School Support Project 2025/2026

With the support of our donors, 62 orphans, internally displaced and other disadvantaged children received school books, materials, uniforms and fees for the school year 2025/2026.

Although school attendance is compulsory in Cameroon, many children in the west of the country cannot go to school because their families lack the means. The Cameroonian organisation „Concerned Minds for Habitation Securities“ (COMIHAS) therefore launched a programme in 2014 to enable children in Limbe, Buea and Tiko to attend school. Even then, around 20% of all children in the region did not attend primary school because their families could not afford school fees, books or uniforms – girls and orphans in particular were excluded. Since 2016, the political crisis in the region has displaced countless people and made the situation of many children even worse.

Good news first: In 2024, school fees at public schools in the region were abolished in practice (officially they had been abolished by law more than 20 years ago). Instead, there is a smaller levy collected by the Parent-Teacher Associations (PTA). But even without school fees, children’s success at school still depends on access to school books, materials and uniforms.

We therefore collected for:
• school books (€35 per child)
• school materials, exercise books etc. (€26)
• school uniform (€12.50)
• PTA levy (€4.50)
• betterplace and money transfer fees (€2)
With €80, all necessary support for one child can be covered for a whole school year.

For the school year 2025/2026, the three communities identified 420 children whose school attendance was at risk without additional financial support. Our goal was to support at least 50 of them. Thanks to our donors and remaining funds from the previous year, we were able to support 62 girls and boys!

Because of the presidential election in October 2025, COMIHAS decided in close consultation with the three head teachers to distribute the school items only after the election, so that the campaign could not be interpreted as an attempt to influence voters and to protect the volunteers and teachers. Afterwards, all 62 children received their school books, materials and uniforms. All supported children successfully completed the school year!

The children were selected in close consultation with the schools. The project manager at COMIHAS is Mr Etandow Randolf Agbornkwai, who has supervised the school campaigns since 2014. Vivantes Humanitas e.V. (represented by Karin Beese) is responsible for presenting the project in Germany and for transferring the donations to COMIHAS. As always, we keep you informed of all developments via https://www.facebook.com/comihas.de.

Please also visit our Fundraising Page for more information (in German).