Age:26
Country: Cameroun
It was in 2002 when things got started for me being here in this stage. I was a young person in a peer group which planning to start the first health club in our school with a motivation to fight against HIV and AIDS among youth in Cameroon in some way. We slowly got awareness on the whole issue of HIV and AIDS whereas I was aware that my community was still far away from the knowledge related to it. My engagement provided me with an opportunity to become a peer educator in a local NGO called CEPROSCON to work for “participation and development of adolescent program” with UNICEF. During the time, I got trained on life skills, behavioral analysis, vulnerability and risk mapping, animation of friendly discussions and activities for youth and adolescents.
This opportunity encouraged me to
take my own leadership among youth and to commit myself to contribute for my
community. As a peer educator for 3 years, my task was to create and organize
local health club, focus group discussions in the community and to lead the
elaboration of local vulnerability and risk map. My dynamism convicted my peers
and facilitators to select me as the delegate of my region at the National
Youth Network in which I am the national president today.
Since my engagement, I have
participated to the achievements of many actions (campaign, training,
conferences...) and have been involved in related issues affecting youth and
adolescents like; HIV and AIDS, child trafficking, violences against women and
girls, youth participation, etc. In my initiative, a youth friendly center
which established for benefiting youth and adolescents to address the issue of
sexual health and to have good information. I am proud to reflect that i have
helped more than 1500 peers educators to enhance their knowledge on HIV and
AIDS through different activities. I was
designated by UNAIDS Cameroon as a best practice of youth leadership in the
struggle against AIDS among youth in 2007 (confer “Stop sida, paroles des
leaders”, by UNAIDS 2007). The same dynamism gave me the confidence of African
youth peers who nominated me to represent them at the 15th Summit of Heads of
State and Governments of the African Union in Kampala in 2010 alongside two
other youths (confer voices of youth
by UNICEF-Uganda, 2010). Now, I am involved to the global campaign launched in
2010 by Ban ki Moon, the General Secretary of United Nations called “UNiTE to
end violences against women and girls” (confer www.africaunitecampaign.org ).
Each day, I take few minutes to
ask myself, what have I done to contribute to build a better world. I think as
a young person, we all should ask this question to ourselves, to share a common
vision. I am proud to feel useful for my community, country and continent. At
this point, I remember a discussion with a young boy one day who asked me: “Mr.
President, we are really proud of you, what do you want to be in the future?”
and I replied “... the most important is not what you are, but what you bring
to your people, the vision you are following for a social justice...”
By MFORAIN MOUASSIE Soilihou (Salif)
Cameroon
Youth Network and Horizon Jeune association
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