The American University in Dubai International Aid Society (AIA) will visit the village of Ndop-Bamunka in Cameroon next summer. This follows their visit this year to the African nation, a trip the students funded from their own pockets.
During the forthcoming trip they plan to build a school and a boat. Established in 2008 with eight members, the AIA now holds meetings with up to 30 members. The members are determined to continue their humanitarian work both locally and internationally with the hope of establishing their society as a reputable non-governmental organisation (NGO) with branches at universities in the UAE and abroad.
Persistence
Sarah Ameri-Mills, president of the AIA, told Campus Notes: "I am definitely a different person since going to Cameroon."
The group initially raised funds of around Dh40,000 and sent it to a fellow humanitarian aid worker in Cameroon, who also happens to be Ameri-Mills' friend. "After that we thought to go and see what our money had done," she said, "to be on the ground to see what we can do."
The members raised a further Dh18,000 in three days on campus by selling photography work and cakes. AIA members bought their own tickets, packed up and headed for Africa.
Upon arrival in Cameroon, members who had failed to obtain visas beforehand were refused entry. Ameri-Mills, Mona Akbari and AUD assistant professor of English Jim Henry were the only ones with visas.
A miraculous visit
Riding on motor bikes on muddy roads for two weeks, the trio visited villages.
They gave away basic items such as irrigation pumps, wheelbarrows, shovels, coolers and a week's supply of wheat.
Akbari described how whole families were living in muddy shacks, cooking, eating and sleeping with no electricity. "The living situation was very bad," she said.
Ameri-Mills recalled clambering up a hill to get to a make-shift school with 45 little children. The school was infested with white ants.
"They had no pens or paper," she said. "They were writing the Quran on wooden boards with ink."
Akbari was touched by the villagers' response to their visit. She related what one family had said to her.
"They told us they had been praying to God for help and we arrived right into their house. ‘We believe that's a miracle' they said."
Unforgettable
For Akbari the Cameroon experience is something "I will never ever forget". It has changed her perspective about life, "especially in AUD where everything is about money, luxury and fancy clothes". She said now when she wants to spend money she considers the people in Cameroon.
In a lighter vein, Ameri-Mills said the experience had taught her not to take having a shower for granted, particularly after having to bathe with a bucket and a bowl in freezing water.
"It's good to send money but it's not enough... I would never have understood this if I didn't do it," said Ameri-Mills, emphasising that it is important to sit, eat, live and listen to people and their stories to understand how one can help.
