The school Etoug Ebe is located in an area that hosts people who were displaced by the crisis that hit the Anglophone regions of Cameroon. Linda* is originally from the northwest of Cameroon and teaches in the school supported by JRS in Yaoundé. Here, she tries to provide the children with the necessary tools to live peacefully in society. “I believe that education is a great investment in a person’s life. It enables people to solve problems that arise in society with peaceful solutions.” 

Access to education in Cameroon is not easy for children. Especially for those who experienced displacement. “The conflict situation in Cameroon means that children come with a lot of psychological and social difficulties. A mind that is not free cannot learn,” Linda comments.  

Cameroon is a bilingual country, and one of the small challenges Linda faces is trying to encourage English-speaking children to study with French-speaking children. “It is not easy, but we try to get the two communities to work together, especially in primary school.” 

“Every morning we organise sessions where we try to make children understand the importance of living in peace. They learn to ask for forgiveness, to be close to each other, and to help their classmates in difficulty,” these initiatives go hand in hand with psychological support activities, “we are always on the lookout if we detect any conflict, even when they are playing. We try to understand what the problem is, we talk to them, we support them.” 

Although the children come from different backgrounds with different challenges, Linda, together with the other teachers, tries to make the school a common ground where these challenges can be solved. 

*name of fantasy to protect the identity of the person.