#cameroon

[folkfashion]

Masa woman, Cameroon, by Visualtribes

[thevampirearchive]

‼️Please help me and my family raise money to help our village in Cameroon after a huge natural disaster left many without shelter, medical help, injured and with few ways of leaving. If you’re not able to donate please consider spreading awareness, thank you ‼️

https://gofund.me/eb9ec785

[inatungulates]

African forest buffalo Syncerus nanus nanus

Observed by alexanderpraedel, CC BY-NC

[itswadestore]

Marcel Griaule, Cameroun, 1932

[queerafricans]

The daughter of Cameroon's president has said she hopes that her coming out as a lesbian can help change the law banning same-sex relations in her country.

President's daughter hopes coming out will change anti-gay laws

[fairuzfan]

[miku-earth]

Cameroonian Miku has entered the chat🫶🏾 by LeybutLego

[feloire]

[allwomenjointhe4bmovement]

[plaaymate]

[ana-bananya]

Mutual Aim: All Safe Hands on Deck

Current progress: $20,655/$220,000

This is a link to Mutual Aim's newst campaign: All Safe Hands on Deck. A while ago, gfm shut down the fundraiser they hosted there and withheld the $39,000 they had raised for Sudan, Tigray, and the DRC (you may recall their previous campaign from this post). They've set up a new one on Zeffy to help fund their mutual aid projects, including:

1. Supporting other grassroots organizations who work closely with the people of: Congo, Amhara, Cameroon, Sudan, Tigray, and Haiti

2. The first installment of Mutual Aim's village in Chad.

3. Starting and supporting small businesses in Chad for locals and displaced people.

4. Creating and supporting the small businesses for the women and men of Congo in the displacement camps.

5.Breakfast for 400 displaced Congolese children for the period of one month.

6. Building temporary homes and supplying other basic needs for the people of Congo in the displacement camps, to protect them during the incoming rainy season.

7. Local mutual aid requests here in the global West.

8. Administrative fees for the organization to run programs efficiently.

Additional resources can be found in Shaky's (the founder of Mutual Aim) linktree

[folkfashion]

Bamum woman and man, Lydol and Fadil le sorcier, Cameroon

[dream-world-universe]

Yaoundé, Cameroon: Yaoundé is the capital of Cameroon and, with a population of more than 2.8 million, the second-largest city in the country after the port city Douala. It lies in the Centre Region of the nation at an elevation of about 750 metres above sea level. The outpost of Epsumb or Jeundo was founded between the Nyong and Sanaga rivers at the northern edge of the area's forests in 1887 by German explorers as a trading base for rubber and ivory. Yaoundé was chosen to become the capital of the colony in 1922. Wikipedia

[stamp-it-to-me]

two 1967 Cameroon stamps from a series on fruits

[ID: two postage stamps with illustrations of fruit. the left depicts two mangoes, one of which has been cut in half. the skin of the mangoes is golden, as is the flesh. the pit in the middle is white. this stamp has been labelled "mangue / mangifera indica". the face value of this stamp is 6 Central African CFA franc. the right stamp depicts a bunch of ripe bananas, one of which has been peeled open. this stamp has been labelled "banane / musa acuminata". the face value of this stamp is 30 Central African CFA franc. end ID]

[omgthatdress]

[reasonsforhope]

"When Ghana’s parliament voted to decriminalise suicide and attempted suicide in March, Prof Joseph Osafo felt a weight lift from his shoulders.

Osafo, head of psychology at the University of Ghana, had been engaged in a near 20-year battle to abolish the law – brought in by the British – which stated that anyone who attempts suicide should face imprisonment or a fine.

“It was a very good feeling. I felt like a certain burden had been removed. I was extremely elated,” he remembers. “Then the next morning, I realised we had a lot of work to do.”

Four countries decriminalised suicide in just the past year

Ghana is one of four countries to have decriminalised suicide in the past year – Malaysia, Guyana and Pakistan are the others. More could soon follow, which campaigners say is a sign of greater awareness and understanding of mental health. Kenya and Uganda have filed petitions to overturn laws and members of the UN group of Small Island Developing States have committed to decriminalise. Discussions are also being held in Nigeria and Bangladesh.

“There seems to be a domino effect taking place,” says Muhammad Ali Hasnain, a barrister from United for Global Mental Health, a group calling for decriminalisation. “As one country decriminalises suicide, others start to follow suit.”

“It is quite unusual,” adds Sarah Kline, the organisation’s chief executive. “It’s a huge sign of progress and an important step forward for the populations most at risk, as well as the countries as a whole.” ...

A large number of laws were introduced by the British during colonial rule. Suicide was decriminalised in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in the 1960s – it was never criminalised in Scotland...

The results of these punishments can be “devastating” and present “a huge barrier” to addressing the problem, says Natalie Drew, a technical officer with the mental health policy and service development team at the World Health Organization. Health experts and advocates argue that suicide should be treated as a public health issue rather than a crime.

Criminalising suicide denies people the right to access health services and discriminates against them because of something they’re experiencing, Drew adds. Research shows that in countries where suicide has been decriminalised, people can seek help for mental health and rates tend to then decline.

Next Steps

In September, the WHO is due to release a guide on decriminalising suicide for policymakers, with explanations of how countries have managed it...

“[Ghana’s decision] should have an impact on the work ongoing in other countries, especially in the Africa region,” says Osafo. Within the past couple of months, he has set up a mental health working group with representatives from about 20 African countries, and one of the biggest issues on the agenda is decriminalisation of suicide, he says. “Nigeria is active, Cameroon is active … Kenya has joined and is doing fantastic work. We have Uganda. People have been asking us how we did it.”

Since suicide was decriminalised in Malaysia last month, Anita Abu Bakar, founder and president of the Mental Illness Awareness and Support Association (Miasa), has already seen things change. Crisis response teams and helplines are expanding, and money from the mental health budget is being given to organisations who work in the community. “This is the shift we’re so happy to see,” she says. “It was such an archaic law.”

She adds: “I’m a person with lived experience. What does decriminalisation mean to people like me? We feel supported, we feel this conversation can go to a different level. Obviously decriminalisation is not the only way to prevent suicide, but it’s a big one. I’m happy for this progressive move – better late than never. I’m excited to see what happens next, not just for Malaysia but for the rest of us.”"

-via The Guardian, July 20, 2023