By Bakah Derick
The Governor of the North West Region has described Strategic Humanitarian Services (SHUMAS) Cameroon as an examplary nongovernmental organization in Cameroon. Lele Lafrique Adolphe Tchoffo Deben was speaking in Bamenda on Tuesday 11 April 2023 during an event to award Labour Medals to 12 meritorious staff of the not-for-profit organization. He expressed the wish for organization to copy the example of SHUMAS and push the country's emergence agenda. The region's top-most administrator praised the organization for the projects realized in communities across the country. While congratulating the staff for their medals, the governor noted that it is their commitment and hard work that has earned them the recognition from the state.
"The award of a distinction as prestigious as a Labour Medal is obviously a special occasion to reward, encourage and acknowledge your contribution to nation building... dear recipients, let me salut you for your tenacity for the work that earned you these medals. I equally want to remind you that these decorations should not be like the coronation of your efforts but rather serve as motivation for better output." Governor Lele Lafrique said before awarding the 12 recipients with 15 Labour Medals, two in gold, four in silver and eight in bronze.
The Director General of Strategic Humanitarian Services (SHUMAS) Cameroon has congratulated recipients for their commitment to work despite the challenges of the times. According to Mformi Ndzerem Stephen Njodzeka, achieving what his organization has been able to achieve over time requires a lot of commitment and hard work.
"It is a wonderful moment for us. To achieve what we have been doing is not always an easy task. It is almost like day and night... there is no time you will write me a letter and I will not respond in less than three hours. This means that success is the summary of hard work. I don't believe on luck because success is the sum total of input. Usually I have been worried about my staff members. Although you pay them salaries, that is not enough and we are able to at least convince the government to give them Labour Medals, it is a wonderful thing." Mformi Ndzerem Stephen said
While expressing gratitude to North West Governor for accepting to personally preside over the medal award event, the Director General of SHUMAS has promised to make this a regular practice in the institution.
Working for about 30 years, SHUMAS Cameroon is present in close to 50 divisions of the country delivering most needed services in the area of development and Humanitarian response with the aim to "improve lives, safe lives, reduce poverty, empower the most vulnerable people to realize the fullest of their potentials with compromising posterity." To implement her vision, SHUMAS Cameroon has realized projects in the sectors of Agriculture, Education, Health, Women Empowerment, Environment, Social Welfare, Water and Sanitation and volunteerism.
Nformi Ndzerem Stephen Njodzeka has used the medal award event to express gratitude to the government for providing an enabling environment for organizations like SHUMAS to function and also to partners like Building Schools for Africa UK, Manus UNIDAS in Spain, the World Food Programme (WFP), IOM, Spreading Health Organizaton in the UK, Energy Without Boarders Spain, GIZ Germany amongst others for providing funds for the realization of projects.
Created in 1993, SHUMAS Cameroon is a development Non Governmental Organization focused on integrated sustainable rural development. Legalised in 1997, SHUMAS in 2013 was granted the status of a Non Governmental Organisation. The Bamenda headquartered charity currently has special consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council.