Here are some highlights of the ceremony:

 
Welcome address by the President of the Board of Directors:
In his welcome address, the President of the BOD thanked all those who have sacrificed time and other aspects to be part of the ceremony. He recognized the presence of the SAARKI, the Divisional Delegate of MINDUH, the VSO Volunteer and other dignitaries before declaring the ceremony officially opened.

Presentation of Catherine Journey map in IDF by the Coordinator:

After greeting all present, the Coordinator did a power point presentation on the following headings; Background, Methodology, Catherine’s Journey map in IDF, Difficulties and Lessons Learnt. She presented on how Catherine finally came to IDF on a one year placement, talked on some of the things IDF has gained thanks to Catherine like the elaboration of project proposals, training of staff on how to prepare a letter of intent, improved information management, preparation and submission of small grant proposals to VSO, the construction of the website, building relationship between IDF and other organizations, assist IDF in communicating with other partners, etc.

The Coordinator also talked on the impact Catherine’s placement has had on the professional lives of the IDF team and the organization itself.

She concluded by Thanking God Almighty to have chosen Catherine to come at an appropriate time, to VSO and Aisatou Ngong to have put Catherine at our disposal, and to Catherine to have accepted to leave the Far North Region of  Cameroon to work with IDF. She prays the Almighty should continue to guide and bless her abundantly.

Word of appreciation by the president

Dressed in an all African outfit , the President ushered the VSO Volunteer into the ceremony hall where she was presented with various certificates such as “Certificate of Excellence and an award of honor”. Before presenting her with the certificates, the President appreciated her for all what she has done during her stay in IDF and encouraged her to continue bringing impact to people’s lives.

Testimonies:

Macheko Flore, secretary:
“I met you in IDF. Seeing the way you work and your everyday’s interaction with other staff members encourages me a lot. You have really helped me to improve on my knowledge and skills in carrying out my duties. You are really a coach”.

 

 
Falimatou, Librarian:
“It is with great pleasure that I stand here today to thank you for all you have done to me. Your stay in Cameroon and your placement in IDF live me with a lot of memories.
Apart from your life style, I am also very touched with the way you taught me which has helped me to gain more knowledge on Microsoft Access, Computerizing of the Library, PowerPoint, Scanning of photos and grouping them according to various projects. Thanks to you, my knowledge on secretarial duties has improved. It is regrettable that we have to separate because I have been used to having you in the office. I wish this last moment should be memorable and remains forever in our memory.

Paul Hervé Samou, Webmaster:
“Here we are finally to say goodbye to you. I will want to use this opportunity to thank you for the three months of sharing, exchange and intense work we have had together. Your constant availability, honesty, ability to make concessions and humility has been a motivational factor and has helped me in monitoring any progress I could have made and possible difficulties I might have encountered.
Two major aspects about you caught my attention; the fact that you constantly remind me to look at what you have accomplished prior to my arrival and you always considering suggestions I make on work done prior to my arrival. These shows how open minded and dedicated you are. This has been demonstrated lately by the way you handle assigned duties despite your health problems.
I think I have not exaggerated my words. If I have ever used any negative statements against you, I beg for forgiveness. I promise to use whatever knowledge gained to improve in anything ever thing I do. I wish you good luck and hope we meet again.”

 
Amah (Staff member):
“I was just discussing with my children about Catherine, telling them the way she manipulates the computer and how I admire the spirit. I have promised to buy them a computer to render them computer literate. Thank you Catherine for always being there”

 

 

 

Terence (Staff member):
“Before the coming of Catherine, my knowledge computer knowledge was still very low. Thanks to Catherine, I have been able to improve and I promise to properly use knowledge gain on whatever I do that relates to information technology”

 

Matou (Coordinator)
“I am really thankful to God for giving me Catherine. I have never had somebody who understands me the way she does. Whenever I dream of something and explain it to her, she understands and put it exactly the way I want”
“She is so hardworking and devoted. She works in a way that if you try to follow suit, you might fall sick. I have been working hard to be with her at the same level and I fell sick. This is just to demonstrate how serious she is”

 

Representative of the Departmental Delegate of MINDUH:

“From what I have heard, it is not everything we do that must be for financial gains. My fear is whether IDF will be able to sustain the experiences put in place by Catherine. I wish her safe journey back to her country”.

