The Global Think-Tank for Africa provides more support to pupils in Mamfe ⁰

The Global Think-Tank for Africa, a not-for-profit organization, on Wednesday, December 8, 2021, disbursed additional more financial resources to support more pupils in schools around Mamfe and its environs. 

The supplies, which are expected to enable these pupils have access to much-needed education, are part of the promise the Executive Director of the Global Think-Tank for Africa, Dr. Joachim Arrey, had made during an interview wherein he was calling on the Diaspora to help get many children in the English-speaking parts of the country back to school.

The Global Think Tank’s executive director had promised emergency aid to schools in Mamfe town and the very first disbursement was made on November 17, 2021, and the second disbursement has been delivered on December 8, 2021.  To ensure the assistance offered by the not-for-profit organization reaches those who desperately need it, the Global Think Tank for Africa has already established partnerships with schools and educational authorities in Mamfe and the organization’s executive director has stated clearly that the education of the children in the English-speaking parts of Cameroon is a top priority for his organization, adding that such assistance is necessary to help the girl child obtain the education that will enable her to face the future with dignity and confidence. 

“I am in touch with some educational authorities in Mamfe, and my organization, the Global Think Tank for Africa, will be offering books and other supplies worth CFAF 500,000 over the next three months to students in various schools in Mamfe town. My organization will also be granting scholarships to young girls in Manyu Division to enable them get an education. The modalities for the scholarships will be released in the days ahead. We need to do things differently if the future has to be bright for many of our children. It is education that opened many huge doors for me and I want other children to enjoy the fruits of a sound education,” he said.

Dr. Joachim Arrey had also called on the fighters and government officials to make things easy for children who want to return to school in the rural areas. These pupils have not been to school for five years and this is compromising their future and that of the country. 

“The government like the fighters have to take a look at their strategies to ensure that those children do not get left in the darkness of ignorance because of a conflict they know nothing about. Our children’s education should be decoupled from the struggle to enable our children return to school. Keeping these children at home for a long time only robs them of their future and confidence. I am also urging people of good will to send as much material support as possible to those community schools which are seeking to impart some knowledge to our children. Those schools are not properly equipped to deal with many educational challenges. They need financial support to help the students. Any assistance in this regard will be appreciated,” he said.

Speaking during the December 8 event, the Inspector of Basic Education for Mamfe Central, Mr. Harman Taku Arreyngang, thanked Dr. Joachim Arrey,  and his organization for the didactic materials provided to internally displaced children of some schools in Mamfe. He used the occasion to urge other members of the Diaspora to emulate the example of the Global Think-Tank for Africa which has vowed to support educational activities in the English-speaking parts of the country as such activities would enable internally displaced children to have an education. 

“I wish to thank Dr. Joachim Arrey, the Executive Director of the Global Think-Tank for Africa, for his gifts of didactic materials to IDPs of some of the schools in Mamfe. I would like to use this opportunity to call on the Diaspora to emulate this action aimed at encouraging children to go to school amid the socio-political problems in the country’s Northwest and Southwest regions,” Mr. Harman Taku Arreyngang, the Inspector of Basic Education for Mamfe Central, who is committed to working with the Global Think-Tank for Africa to grant these children the opportunity to go school, said.

Also speaking over the phone regarding Wednesday’s event, Dr. Joachim Arrey said he was very happy to see those children holding their books. He promised more educational assistance to the IDPs in January 2022, adding that his organization would not relent until more pupils got the education they needed. 

“The objective of my organization is to create possibilities for less privileged children to go to school. Without a sound education, the future of our children will be compromised. More assistance will be provided in January. I am also using this opportunity to inform any sons and daughters of Manyu Division who are studying information technology and engineering in Cameroonian universities to contact the Global Think Tank for Africa for a scholarship. The scholarship is in the name of my late father, Mr. Michael Arrey, who underscored the importance of education throughout his life. He loved education and he always told me it was a sure key to a bright future, and he has never been wrong,” Dr. Joachim Arrey said. 

By Peter Agbor Nkongho in Mamfe.