Cameroon

Ancient African mask from Cameroon Blessed by Time

Ancient African mask from Cameroon Blessed by Time

US $1,250.00

Sale

Bamum royal brass pipe HUGE 5 FEET Cameroon

Bamum royal brass pipe HUGE 5 FEET Cameroon

US $720.00

Sale

A Day in the Field

      

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A week of interesting events…

Tuesday was fairly eventful, I left my apartment by 6 am to meet Beatrice at the Mbengwi moto park on the other side of town. Within seconds of standing at the side of the road, a bike-taxi had stopped and we were haggling over prices. We agreed on 200 CFA (around 40 cents) for around [...]

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Working with GHAPE

Well, after a long first week of work, I think its safe to say that I am completely in love with GHAPE.  The way that they operate just amazes me.  I have now been to 3 different centers, the ones today were over an hour and a half on less than optimal roads, and interviewed [...]

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Veecus launches peer to peer microfinance

This week the new social lending service Veecus.com launched. Veecus is a peer-to-peer microfinance network. It allows microentrepreneurs from all over the world to access funds to develop their projects. Lenders can select projects, invest and take part in economic development.
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) supply the loan listings and set the interest rates. Currently there are [...]

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Comedy White Man

Anyone who has spent time in some of the more remote parts of Africa will probably shrug their shoulders at my observations. But as a first time visitor it’s hard not to feel like a bit of a celebrity, at least with the children. Wherever you go, kids stop and look. Sometimes they laugh or [...]

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The strange world of blogging…

This is my first blog as a kiva fellow and as an individual, so perhaps I will use this time to introduce myself to anyone in the internet community who would like to know.  I am Jen McQuhae, 22, from Vancouver Island, Canada.  I recently completed a four year honours degree in international development with [...]

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Microfinance In Cameroon – Ten Years On

 
One of the most inspiring things I have seen in Cameroon is the progress made by many GHAPE borrowers over the years. GHAPE is the local NGO where I am working during my time as a Kiva Fellow in West Africa. Their aim, like many of the other hundreds of microfinance organisations around the world, [...]

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Mama’s Left Leg

Squeezing people into taxis is par for the course in Cameroon. As cabs approach, you shout your destination to the driver and if you get the nod you hop in. If there are already three in the back, no matter, there’s room for one more. If there are two in the front, again, no problem: [...]

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Irresponsible Lending – Some Lessons

I am sitting in the modest headquarters of GHAPE in Bamenda, north west Cameroon.

I am surrounded by the membership books of some of the organisation’s small borrowers, detailing their loan totals and bi-monthly repayments. There is no column for defaults. When the women (it is mostly women) meet to make their regular contributions they [...]

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Death of a Client

On Friday, three members of the GHAPE office went to the funeral of one of our members, Bih Josopha. She was 48 years old and left eight children behind, four of whom are under the age of 14. The daughter had come to the office to inform us of her passing on Thursday, immediately after [...]

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Now in Cameroon

Tuesday was the last day that the former Kiva Fellows, Megan and David, spent at the GHAPE office http://www.kiva.org/about/aboutPartner?id=40. The going-away party was really sweet with a board members lunch and gifts of gratitude. The main office in Bamenda is located in a family compound, with an open central area for recreation and cooking. The [...]

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Ready to Start

Tuesday morning at 8:15, all 20 of the new Kiva Fellows were on time, crowded around the breakfast table where Noah’s bagels, pastries and coffee were available to power us through the intense four days of training that would follow. The table in the middle of the training room was perpetually covered with beverages, snacks [...]

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“Ashia, Sister” – Words & Working in Bamenda

I am proud to say that I have earned two blisters in the last week: one from hand-washing my clothes (I’ve now learned to really scrub ‘em), and another from pulling the kernels off corncobs. As a woman who has earned most previous blisters from breaking in new hiking boots or rowing crew, both luxury [...]

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We be thankful we arrive fine for Cameroon. Or how the cross-Africa dash came to a welcome pause in Bamenda.

Cameroon. For us, it is the end of a long road. Since we left the U.S. in December, Dave and Megan have set foot in 13 countries, 11 in Africa. Our overland trek started in Casablanca and took us through Morocco/Western Sahara, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, and finally [...]

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