Welcoming volunteers for our mental health projects in Yaoundé, Cameroon

Location: Yaounde, Cameroon

I'm Sandrine, married with children.
Originally from the west of Cameroon, I grew up in a French-speaking area, but as Cameroon is a bilingual country, I like to speak in English whenever I can.
My favourite activity is humanitarian aid. That's why I set up the organisation in 2009. Our mission is to improve the lives of people with mental illness in Cameroon and to support their families and carers.

The vision is to create a network for people in need. We put them in touch with therapists and pharmacists.

We work on :

1- Raising awareness / Education
- Fighting against the stigmatisation and isolation suffered by many Cameroonians with mental health problems, particularly in rural areas.
- Promoting positive attitudes towards mental health.
- Organise seminars/workshops, awareness campaigns and free consultations in collaboration with mental health professionals.
- Help patients' families to live together and improve the patient's life.
- Explain patients' rights - many are rejected, mistreated and treated inhumanely. Some are separated from their children.

2-Create a mental health structure in Cameroon
- Encourage local research into mental illness (mid-term);
- Build the capacity of psychologists by organising capacity-building seminars;
- Enable psychology students to work as local therapists (mid-term);
- Create a knowledge base to encourage research in collaboration with universities:

3- Socio-professional integration
- Integration through discussion groups between patients, recovered people and families (medium term);
- Offer skills training in collaboration with vocational training schools;
- Donate essential equipment.

WORKING ARRANGEMENT

It can use all the help available. We want to give you a meaningful experience and allow you to help us with what you find most enjoyable.

We can therefore discuss any activities together.

We surely look for volunteers to:

- Organise workshops for young people with the aim of::
✅ Raise young people's awareness of *mental health issues* and reduce stigma.
✅ Develop psychosocial skills for better emotional management.
✅ To create a ‘space for listening and exchange’ for young people.
✅ Strengthen *self-esteem* and the feeling of belonging to a group.
✅ To promote *mutual respect* and benevolent communication between young people.

- Setting up campaigns to raise mental health awareness.
- Building collaborations with local Universities to drive research.
- Field research to map the needs and difficulties of patients and their families. We will visit patients in their homes.
- Setting up an emergency helpline for mentally ill people.
- Helping to write grant applications.
- Extending our website and the national website on mental health we built.

We also look for clinical psychologists or psychiatrists - especially those willing to come and provide consultation on the ground in Cameroon.

Please ask for more details about our projects or look on our website. We would be happy to answer further questions or hear your ideas on how we can achieve our mission more effectively.

LIVING ARRANGEMENT

We can host female volunteers but males need to find their own accommodation in Yaoundé. We can of course support finding something suitable.

Accommodation
The worker will sleep in a room provided in our family home. Toilets and washing facilities are inside the house. Remember, this is Africa and you may not have the luxuries of your home country. There is usually running water, but there are occasional mains water cuts (but they don't last long, sometimes less than 24 hours) and you will learn to wash with a bucket of water and soap (it's not difficult). Clothes and sheets are also washed by hand.

Food.
The workawayer will have meals with the family. Simple dishes are prepared including sweet potato, beans, peanut soup, rice, fried or boiled ripe plantain, corn porridge, cassava, cassava stick, some vegetables and sometimes fish or meat etc. If you want special meals, you can buy your own food and prepare it. It is inexpensive compared to Europe and US prices. We can definitely accommodate vegetarians and vegans!
During the workdays, lunches are delivered by a lovely catering lady.

Water.
Tap water is used for laundry and cooking. We usually drink filtered water in the house, but you may also easily buy your own bottled water to avoid any risk.

Security.
The house is surrounded by a metal gate for security, and the district we live in is safe and walkable. I usually accompany my workawayers wherever they need to go (bank, post office, etc.), as it can be difficult for foreigners to navigate the taxi system alone.

Electricity.
Power cuts sometimes happen, but it soon returns to normal. So no worries here.

Internet.
We have WiFi but with limited access. It is recommended that workawayers buy a Cameroonian SIM card with an Internet package. There are several different providers of SIM cards with internet and minute plans, but CAMTEL, MTN and ORANGE are the most common.
For computers, you can use your laptop at my workplace which also has limited WiFi access (1G per day), but there will not always be WiFi at the house.

NB: Cameroon is mainly a cash economy. If you do want to buy your own items here (including sim cards/phone credit/clothing/food), it is important to have an ATM card that will work here so you can withdraw some money!

Welcoming volunteers for our mental health projects in Yaoundé, Cameroon