3/After two years, what follow-up will be given to your work?
Our production, and that of the small producers in the village and in the region of Bafia, has allowed us to build up a good stock of Artemisia. We have stepped up awareness raising at markets and in places of worship for tastings and sales in order to continue to promote the herbal tea. This is a source of income for the diocese which can then reinvest in other development projects.
In total, we have trained a dozen groups, totalling about a hundred people.
We have overseen numerous improvements including painting, installation of a generator, creation of a toilet block.
The new bishop, Ms Emmanuel, has appointed Father Raoul to head the project of an agro-ecological farm in Lablé. As vicar in Lablé, he will supervise the training centre and develop a livestock project. This project will focus initially on small-scale introduction of poultry (geese, chickens, ducks, …) and rabbits, followed by sheep, goats, etc… The goal is to ultimately provide fairly comprehensive training on agro-ecology.
A couple of volunteers from FIDESCO will take over from us. They will be helped by Giselle, a new recruit for the reception and administration. Contacts have been made with the Songhai agro-ecological centre in Benin to learn from their experience in Africa.
4/ What are your best memories?
- Daily life with the people we lived and worked with. They helped us to immerse ourselves in the atmosphere of the bush village.
- Finally, after many attempts, bringing together the Houses of Artemisia from all over the country into a national grouping (Douala, Yaoundé, Dschang, Mbouda, Bertoua, etc…).
- The production of a short film about the Lablé centre which shows the road traveled.
5/ Which financial organisations have supported your work?
Mostly La Maison de l’Artemisia head office but also the Rotary Club of Milly-la-Forêt (France) which organised a dedicated donation campaign for our project.