CODAS-CARITAS: Privileged home for the underprivileged

By Immaculate Akwanga

The economic crisis that started in sub-Saharan Africa in the 1980s has greatly destabilised the lives of most Cameroonians, with the young generation being the first and most affected victims, as they constitute the most populated age group.

Whether living in the rural or urban areas, they have all experienced the same problems, which are unemployment, health, their quest for identity, etc. It is in this light that CODAS CARITAS, whose main objective is to help the underprivileged attain their goal in life, was created.
Mrs Dione Maureen, the coordinator of the program, found out time to give an insight to what the project is all about. Created in 1984, the Diocesan Committee for Social Activities, known by its French acronym as CODAS CARITAS, is a non-profit organisation in charge of the developmental activities of underprivileged youths in the Diocese of Douala.
It started as a small charity group which gave material assistance to the needy in times of emergency, but later realised that the distribution of gifts to the beneficiaries did not help them in any way to be independent, so they later realised that with the creation of CODAS, youths who benefited from the program will be more independent and through it, they would be able to identify their individual needs and try to solve them.
CODAS was thus created to work with independent and women groups, through which young boys and girls could be helped. CODAS' objective is to help the underprivileged in society, such as single mothers, children from retired homes, orphans, and families with income of less than FCFA 30.000 (about 50USD), and a family size of more than 8 members, and it does not give preference to any particular faith, as all religious denominations are concerned, but meetings are held strictly the Catholic way, though nothing is imposed on the participants as far as their religion is concerned.
CODAS trains young boys and girls between the ages of 13 to 20 on professions such as; hairdressing, plumbing, welding, Auto-mechanics, computer studies, painting, amongst many others, who each identify what they are capable of doing, and are being trained on it.
Contacts are then made with owners of workshops that offer the services provided by CODAS, who are being paid by CODAS, and they are training the youths. After successful training, workshops are then set up for them through the help of no-interest loans offered to them by CODAS which are reimbursed after a given period, so that it can be used on a revolving basis to help others.
The project, Maureen explains, has recorded some successes despite the many difficulties. The main problem so far has been that, following the change of office in 2003, it has been difficult tracing back those who have already been trained by the institution, so as to see how they were carrying out their activities and try to help them if necessary, since they realised that those who were trained before had little or no knowledge of the organisation, and as a result, there was laxity on the part of both the young boys and girls some of whom had transportation and feeding problems.
The trainers, who after receiving their money in block, did not bother to give the services needed, and on the part of the parents who could not understand why an organisation would assist their children for free, and at the end of it give them loans to set up their businesses.
There has also been the problem of accommodation, as CODAS CARITAS has six workers who are obliged to work in two rooms and their office is sometimes mistaken for the parish secretariat. They equally have transportation problems, adding that becuase there is no service car for them to visit the different parishes, and most especially the different workshops, which are scattered all over the province. “All hope is not lost, because we had some successes,” she says.
So far, CODAS-CARITAS has been reactivated, as it has corrected some of the mistakes that were done in the past such as participants being identified and recommended by the parish priest before admission, and the sensitisation of both parents and participants on what the program is all about, as well as the compulsory participation of the parents through a menial contribution fee of about FCFA 5000.
They are equally creating contacts with companies so that they can find employment for youths who are not responsible enough to own private shops. There are also women programs in the pipeline, which aim at promoting the activities of women by identifying their needs and helping them when necessary.
They equally donate gifts to the poor and needy, especially on feast days such as Christmas and school re-opening, and last year, about 204 families benefited from them, she added.

What some beneficiaries had to say about CODAS
Some beneficiaries of CODAS have expressed their views on what they think about the structure:

Mme Nguepi Suzy-Claudette, (Hair Dresser)
Explaining how she came in contact with CODAS, she said, “I was in church and I heard a communiqué which was talking about CODAS, an institution which helps the under-privileged. I participated in the meeting since I was jobless, and started participating in their meetings.
It is from there that I was selected by CODAS, who paid for my seven months training as a Hair Dresser, and at the end of it, they gave me some money to open my own hair-dressing shop. I would like to call on all the less privileged in the society who have nothing doing and who are helpless, to be informed about such institutions by going to church.”

Justine Tagbon,
A France-based Gabonese who is writing her theses on International Developmental Studies with focus on Africa and Urban Development, and who is in CODAS for internship on Urban Development, expressed gratitude and thanks to CODAS for giving her the opportunity to get more information and knowledge about urban development in Cameroon and mostly in Douala.
“It is a program that works,” she says, and as far as training is concerned, most participants are satisfied. She however, called on the administration of CODAS, to follow-up training in the various places, as they lack proper follow-up.

Mr Jean-Calixte Nguepi, B.Sc in Chemistry
Now the owner of GREENFIELD, which deals in insecticides and other chemical products, says he is what he is today, thanks to the financial loan he obtained from CODAS, after many years of joblessness when he graduated from university. “It is a big organisation that is doing a great job for youths in Douala, and it should be respected,” he says of CODAS.
In a show of appreciation, Mr Nguepi, who is also the president of CODAS - St Louis in Bonaberi, has already assisted CODAS to train more than 40 boys and girls, five of whom of whom he trained free of charge. "They are, I am proud to say, now well placed in the society. He then called on all to take heart, and go to CODAS, for “all is not lost,” he concluded.