VSC and My Bridge organize a back to school event for academic year starting September 2024 in Douala, Cameroon on October 24th, 2024.

VSC and My Bridge organize a back to school event for academic year starting September 2024 in Douala, Cameroon on October 24^th, 2024.

The Veterans of Cayman Stadium (VSC) and My Bridge International UK (MBI – UK) have hosted an unprecedented special day of Academic Excellence called “Back to School 2024” putting smile in the faces of students and parents of Palm Tree City in Douala, Cameroon by granting gifts and stipend to more than 170 pupils based on merit and academic excellence.

The Veterans of Cayman Stadium (VSC), created in 2015, is an association of parents whom spent most of their childhood in the Cayman village thus proudly share countless memories of this great community. Many of these parents and/or their families still reside in Cayman village and one of the VSC mission is to promote health, education and other values amongst its youth.

My Bridge International  UK partnered with VSC in this great venture to celebrate success.

More than 170 school bags filled with notebooks and other school supplies, and several stipends to reward A/Levels students who succeeded in their Baccalaureate or GCE A/Level Certificates, were offered to children and adolescents of the above mentioned city in the 5^th district of Douala, Cameroon. This event started 3 weeks earlier with donation of medical equipment (including defibrillators and other apparatus) made at the Esperance Clinique, a stone’s throw from the Cayman stadium. The goal of this heartening  event is to encourage students to be more diligent in their learning, and also to help parents to fulfill their children in their education.

“ Education is key in preparing us for adulthood and we do not intend to provide fish but we encourage our youth to learn how to catch that fish. Our selection criteria were softer this year but we intend to streamline and toughen these criteria for the 2025 event so student should be prepared to work harder and achieve greater grades. We have also worked with those of us in the diaspora…” says M Essack Philip, president of the VSC association.

This was the 1^st edition of the Back to School Cayman 2024 and this first attempt turned out to be a masterstroke. The event which was held in the presence of Mr. Nguele Dang Alain, Personal Advisor and Secretary of the representative of the district deputy Senior Divisional Officer for the Céans (Mr. Anuafor Clétus Asongwe), saw the participation of several hundred children accompanied by their parents, as well as local residents. The festive ceremony took place in the morning of Saturday August 24, 2024. On behalf of the Government, Mr. Nguele Dang Alain commended these twin efforts of VSC and MBI-UK, to encourage education, and advised that such initiative be pursued.  Continuing his speech, the representative of the Senior Divisional Officer reminded the parents beneficiary pupils that these prizes should not be a pretext for declining parental responsibilities towards the children, but should rather be considered as a booster and a demonstration that education should be their highest priority . “I let parents know that this offer should not limit their commitments to children, but rather encourage them,” he told the local newspaper Cameroon Press.

Ms. Miyika, mother of Miyika Martin, student in Year six, who is one of the beneficiaries of these prizes: “It is an initiative to be encouraged, they have given a big boost to parents for the children’s school, our wish is “Is that next year, this initiative be repeated to provide more support to parents.”

As for mother Noumbissie Rosalie, grandmother of Grace Fon, also one of the beneficiaries of 7 years old who will be starting Year 3, this initiative is unprecedented: “it’s great, we have never seen this before, please keep this up! I say thank you to the CEO of My Bridge International UK and to the VSC association,” she declared. Little Fon Grace was admitted with Merit to Class 3 with an average of 15/20.

The president of VSC said“…thanks to our worthy son of Cayman Stadium the great entrepreneur Mr Fon, also Financial and Logistic Director of My Bridge International UK,  who have made a great project in the Cayman village the “BACK TO SCHOOL” a project initiated which Gave a smile to the children for the back-to-school start.

The CEO of My Bridge International UK, Mr Jean Michel Tchamba conveyed his thanks to VSC and has hope for greater events of similar nature in the future with continuous support from his partners.