Since 2007, the Himalayan Institute Cameroon team has spearheaded a range of rural empowerment projects in Cameroon—all supporting our goal to fight poverty, illiteracy, and inequality through education, health care, and job creation. This year’s active donor appeal, the Village Health Relief Fund, highlights our ongoing public health initiative in Cameroon, which is preventing disease, including COVID-19, and increasing preventive health knowledge in the general public.
Today, we’re looking at our multi-tiered public health initiative through the lens of the three pillars of our campaign—public health education, one-on-one health services, and the technical support that makes our work possible.
Public Health Education
Over the past 13 years that we’ve been working in Cameroon, we have been guided by the wisdom and experience of grassroots leaders to understand and optimally serve the unique needs of the communities that we serve. Our public health education talks are led by our team of trained, expert health educators, and focus on preventive health subjects that are most relevant to the local population. Our key areas of focus currently include COVID-19 prevention, hygiene and sanitation, first aid, diet and nutrition, women’s and children’s health, lifestyle, and stress and emotional health—all centered on a preventive, knowledge-based approach to health that will continue to empower local communities for generations to come.
One-on-One Health Services
While our public health education program is designed to reach larger groups of people, our one-on-one health services allow us to address the root causes of poor health while working individually with men, women, and children in Cameroon. At our six health centers spread across the Northwest region of Cameroon, and through our mobile health vehicles that travel to rural villages across the region, we provide free health consultations that incorporate lifestyle counseling, health education on common illnesses and diseases, and the best preventive practices to combat them. We also offer herbal health products that are sold out of our fully equipped pharmacy. Our health products are produced through a self-sustaining supply chain—nearly 100 percent of the herbs used to make the products that we sell in our health centers are locally grown, harvested, dried, and processed.
Technical Support
At the core of our public health initiative is a team supporting our day-to-day operations, including the drivers who operate our mobile health vehicles, farmers who grow and harvest the herbs used in our health products, and the health workers who manufacture all of our herbal medicines. Our technical support also includes the security, repairs, and maintenance of our physical infrastructures and vehicles, which are all crucial to the operational efficacy of our public health education program and one-on-one health services.
Why This Work Matters
Cameroon has been in a state of civil unrest for more than three years, and many hospitals have been forced to shut down. Our programs are oftentimes the only health resources that are available to rural communities in the regions we serve. It is crucial that we continue to provide all of these preventive health services which help to slow the spread of COVID-19, shore up critical gaps in the current healthcare system, and improve long-term health outcomes in Cameroon.
Join the Movement
Our wish is to bolster rural communities in Northwest Cameroon with the tools necessary to experience overall well-being and raise healthy families. With less than two weeks remaining in our campaign, we ask you to donate today in support of our public health initiative.
Together, we are changing the world.
