30 FEMALE COMMUNITY LEADERS EQUIPPED WITH TECHNIQUES IN TRAUMA HEALING.

30 female community leaders from six communities within mezam division in the North West Region of Cameroon have been trained with skills and processes that can enable them engage their communities in trauma healing.

        The four day training of trainers organized by Common Action for Gender Development (COMAGEND) in collaboration with Cameroon Association for Bible Translation and Literacy (CABTAL) which took place at the COMAGEND office in Bamenda was titled; strengthening the capacity of Adolescent Girls and Young Women (AGYW) as relay agents for trauma healing. This workshop session comes at a time when people living in the Anglophone regions of the country have gone through disturbing moments and are in need of mental freedom.

According to the Executive Director of COMAGEND who doubles as the General Coordinator at South West/North West Womens Task Force, Madam Sally Mboumien, the reason for bringing this 30 Adolescent Girls and Young Women is to teach them to be community relay agents for trauma healing so they can go back to their communities and start holding healing circles. This project was motivated by the too many difficulties the people have faced ever since the escalation of the 'Anglophone crisis' " the North West and South West has a lot of conflict the people are hurting each and every family have had to loss a loved one and property. We know there are so many efforts to build peace but there is lack of internal peace from the population. People are bleeding in their hearts, they are traumatized, they are full of anger and vengeance” Sally intimated.

Talking on the reason for the collaboration with the CABTAL, she says, “ they are experts in the field and after careful analysis of the communities we discovered that the church continues to be a cradle and symbol of love and healing for the local population so we thought it wise to lay some faith based healing to members of our communities so they can in turn heal. We will continue following them up that is why we are giving them templates and documents on how they can report to the office.”

On the opinion of participants , the workshop has helped them as they can now help counsel people going through trauma. Eunice Ngwe from Survivals Network Kumba says “ I have become a trauma healing counselor as a result of this workshop. I will be able to handle survivors and victims of gender based violence, heal them and give them psychological first aid”

Created in 2016, COMAGEND is a Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights led organization out to uphold the rights of Adolescent Young Girls and Women. COMAGEND since its creation has strengthened the capacity of over 3000 adolescent young girls and women to assert their sexual and reproductive heath rights, engage in frontline leadership as well as lobby for policies that impact their lives and wellbeing.

By Tantan Patience