Ajia now runs a growing corner store while pursuing a career as a field worker

Before getting involved with CAGEAD’s Peace Building program, Ajia Patu, 43 years of age who lives in the Ntambang neighbourhood in Bamenda and is the CPA of the Barka Peace club was only a housewife in the strict sense of it, depending solely on her husband for all her needs and like many other women in her community, conforming to all that she believed that she could do as dictated by her society.

After participating in CAGEAD’s Peacebuilding program, Ajia and her husband learned about the importance of women’s participation in running the home as stipulated by UNSCR 1325 and the role of a man as a He4She in supporting women’s effort in empowering themselves and the rest of the community. In the spirit of the lessons and support by CAGEAD’s localization of UNSCR 1325, Ajia is now running a growing corner store in her neighbourhood supported by her husband while pursuing a career as a field worker. She also wrote and succeeded in a competitive recruitment exam by Doctors of the World to become one of their field workers.

Just like Ajia, other women’s lives are being transformed through the lessons and efforts of CAGEAD’s programs. Early marriages are now a thing of the past in the Ntambang community. The young girls refuse to marry and ask to be sent to school or learn a trade/skill. 

We believe that by empowering women and including the men in their lives on this journey, we can create a world with sustainable peace.