Over a thousand Mborroro women are expected to have had mastery on computer sciences before the lapse of the year 2008/2009 in Bamenda, North West Province of Cameroon. This was revealed during a press meeting of the Mborroro Social and Cultural Development Association (MBOSCUDA).
An estimated one hundred descend the heights of the hills leaving behind their cattle, their daily job of milking cows and looking after children to embrace the new opportunities offered by globalization and face their challenges. The effort by these women to abandon their cattle herding way of life to integrate with the demands of modern life has been facilitated by MBOSCUDA.
These Mborroro women have moved from the hills where they usually milked cows and sell the milk obtained, they have descended the slopes where they were usually exposed to threats of seasonal shifting cultivation, over-grazing by livestock, poor medical facilities, the harsh and dry cold air of the dry season mornings and the movement from one place to the other for the search of greener pasture for their cattle. And are now embracing the demands of the computer age.
Computer training classes have been organized for free under the supervision and provision of MBOSCUDA. Some of these women have had to go through English language courses so as to easily adapt with the lectures. The computer training classes is to effectively train Mborroro women to master the keyboard, work on software programmes like MS WORD, EXCEL, NOTEPAD PUBLISHER PRINT ARTIST AND MICROSOFT POWERPOINT and hardware maintenance, networking and mobile phone repairs. This opportunity has been provided to these women as they are marginalized and looked upon as illiterates but tomorrow they would all be secretaries of various governmental and non-governmental organizations.
According to a Mborroro trainee, Maimouna Ayisatou, it has really been a challenge having to go through elementary school to study English Language, enrolling and starting off school effectively having to leave her children behind. She is currently the owner of a documentation service office and says ‘’ this has enabled me to discover my real potential and made me have self-conviction. The programme did not only open me to the globalize world but has made me discovered my hidden talents as a person and as a woman.’’
On the hills she had never known what a computer is and never dreamt of owning one but today, she can operate and repair computer providing networking services and repairing mobile phones. She is contributing the economic welfare of her home and their standard of living has dramatically improved. She made a call to her friends up the hill to descend and discover the opportunities and wonders of the Information and communication Technology world.
Amah Bertrand
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