Resuming support for those stranded in Cameroon’s Anglophone conflict – Helping the Frog Helpers11/29/2022 In 2020, efforts were made to raise funds to support our project’s past and present field assistants who have been caught up in the civil war-torn, English-speaking regions of Cameroon. These frontline amphibian conservationists were facing hardship from the lack of work opportunities after most conservation organizations were forced to withdraw from activities there. In the interim, from 2019, some small funds were provided from our core project budget to support some stranded colleagues. As the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 rolled forward, we couldn’t raise the normal funds through grant applications, not to mention our own salaries, to help.
Thus a campaign for funds was set up (see https://thomasdb.weebly.com/blog/support-for-those-stranded-in-cameroons-anglophone-conflict), asking friends and colleagues to donate. Due to the sensitive nature of fund-raising, this had to be pursued so the benefactors were not identifiable (Cameroon is still connected to the world wide web, including the troubled areas, to an extent). It also meant relatively low-profile announcements. This took place during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic, which may not have been the best time to be asking people for money when livelihoods even in the West were uncertain. We did raise funds, but only £586, which was still gratefully received and went far. However, the old trope that “that’s a lot of money to them” does not work out in real life. Time has passed, people’s lives still need to go on, but the civil war has not stopped. As more sustainable, viable funding is still lacking for substantial, longer-term programs in Cameroon, our field assistants are still struggling. Here we are resuming the campaign to resume funds for our frontline amphibian (and forest & water) conservationists have as normal a life as possible. The target at the moment is to assist at least four long term field assistants in Cameroon’s Anglophone region. A further three are being considered (mostly seeking their whereabouts to find out how they are and how they may be assisted). The monetary target is £5,000 (which is about 3,750,000 CFA), which covers the transfer fees (that won’t exceed £30) will go a long way even after being circulated around the benefactors. If you wish to make a donation, click this link (updated 06/03/2023): https://gofund.me/f0d01925 And please share this with your acquaintances and encourage them to donate too. This time we would like to make a bigger impact.
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