The Eyambe’s family is working to restore confidence and optimism to girls in Buea city in Cameroon where war has left negative scars on generations. They offered psycho-social and emotional support through mentorship circles and economic empowerment through workshops and financial aid to fifteen teenage girls from the Christian Youth Fellowship of the Fako North Presbyterian Church.
The political instability in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon have fed the Cameroon Anglophone crisis. The ongoing conflict has left many, including youth, traumatized, and emotionally scarred from the violence, killings and loss. Families have been broken, lived have been disrupted. Many locals doubt that peace and reconciliation will ever be possible or is even necessary.
But the Eyambe family believes peace is possible. The family offered psycho-social support to survivors’ in a bid to cultivate youth resilience and address the emotional, social, mental and spiritual healing from living with emotional and physical violence. The Eyambe family created a safe and open space for youth participation in peace building in Buea. We found role models to inspire them,” said Fese, the 37-year-old sister.
The Eyambe family brought together religious leaders, community leaders including chiefs, quarter heads, men/women leaders and youth and children leaders to host talks on peace and cohesion, conflict prevention and conflicts transformation. shared another family member.
The family reflects, “With the creation of these open spaces, we brought together groups of persons from local community in Buea who would stand as a voice for peace in their communities. We want to nourish hope and commitment, instill positive energy to young survivors who have either faced emotional or physical violence”.
The Eyambe’s family demonstrates how a family can be a catalyst for peace. We applaud them for being peace ambassadors in Buea municipality, Cameroon. If you have a Sunshine Family Volunteer story to share or your family wants to start a project, email younshim.park@globalpeacewomen.org.