Project Location: Alahlie Quarter, Nkwen Bamanda, North West Region Cameroon

Project Owners: Pan African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children (PAORP-VWC)

Project Overview: By investing in the local economy and profit making enterprises, Pan African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children (PAORP-VWC) is working towards absolute financial sustainability to avoid too much donor dependency and reliance on charitable handouts. Once achieved, this goal will mean that PAORP-VWC projects in Cameroon and Ghana will be funded with profit from the services provided to the general public by the Medical Clinic. The Pan African Organisation Medical Centre is a unique project and marked the second step on this path after the successful putting in place of a "Pan African Organisation Wood Processing Mill" in Nkwen Bamaneda in September 2010. The Pan African Organisation Medical Centre will offer a combination of private and public primary healthcare to the general public of Nkwen and nearby villages within Bamenda North West Region of Cameroon. It is estimated that the Medical Centre will be receiving on average 1500-2000 patients a month. It is Pan African Organisation policy to invest 10% of its profits from the Medical Centre in "The Pan African Organisation Community Mutual Health Fund" that will help provide free medical services to poor families and our target vulnerable women and children and 90% into funding all PAORP-VWC projects within Cameroon and Ghana.

Project Introduction: In the urban area of Nkwen, Bamenda including the nearby rural villages many people including women and children are dying daily of common treatable tropical diseases due to the poverty level of their families. Most poor families have very little to meet up with their daily needs including health needs. For this reasons many poor families turn to treat common sicknesses using auto medication with fake drugs commonly found on the roadside. Since most of the drugs they buy are fake drugs, this goes to worsen their sickness leading to death especially among women and children who are the most vulnerable. Gynaecological problems affecting most women has constantly led to women been domestically abused by their husbands and family and since we are out to prevent all forms of violence on women and children we can not stand to see them suffer where some of these cases can be handle in hospitals or medical clinic. Children suffer and die of common and treatable diseases daily due to the poverty level of their family that is why we want to introduce "The Pan African Organisation Community Mutual Health Fund" that will make health care free and affordable to all within our target villages. The Community mutual health fund will be first of its kind to go operational within our target communities.

What is in place?: Pan African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and Children (PAORP-VWC) has successfully acquired a building which was formally used as a hotel situated at Alahlie Quarter, Nkwen Bamenda. The building is having self-contain rooms that will be use for offices, admission wards and various units of the clinic to carter for patients. (See Picture on our website http://www.panafrican-paorp.org)

What is needed for the Medical Clinic to go operational by 2011?: We are in urgent need of all types of hospital beds (100 Beds), medical equipments including computers, surgical equipments, Laboratory equipments and an ambulance for urgent intervention to pick up patients who are sick in remote villages and having no means of transportation to take them to our clinic.

How you can make a donation of these items (Help us Equip this Clinic): We know most of you reading this will be interested to support this noble course. Please kindly send your donation in cash to our bank account listed on our website. For material donation kindly contact us using the address on our "contact page" of our website or by phone to the head office of the organisation in Ghana using the following numbers +233543305470/+233247280003 or contact our Cameroon office on the following phone numbers +23777357681/+237774920002.

We will provide full updates and details of this project if needed by any potential donor ready to support this project.

The following research programs were carried out by the organisation to help in the formulation of programs to meet up with the priority needs of target communities.

A team of researcher from the organisation went into the field and collaborated with community members made up of policy makers, traditional authorities, youth group, women groups, governmental and Non Governmental bodies to find out the root causes of problems affecting women and children within the Northern Regions of Ghana.

To meet our intended objectives for this exercise the group from May to June 2008 administered questionnaires specially designed to gather adequate information on what will help in the design of projects. They also conducted face-to-face interviews, focus group discussion, and literature review to better analyse the present socio-economic and political situation of our target communities. Below are some of the topics covered by our recent research/survey.

• Trafficking of women and children: Causes, methods and routes used by traffickers in Northern Regions of Ghana.
• Child Labour Abuse. Its impact on children lives.
• The Role of Queen Mothers and Chiefs wives in Conflict mediation in Northern Regions of Ghana.
• The role of Queen mothers in regaining lost women's rights in Ghana.
• The impact of tradition in promoting domestic violence affecting women and children.
• Working to review questionable traditional values militating against women and Children. The way forward in modern development.
• The Impact of HIV/AIDS on rural productivity in Dalung District Tamale.
• The Impact of HIV/AIDS on rural productivity in Sandema, Sumbrumgu, and Bolgatanga Districts of Upper East Region of Ghana.
• More than Ten Years of training young girls on tailoring skills. Does this help to empower them economically to be independent and free from violence and abuse by men?
• Improving the nutrition level of malnourished women and children in the Tolon/Kumbungu District of Northern Ghana.
• The politics behind violence on women accused of witchcraft in Ghana.

For the first time in the lives of some women groups in Northern Region of Ghana, they were made aware that the world has set aside some days to honour women for their contributions in shaping the lives of mankind.

The role of women can never be under estimated when it comes to improving the livelihood of families and the entire communities.

This is why PAORP-VWC staff in collaboration with some selected women group organised series of educative talks meant at reducing all forms of violence on women and children within the Northern Region of Ghana.

Women groups were also educated to constantly make it as a duty to get themselves organise in celebrating the International Day of Women on every 8th March each year and the International Day of Rural Women celebrated on every 15 October yearly. Their involvement in these celebrations will help to bring their grievances to light so as to combat all forms of discrimination melted on them by their male counterparts.

From December 2008 till Feb 2009, PAORP-VWC has been continuing with its research program which is our corner stone in identifying the problems of violence and under development within our target communities. Apart from the ongoing research program on the field, we have been involved in the following activities to meet up with our intended objectives.

Our Awareness creation on the plight of the street children has been intensified with series of meetings and lobbying taking place with policy makers, traditional chiefs and family heads within our target communities to encourage parents to take responsibility in the education of their children especially the girl child as future leaders of Ghana.

During the Christmas week of 2008 we handed over to some girls and boys of Morning Star Orphanage School, Tamale school bags, books some writing materials and Christmas presents to enable them meet up with their educational demands and celebrate the Christmas in a grand style. This was initiated as a move to encouraged parents to see their children as a gift from God and as their future helpers and leaders.

("Take care of me today and I will help you tomorrow") During this occasion our staff members lecture parents on their role and responsibilities towards their children upbringing.

At the start of January 2009 we handed over more than 500 assorted pieces of baby and children dresses to Anfaani Children's Home Tamale for them to take care of the orphans under their care.