 

Invitee (President Ntambag Initiative Committee):
“I am so happy without knowing why. There is a popular saying that whatever you are doing, make sure you do it very well. I have noticed her as a quiet but very busy person. She is obedient, patient and soft tempered. What I ask of her is to keep communication alive and always ask to get feedback on our activities so as to know when to intervene”.

 

 

Invitee (Coordinator Hydra Project):
“I am really impressed with the presentations of today. I have always been hearing that International volunteers like to impose when they are on place in an organization. I am glad to hear a different scenario like that of Catherine where she improves on what she met. This goes a long way to show she has very good leadership skills. I saw joy in the Coordinator during her presentation which is clear indication of how satisfied she is with the Volunteer. I wish her a very safe journey back home.”

Amy (VSO Volunteer):
“I have seen volunteers come and go but I have never witnessed something like this. I will like to say that Catherine is very fortunate to be part of a committed and hardworking organization as IDF. I have been here for two years and my send off will be in two months time. I hope it will be as generous as the one of today”

 

   SAARKI:
“I am very happy to see all of you gathered to wish one of our daughters a safe trip back to her country. I will want to use this opportunity to appreciate efforts that the organization has been doing to bring development to Ntambag. I received the invitation late but I am promising you that a traditional gift shall be given to you no matter when and where. I ask you to greet your family for us and tell them to build me a palace in Canada.”

Catherine’s Presentation:
With joy, satisfaction and great motivation, Catherine took over the floor, appreciated all for coming and went straight to talking about her first impressions upon arrival in IDF. She also gave some of the things she has accomplished like improving the information system, putting in place a functional website and training of a webmaster. She talked about her life out of work, some of the things she will miss and some of the things she will not miss as she is leaving Bamenda.
She concluded by thanking the IDF team for their support and love towards her during her stay here. She distributed gifts and parcel to staff and CVs who came to join in her sendoff ceremony.

Perspectives:

•   Looking forward to hear from Catherine’s successes
•   Hope to have new volunteers with same spirit and who can continue to lead IDF toward its vision
•   Distant coaching by Catherine
•   IDF to sustain all the experiences and knowledge gained during Catherine’s placement and share with other VSO and Civil Society Organisations.

A family photo was made at the end of the ceremony

Falimatou hasn’t always been a librarian, in fact, 4 years ago she was a single young mother who happened to live in a village where GTZ through IDF was carrying out a survey of young  mothers.  She found out information about IDF’s vocational training program for young mothers and decided to apply. From 2006 to 2009 Falimatou learned life skills and secretarial skills through the IDF training centre.  Since 2009 she has worked at a bookstore in Bamenda.

Falimatou is inspirational in her determination to learn new skills to improve the quality of her life and the lives of her children.  She demonstrates the ability to quickly grasp concepts, especially those related to computers, and to become an expert.

IDF is very lucky to have found this dedicated young woman and will continue to help her in building her skills.

As a Community Volunteer (CV) and the IDF Staff of the IDF Wum Branch Office, Mendi is an important member of the IDF team. He has been the IDF staff in Wum for a little over a year. Mendi has attestations in Counselling, Ordinary and Advance level certification, in addition to attestations of effectiveness and experience in teaching issues by the inspector of Basic Education.

Mendi is an active member of his community and has participated in activities including:
- Assisting orphans and vulnerable children in Wum community to use their knowledge to grow through counselling experience gathered through seminars with the support of IDF;
- Counselling children and adults about HIV and AIDS and how to protect themselves;
- Educating HIV/AIDS promoters in the wum community to live a positive life;
- Encouraging students to live a protective lifestyle with training supported by IDF and VSO; and
- Educating disabled persons as a peer educator in Befang, Bangwe, Agulhi and Ngoh.

Mendi has also held a number of positions in his community including:
- President of the Befang association of persons with disability;
- Secretary of Menchum unit community of persons with disability;
- Secretary of the Nyang quarter Council Befang and the Bangwe Village Council;
- Assistant President of the Social Affairs unit of persons with disability Wum Central Sub Division, coordinated by the Divisional Delegate of Social Affairs Wum; and
- Traditional compound head in Bangwe, crowned by the nobles of the village.

