Mrs. Elizabeth is an internally displaced person from the North West Region of Cameroon, currently living in the capital city, Yaoundé. She moved to Yaoundé for her children to continue their education in a safe environment. She however had no obious source of income or job. She is a single parent of four and has been taking care of her children to the best of her ability ever since her husband abandoned her with the children some years ago. Despite the fact that she struggles on a daily basis to provide them with basic needs like food, proper clothing, and even proper education, she still tries her best to make sure that they get all they need to live a fulfilled life.
Before taking part in this project, she distributed flyers for a living and made no more than 2000 frs a day. Hence she took this project as a way of learning a new skill and use that to get better financial support for herself. She said she had desired to learn manicure/pedicure but she couldn’t afford the training fee so when she heard of this project, she had to seize the opportunity.
She encountered a lot of challenges while undergoing her training during the project. One was that since she didn’t go out to distributing flyers often as she usually did, she earned less money per day than she usually does. This made it even harder for her to take care of her children’s needs during the training period. Also, it wasn’t easy for her to take care of her children while she was attending the program, given that she is a single parent and all responsibilities are on her. Despite all of that, she didn’t miss a day of training, and even though she wasn’t always the best, she showed progress and determination in her work. This made her win a two months internship program where she continued learning to a more professional level.
The internship ended on the 5th of September 2021 and she was awarded some machines and other things which she will use to start her own business in manicure/pedicure. She said, “Today, a day cannot pass without me generating at least a thousand FCFA in my pocket”. She has opened a small business of her own which she started even before the end of her training. Before opening her own business, she worked for her trainer, who testified that she could work up to 10,000 FRS a day thanks to her good work. Now she can provide better for herself and her family.
Please, visit this link for the first part of this Community Action Project