Second Edition of Ndi Tsembom’s Back-to-School Drive Targets IDP Children in Old Town Bamenda

By Njoh Linda

For dozens of children in Bamenda’s Old Town neighbourhood, the start of the new school year has come with more than just the usual excitement.

Sixty-four vulnerable children, including those from internally displaced families, have received basic school supplies from Bamenda-based journalist Ndi Tsembom Elvis.

The support, distributed on Sunday, 13 September, included exercise books, pens, pencils and other learning materials.

The children were identified with the help of Know Your Neighbour, a local group largely made up of mothers who know vulnerable families in the area.

Speaking to the children and their parents, Ndi Tsembom urged them to remain focused on their education despite the difficulties facing the community.

“Education is the key to success. Among you, tomorrow we will have doctors, teachers, and magistrates. Go to school, study hard, and make your parents proud.”

Old Town has become home to many families displaced by the conflict in Cameroon’s North-West Region, where insecurity has disrupted education and other essential services.

Ndi Tsembom says the initiative is intended to ensure that children from vulnerable households are not left behind.

“We cannot be sending our own children to school while other children are cut off from the picture.”

Parents welcomed the assistance, describing it as timely support for families struggling to meet the costs of sending their children back to school.

The initiative is the journalist’s second back-to-school campaign since the start of the conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking regions. The first supported vulnerable children and children with visual impairment in Bamenda with school needs.