In his free time Mendi runs a bar, in addition to a farm where he undertakes fowl and goat breeding as well as rice and plantain growing. He also spends his free time as a referee for Fernasco games and inter-village competitions. He is a proponent to help others set up small Njangi groups.

Mendi loves travelling and gaining experience in other things not known and to learn from other people of different places. He is always ready to learn at any time.

Improving coaching techniques with Caroline

On May 27 to May 29, 2011, IDF staff, board members and volunteers had the pleasure of attending a workshop sponsored by Coaching the Global Village, a US-based NGO dedicated to empowering people all over the world in using and developing their coaching skills which are an important tool in the development process. Caroline Spira, a volunteer coach with Coaching the Global Village, carried out this training and was very successful in conveying the concept of coaching and in building enthusiasm for it within IDF.  Before coming to Cameroon as a VSO volunteer, she was an executive coach in Canada and had her own consulting business called [co]imagen.

Working Together at Building our Coaching Skills

A powerful metaphor of what coaching is helped participants understand what the role of a coach is:

Imagine being in a boat, the coach will sit in the back and the person who is being coached will sit in the front. It is the person in the front who decides where to go, the coach in the back is there to help steer the person in the front to get where he/she wants to go. This is why it is important to build trust between a coach and a coachee, the coachee needs to trust that the person helping them steer is helping them go in the direction they want to go.

Tarif Joseph with his Tree of Life

Through engaging and interactive activities, the participants were able to explore themselves and their strengths, goals, and dreams. In addition, participants strengthened their existing skills such as listening, providing feedback and asking questions. IDF has great aspirations to put the new skills it learned through this workshop into use in its programs.

In its work with people living with HIV and AIDS, orphans and vulnerable children, women entrepreneurs and development associations, IDF believe it can use coaching skills to help its clients identify their goals, develop action plans, carry out the action plans and reach their new futures.

IDF thanks Caroline Spira for her time and efforts, as well as Coaching the Global Village for their sponsorship and training materials.

Ready to Coach!

IDF looks forward to working with Caroline and Coaching the Global Village again and continuing to build its coaching skills.

Participants were extremely happy with the training and expressed their insights and appreciation:

Catherine

“Coaching skills, like those Caroline Spira gave IDF in this training, I believe will be of great use to IDF. As an organization that strives to empower the marginalised, coaching offers a way to get people to commit to their dreams and goals and to take ownership of their action plans to reach these goals.” Catherine Shih (VSO Volunteer placed with IDF 2010/11)

Oussematou

“Coaching is a tool that can ensure sustainability of action and change for an individual, community or organization. This is because coaching is strongly based on participation that also ensures appropriation and guarantees the implementation of ideas. I found the thing of greatest value of this workshop was the practicality and adaptability of all the notions I have learnt, also the tools (tree of life, journey map). I hope in the future I can get more knowledge in coaching through books, distance or internet learning to grasp all the terms, principles and tools so that I can easily apply and transmit that knowledge. I would like to become a certified coach in the social economy domain.” Oussematou Dameni Therese (IDF Coordinator)

Terence

“I learned some important insights: coaching is part of what ever aspect or activity we do in life, and it allows people to look within themselves and come up with topics for discussions. It is a great advantage to be a great listener and it is always important to give feedback be it negative or positive. In life, we have to set our goals and be determined to accomplish or reach it no matter the path we use. Our goals should be SMARTS (Specific, measureable, achievable, relevant, time-bound and supported). I would like to learn more about how to prioritise goals enumerated by a coachee and how to identify someone in need of coaching.” Terence Awasum Ndikum (IDF Monitoring and Evaluation Officer)

Thomas Aiko

“Coaching amène le coache à réaliser son rêve par lui-même. L’arbre de vie et la carte de voyage du chemin de la vie sont des éléments l’individu peut utiliser pour clarifier et fixer son avenir. Dans le futur j’aimerai apprendre plus dessus comment choisir un bon sujet et comment formaliser un objective – comment appliquer le SMARTS a l’application du goal.” Thomas Aiko (BOD)

For more information please visit the Coaching the Global Village Website: http://coachingtheglobalvillage.org/programs/cameroon-africa-project/

Coaching the Global Village