Description |
The voice of the indigenous populations living in the 233 villages of Manyu Division, Cameroon, has been suppressed by corruption and dependency on foreign aid. Community development is a top down rather than grassroots approach and the projects are started and completed without a sustainable amount of community involvement ultimately leading to abandoned unsustainable efforts. This project was designed to promote a better understanding of development in Manyu Division, Cameroon, through an indigenous perspective. A community group, traditional council, and Non-Government Organization (NGO) were interviewed using methods. The information collected from those interviews was used to create a development seminar that trained traditional leaders in development activities that highlighted the assets and resources in their communities. The insight gathered from the seminar led to the creation of a guidebook for working with rural communities to promote sustainable approaches to development. |