SOS Children's Villages' activities in the country
The Republic of Cameroon, situated in the Gulf of Guinea in the Western part of Central Africa, has with its 140 different ethnic groups an enormous cultural variety. The main settlement areas of the approximately 16 million inhabitants are the big cities in the South of the country, where SOS Children's Villages first noticed the big demand for child care facilities.
Four years after the initial negotiations about the collaboration between SOS-Kinderdorf International and the government of Cameroon in 1986, a relevant agreement was signed. The first concrete step to be taken was the opening in 1995 of an SOS Kindergarten in rented facilities in Mbalmayo, next to the capital Yaounde.
Two years later, in response to the high rate of illiteracy, an SOS Hermann Gmeiner Primary School, situated on the property of the SOS Children's Village that was already under construction, opened its doors to children from the neighbourhood. In 1998, the first children moved into the newly built SOS Children's Village Mbalmayo near the capital of Yaoundé.The SOS Medical Centre attached to the SOS Children's Village provides the population with general medical care as well as preventative health counselling.
Starting in 2004 SOS Children's Villages Cameroon in collaboration with other NGOs took various steps to assist the needy population, especially persons affected by HIV/Aids, e.g. assistance with foodstuff, medical drugs, and school fees, creation of self-help projects.
At present there is in Cameroon one SOS Children's Village, one SOS Kindergarten, one SOS Hermann Gmeiner School, one SOS Medical Centre and one SOS Social Centre.