EDUCATION
Ensuring inclusive & equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.
Education is a great tool for socio-economic & political transformation. Education is very necessary for improving the standards of living of millions of youths living below the poverty line in rural communities of Cameroon. The sad reality is that 62% of youths in the Northwest, Southwest and West regions of Cameroon are either victims of no education, substandard education or poor educational orientation (Ndongmo, 2019). At RUYAC we believe education should not be promoted for promotion sake but rather an education that is problem-solving and meeting the needs of people and the community at large should be given priority. To this effect, our education programs aim at the following;
- To allow millions of youths especially vulnerable girls from North West, South West & West regions who as a result of well-known misery in rural communities, accentuated by the socio-political crises in these regions do not have the opportunity to obtain basic and desired levels of education. We do this by granting merit-based scholarships and providing other school needs (tuition, exercise books, textbooks, uniforms, school bags, pens) necessary for the education of vulnerable youths in rural communities.
- Give educational orientation and support youths especially the female gender in rural communities to embark on Technical-Vocational Education & Training (TVET). A comprehensive research study conducted by RUYAC’s sponsorship reveals that youths with TVET in Cameroon have 1.7 times more chances of being employed than their counterparts who attend general education. More also TVET courses offer greater opportunities for entrepreneurship which is the backbone of any economy like Cameroon aspiring to emerge by 2035.
- Organize seminars to sensitize and educate community leaders, parents, girls and other stakeholders against cultural beliefs which hinder the education of girls in rural communities.
- Promote and support rural youths in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses, to give them favourable conditions in the labour market.
- Partner with other stakeholders to advocate for educational reforms in Cameroon in line with the demands & realities of the Cameroon Labour market in general without neglecting the specificities of the rural communities.
HEALTH CARE EDUCATION
Promoting good health & wellbeing.
The healthiest person is inevitably the wealthiest person. This is because no meaningful empowerment and development can take place within the perimeters of an unhealthy person. The World Health Organization defines health education as “any combination of learning experiences designed to help individuals and communities improve their health, by increasing their knowledge or influencing their attitudes.” Because knowledge alone may not be powerful enough to motivate change, health education works to enhance knowledge, attitudes, and skills to positively influence health behaviors. Providing health education to youths in rural communities helps to develop positive well-being, academic success, and healthy adulthood.
The low levels of income, high patient-doctor ratio, poor diets, ignorance, war and cultural beliefs amongst others create very poor health conditions in rural communities of the North West, South West and West regions of Cameroon. To overcome this impediment, RUYAC’s Health Programs involve the following:
- Offer basic health education training to youths in rural communities. This is carried out either with the door-to-door approach or a group approach. This is to help prevent and better manage sicknesses such as malnutrition, cholera, drug abuse, malaria, HIV/AIDS, STDs, unwanted pregnancies, mental health and other diseases.
- Assist young girls who are victims of rape, female genital mutilation, incest, early marriages and social discrimination which affects the health of young girls in rural communities.
- Supports in equipping some health facilities in rural communities as an attempt to increase the efficiency of these poorly equipped health facilities in managing some diseases affecting youths in rural communities.
CLIMATE & ENVIROMENTAL PRESERVATION
Combating climate change and its impacts (preserving the rural environment)
Climate change is a real and undeniable threat to our entire civilization. The effects are already visible and will be catastrophic unless we act now. Through sensitization, education and innovation we can make the necessary changes to protect our planet. At Rural Youths in Action, we believe that youths in rural communities can no longer remain indifferent to climatic changes because the adverse effects of such changes on the environment, health and agricultural productivity are alarming.
Every year, over 3 million people die from causes related to climate and the environment ( Mbah et al ). A global generation of children are likely to grow up in a world made far more dangerous and uncertain by changing climate and a degraded environment.
RUYAC works with youths & partners at the global and local levels to empower rural youths and ensure that everyone can live in a safe and clean environment. Our Environmental and climate change programs have the following targets;
- Building knowledge and capacity to mitigate the effects of climate change in line with SDG target 13.3. This is realized at RUYAC through environmental education, awareness-raising (sensitization) and improving institutional capacity for climate change mitigation.
- Promoting mechanisms to raise capacity for planning and management in line with SDG target 13.5. We consider the voices/solutions of rural youths very cardinal to climate change and the environment. We therefore, inspire rural youths to speak out, develop innovative strategies to combat climate change and preserve the rural environment.