in our tree planting sessions through representatives at Njavnyuy and Yer. The village head of Njavnyuy in his message to BTCV: ‘I will personally do a follow-up of the trees planted as a sign of appreciation to your efforts of traveling such a long distance to come and encourage us to conserve our environment’ showed his devotion to sustain the efforts made by the BTCV volunteers. This immense donation has also contributed in boosting our moral as development agents in our community and that of our leaders like the village head of Ntseni who said: ‘We feel chosen and proud to have BTCV helping us’.

Green Care has been able, this year, to secure a piece of land to develop a permanent community tree nursery which will be able to facilitate our tree planting programme and serve the Kumbo Urban Council with seedlings as a means to encourage people from the municipality in our conservation programme. We have been able to develop, in collaboration with the Kumbo Urban Council, the policy of “one child, one tree” where every birth recorded is subjected to a tree that has to be planted.

Subsequent to the work done so far and supported by your contributions through the Global giving network, many traditional rulers known as landlords have opted to leg the management of the numerous community forests in the region to Green Care in a bid to fight the massive deforestation activity.

The challenge at hand will be to secure 5000 trees for the reforestation of the Bikov community forest, in the Northwest Region of Cameroon and build up a trail network with sign boards and view points for trekkers in the forest. The plants will contribute in the conservation of the ecosystem in the forest meanwhile the trail network will permit the development of environmental and healthy activities such as trekking and ecotourism which will be an income generating activity that will be used as an alternative to hazardous activities such as bush fire burning practiced by hunters and deforestation done by farmers in quest for farming land and firewood.

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The funding support given has been great (and is always welcome!), but much of BTCV and Green Care’s work centres around people. With Cajetan in the UK, we’re now finalising a new volunteer project in Shisong for 2010 under BTCV’s International Conservation Holidays programme – a chance to get directly involved with the work in Shisong, and meet and work with the people who are really benefitting. Watch this space for an update, and please get in touch if you want to know any more.

Andy Jefferies BTCV International Development Officer

Cajetan Ndzedzeka Green Care Shisong Project Manager

Our GlobalGiving challenge was to raise £1000 from at least 50 individual donors during April. Half way through, we're delighted that £1205 has already been raised from 38 wonderful people. 12 more will earn BTCV a permanent place on the fundraising site, but most importantly contribute even more to Green Care Shisong's 'Trees for Water for Life' project.

Gilbert Njodzeka said today:

Your generous donations is boldly stepping us towards the realization of our grassroot community project 'Tree for water and life' project, come May 2009. We are deeply impressed, and can only quote His Majesty the Fon of Nso Tribe "This is a very serious Matter and there's nothing to joke about it". Donating towards the planting of special Trees within our Peasant Community Water Catchments is one of the greatest things that could be done to us. Your much cherished funds are providing hope to realizing the project. We can only say in our mother tongue "Beri Ven Feyi" (Thank you very much)

Meanwhile, plans are already underway for a huge community planting effort in May. Five BTCV volunteers will be joining hundreds of villagers planting out the trees that have been grown up from collected seeds. This provides the successful model for the 'Trees for Water for Life' project which will allow the development of a permanent community tree nursery. Attending the event too will be a representative of the British High Commission in Cameroon who will be presenting Green Care Shisong with the 'Green Heroes' award they won in absentia last year.

We'll provide a further update and some pictures of the great work your donations have helped to support in May.

Andy Jefferies International Development Officer