Custom Care for Displaced Families in Cameroon
Charlotte is a teacher at a government technical school in Bayelle, a community in northwestern Cameroon, where she lives with her husband and three children. Despite her own family responsibilities and financial constraints, she would regularly use her salary to send bags of rice, containers of palm oil, and even a little cash—when she could spare it—to her sister.
Charlotte, left, and two of her daughters holding their ACER II voucher card outside their home in northwestern Cameroon. Photo by Naddin Tessa/Caritas for CRS
When her sister’s husband abandoned the family, their financial situation grew even more dire. So Charlotte decided to take them all in and care for them. Strong in her faith, she believed that God would grant her the means to provide for all 11 people now living under her roof.
Even so, things were not easy. Charlotte found herself unable to earn enough money to pay her sister’s mounting hospital bills.
“At one point, I almost lost my sister because I could not raise the money requested by the hospital for her surgery,” Charlotte said.
It became harder and harder for Charlotte to provide for her own children too. There were many times she wanted to give up.
At one point, her niece who had been diagnosed with HIV fell ill. Unable to pay for the required medication, her niece’s condition worsened.
When Charlotte finally took her niece to the hospital, Charlotte met a sympathetic nurse to whom she explained her struggles to provide for her family. The nurse, who was familiar with Catholic Relief Service’s work in the region, encouraged Charlotte to meet with a local community leader. In turn, the leader put Charlotte in touch with project staff for the Anglophone Crisis Emergency Response II, or ACER II, project, and she was registered as a participant.
The ACER II project works to improve the food security and meet the immediate humanitarian needs of vulnerable displaced and host community families in 32 communities in the Mezam and Momo divisions of Cameroon. The project is funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance.
As part of the ACER II project, Catholic Relief Services and its partner, the Archdiocese of Bamenda—comprised of Caritas Bamenda and the Justice and Peace Commission of Bamenda, reached over 19,000 individuals like Charlotte with assistance in the form of electronic vouchers. These vouchers are redeemed by project participants with designated vendors for critical food and non-food items such as household goods.
Through ACER II, Charlotte received her own voucher in the form of a smart card, which was credited each month for six months for the purchase of food and once for essential household items, such as cooking pots, mattresses and personal hygiene items. Finally, Charlotte felt some relief after months of struggling and worry.
“This card has been a lifesaver,” she says. “I have been able to tackle other problems because I know the feeding of my family is taken care of. This support came at my breaking point and gave me hope. The fact that I have not had to buy food out of my own pocket has allowed me to save up some money to buy more medication for my sister and care for her children’s school fees and other needs.”
Tessa Nadine, a project officer at Caritas Bamenda recently paid a follow-up visit to the family. Tessa says, “When we got to Charlotte’s home, she welcomed us with so much joy. You should have seen the smile on her face!”
The ACER program began in 2019 as a small pilot funded by Catholic Relief Services in the Northwest region of Cameroon. It continues today as a project funded by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, implemented in partnership with the Archdiocese of Bamenda. Since its inception, ACER has been able to reach 88,726 individuals in 12,342 vulnerable families with assistance in the form of electronic vouchers, which are redeemed for critical food and non-food items such as cooking supplies and other household goods. The current ACER project, ACER III, also provides poultry, feed, coops and other supplies to a targeted subsection of participants who take part in poultry raising with the aim of ultimately improving their livelihoods. h2>The ACER program began in 2019 as a small pilot funded by Catholic Relief Services in the Northwest region of Cameroon. It continues today as a project funded by USAID’s Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, implemented in partnership with the Archdiocese of Bamenda. Since its inception, ACER has been able to reach 88,726 individuals in 12,342 vulnerable families with assistance in the form of electronic vouchers, which are redeemed for critical food and non-food items such as cooking supplies and other household goods. The current ACER project, ACER III, also provides poultry, feed, coops and other supplies to a targeted subsection of participants who take part in poultry raising with the aim of ultimately improving their livelihoods.
