October saw a first for Africa Moringa Hub in Cameroon. We had the opportunity to partner with the first ever Pan African Film Festival in Cameroon, held in Garoua.
Moringa gained the spotlight and raised much enthusiasm among the people.
Our representatives were Joshua Haruna (AMH CEO and Founder) and Guil (AMH Cameroon Director). AMH Blog has interviewed Joshua about the visit.
AB: Hello Joshua, I hear that you have just returned from a film festival in Cameroon, and that AMH NGO was involved? Can you tell us a little about the film festival and how AMH got involved?
JH: Yes I was present at the film festival to represent AMH NGO. It was a dream come true for me as I always wanted the hub to have an active representation in Cameroon and this was how I took the advantage . Cine Tuguilin contacted AMH NGO about their first upcoming Pan African Festival and wanted the hub to be involved. That was how I got involved on behalf of the hub.
AB: I hear that is was quite a long trip. Can you tell us about it?
JH: Yes, I had more road travels because I already spent 2days by road from Sunyani Ghana to Benin cotonou. The road travels are way far apart. I landed at Douala airport and spent 2 nights in Douala. On Sunday, Guillaume and I traveled about 24 hrs to Ngaoundere by road. The reasons for the long hours is because all long distances buses in Cameroon drive 60km per hour. Again not all parts of the roads are smooth for fast driving. Drivers also stop at their bus terminals for an average of an hour to rest or check the mechanical parts of the bus. Hence the very long trip!
After Ngaoundere, we traveled to Garoua, that took about 8 hours with same challenges until we reached Garoua.
AB: Where did you stay, and who did you met you?
JH: When I got to Benin Republic, I spent a night in a hotel before taking off to Cameroon. At Duoala Cameroon I spent 2 nights in a hotel before traveling to Ngaoundere to meet Martin and his team. This was also a hotel stay all through my stay there . Mr Guillaume, the Country Director of Cameroon met me at Duoala airport. He was with me all through my stay as we did the moringa workshop training to the end.
AB: How was AMH involved in the festival?
JH: AMH was involved as per our partnership to train people on eating and planting moringa, which will lead to wealth and health creation.
AB: Tell us about the workshops? (we can discuss here the program and the presenters and what they taught.)
I’ll write a summary.
AB: How did people respond? How many were involved and how did they respond?
JH: Very positive! And people there know about moringa as eating for food but not for medicinal benefits and wealth creation. They responded so well and requested more of such workshops . In fact more is needed for such workshops if we have sponsorships. We also noticed a German international company based in one of the near by villages also training women on planting moringa . We invited one of their local representatives to come see what we are involved in and he was amazed and happy in what we doing for Africans . The company is Giz.
AB: What other things did you do in Cameroon?
JH: I was always empowering people brought to me to eat and plant moringa. Advocacy was a lot as people asked about the hub, website, our vision and mission. My whole stay was about moringa and our mission in Africa
AB: Closing comments?
JH: It was adventurous. It has strengthened our Francophone network, making the hub more popular. We now have a good partnership deal to train all people for Festival Cine Tinguelin. Such initiatives are needed for other African countries.