Human trafficking victims drilled on business skills

By DOH Bertrand Nua in Kumba

Katie Ford, CEO of Freedom For All

The second part of the seminar to fight against human trafficking and modern day slavery organized by the Committee for the Fight Against Human Trafficking and Rights Abuse (COMATHRA) has on 11 September 2016 ended in Kumba with participants, mainly female Cameroonian returnees from Kuwait, Lebanon and other Middle East countries and other victims of human trafficking drilled on vocational and business skills.

                According to the co-organizer and sponsor of the seminar, Katie Ford, a USA-based philanthropist and CEO of Freedom for All, FFA, an NGO that fights against human trafficking, her motivation to organize the seminar came when the horrible experiences of trafficked girls was highlighted during a UN conference she attended.

                The philanthropist said FFA was founded eight years ago and operates in twelve regions of the world. But its activities have in recent times been concentrated in African countries notably Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon, where FFA drives away frustration and rekindles hope among girls who are victims of human trafficking. 

                The last session of the seminar witnessed demonstration from resource persons notably FFA coordinators, Dr. Ndonwie Peter, an expert from the Pan African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children (PAORP-VWC) and Madam Mbonjuh Cynthia on practical modalities in surviving an ever competitive business world. The participants and resource persons made a guided tour of some business sites in Kumba to get the girls to get advice from the business owners on how to start a petit business. 

                A former victim of human trafficking who has become successful, Mrs. Evelyn A. Chumbow, Project Assistant in charge of Human Resources at Baker and Mc Kenzie, one of the largest law firms in the world, narrated her horrible experiences as a victim of human trafficking since the age of nine. According to her the only problem with our African governments in general and Cameroon in particular, is that victims are afraid to blow the whistle and denounce trafficking.

                The organizers and sponsor of the seminar look forward to meeting government stakeholders such as the Prime minister, Foreign affairs minister, Delegate general of national security and the minister of women's empowerment and the family to sensitize them on how to join hands and reduce the rate of trafficked Cameroonian girls and empower them with business, vocational and entrepreneurial skills.