Bakas in the east region of cameroon

Volunteers needed

GEADIRR is looking for volunteers to participate in its activities in one of the following areas;

·         Website development, 

·         Organise meetings and workshops with communities

·         Quarterly newsletters

·         Redevelopment of organisation brochures

·         Undertake fund raising

·         Support our activities

If you wish to volunteer in one or more of the listed above or not listed, please contact geadirr@gmail.com 

GEADIRR, Organized a national workshop on Views from the frontline

As part of activities of the ‘Views from the frontline’ on DRR project, a one day national consultation was held on September 29^th 2011 by the Cameroon National coordinating organization (NCO). This meeting was followed by a fieldtrip on the 30^th of September 2011 in and around the city of Limbe. This fieldtrip provided an opportunity for the Global Network manager who was present at the National consultations to have an appraisal of what resilience could be in Limbe and therefore some parts of Cameroon.  The 29^th September meeting brought together over 45 participants including civil society representatives, local governments’ authorities, community representative and delegates from participating NGOs etc. Also present was the NCO for Nigeria (who arrived later in the day) and Peter from Global relief in Jos Nigeria.

The meeting officially kicked-off at 10:24 AM with the chanting of the Cameroon national anthem. The moderator (Mr Shey Benjamin) then continued with the agenda of the day and acknowledged the presence of distinguished members of the high table.  Mr. Buh Gaston - NCO focal person for Cameroon introduced Mr. Terry Gibson-Project manager of Global Network from UK and Mr. Peter and Mr. Robert (in absentia) participating in the VFL project in Nigeria. This was followed by self-introduction by the other members on the high table. These included 3 administrative representatives, 2 chiefs and the head of a civil society. Dr. Aka Festus was also introduced, and one of the key presenters of the day.

The meeting proceeded with a speech from the representative of the Ministry of Territorial administration and Decentralization (MINADT) which is the focal ministry in charge of DRR issues in Cameroon; the assistant Senior Divisional Official (SDO) for Fako Division (Mme Nko’o Ella). In her speech, she acknowledged the importance of the meeting considering the rapid changes in the environment and the need for adaptive strategies. She also highlighted the major natural and technological disasters frequent in the country such as landslides, mudflows, gas emissions, volcanic eruptions, floods, just to name a few. She added that the Ministry of Territorial Administration and Decentralization (Department of Civil protection) which is the major structure for natural disaster reduction in Cameroon do welcome this great initiative from GNDR.  She concluded her speech by wishing participants a happy stay in the city of Limbe.

Sunday 26th June 2011, Fash Flood hits Melen3, Yaoundé

On Sunday 26^th June 2011, a flash flood occurred in Melen 3 Yaoundé. This came about as a result of less than an hour intensive down pour.  This flash flood lasted for over 4 hours after the rainfall. It’s caused damage to household properties leading to inhabitants of this affected segment of Melen to stay out of home during the heavy rains and 4 hours after the rains to permit the situation return to normal.

This area been noted for persistent flooding over the years during raining seasons. The height of water steadily surpasses previous year’s situation. An interview with a resident of the areas recount  her experience about flooding in this area. It is imperative for government to do something about this and of course urgently. The population in this quarter has been suffering from this for a long time now and the situation keeps aggravating.

Since my stay here we were never experiencing floods during the rainy season. But we recognize the fact that there is a big gutter down there (100m from here) so waters coming down usually flows into the big gutter Madam Quendoline a resident said. A few years later after the construction of the house close to the big gutter which as well blocks the water path of all waters coming down to empty into the big gutter, houses closer to this house started experiencing floods during the rainy season. Others now find water oozing out from their floors and some floors are noted to be sinking. That is why   we now find abandoned houses by those who are capable of affording other alternatives. While people have been suffering down there, the floods turns to be increasingly moving upward and for the past three years I have been one of the victims. I have also noticed that as days go by the amount of water entering the houses have been increasing. The  rate of increase as I can say is alarming because the first year that water entered my house it was not up to my kneel level and the second year it was above my kneel but the last one was slightly above my navel. As a fast remedy, I have decided to up-lift the floor of my house so that the amount of water entering the house should be greatly limited. Others as you can see have placed sandbags of to block water from entering their houses and some bags serve as pathways to their houses during heavy rains. Others have constructed concrete walls round their houses to limit water entering. 

This problem is a call for concern to the government in general, the population and the local inhabitants in particular. We had a meeting with the traditional chief about this in the presence of the local government authorities and as one of the recommendations, all houses without local government approval for construction will be demolished and a road will be constructed with good water channels that will lead water into the big gutter and the banks of this gutter will be reinforced with concretes. Three years have pass since we had this meeting but no trace of work has been seen since after these promises.

Who we are

GEADIRR is a Civil Society Organization, governed by the laws in force in the Republic of Cameroon on CIGs/NGOs. Members of GEADIRR thought it necessary to create an organization through which activities on Disaster Reduction can be carried out, to assist the Cameroon government in its effort toward Disaster risk reduction and to contribution towards the realization of the Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) on Disaster Risk Reduction at the grassroots level in Cameroon. GEADIRR is focus on assisting hazard prone populations by improving existing coping capacity through information sharing on good practices or providing new coping approaches. GEADIRR also make use of space based technology and application of Geospatial tools in these activities; through mapping of vulnerable zones to Disaster Risk

Obectives

The global objective of GEADIRR  is to  integrate geographic information systems and the Earth and social sciences to  drive a shift of the burden of natural hazards and environmental degradation from their perception as natural processes wreaked by the uncontrollable forces of nature, to the concurrent presence of natural events and human activities, which if well understood at the grassroots and decision-making levels, and incorporated into the initial stages of planning and investment, can result in disaster risk reduction, a better environment  and sustainable development. GEADIRR aims at contributing at the grassroots level through, raising stakeholder awareness, promote the use of space based technology in DRR and lobby for the establishment of a legislative and institutional framework for the creation of a National Disaster Risk Reduction platform in Cameroon

Specifically
   Build members’ skills on global environmental issues, disaster management, development and other related fields.

·         Contribute to and facilitate conservation, and sustainable development oriented activities within the context of partnerships by conducting EIA, Environmental audit and carrying out disaster risk research in the country;

·         Sensitize and educate the public by disseminating socio-economic and best conservation practises, disaster risk reduction strategies

·         Provide services that caters for the members livelihoods activities, especially orphans and vulnerable children, the old and HIV/AIDS infected/affected children

·         Promote the Use of Geospatial technology in support of these activities

·         Organize public awareness programmes on the use of space technology, geospatial tools in Disaster Management and conservation.

·         Advancement of communication tools to improve local population capacity.

·         Advocate for the integration of DRR into sustainable development projects in Cameroon

·         Contribute toward the realization of the Hyogo Frame Work for action on Disaster Risk Reduction in Africa at the grassroots