Volunteering in Belo, Cameroon

There are various posts, websites and blogs concerning the opportunities for volunteering in and around the north west region of Cameroon. This little website blog sets out some of the facts for people interested by someone who spent a year in the area.

BERUDEP - Belo Rural Development Project
http://www.berudep.org/
http://sponsor-an-orphan.blogspot.com/
This organisation has been operating in Belo with volunteers for over 10 years. It has a well developed orphan sponsorship project and the opportunity for unstructured involvement with various other project including honey production and sales, and education with widows.
Berudep has a handful of local staff, mostly paid for via donations and grants. There is a main office in Belo and two further small offices in Fundong and Jinikom.

RUDEC - Rural Development
http://www.rudec.org/
A one man band operating out of a small office just outside Belo. With no volunteer fees Rudec attracts quite a number of people but is very limited in resources and so be prepared to have to find your own way.

GMM - Goodness and Mercy Missions
http://www.gmmafrica.org/
A small church based group that really tries hard to help those in greatest need. To be effective you will need to have fundraised some money before arriving and be prepared for no structured support. Still an organisation with its heart in the right place. Unfortuntaly there site and name has been misused in the past by people not associated with GMM so be careful to be communicated directly with Teh Francis.

AFRICAN ROOTS - danger, this organisation should not be used
http://african-roots.byethost24.com/
This organisation was set up by Godwin who was asked to leave Berudep for poor conduct with volunteers, including stealing of money. This organisation does not exist in practice and appears to be an attempt by Godwin to act as the middle man between real organisations in the area and volunteers. You will not find a past volunteer able to vouch for this new attempt to steal money from well meaning westerners.

Blogs for Further Reading and Information

Reinoud Vaandrager | Rudec volunteer 2010 | http://sites.google.com/a/travelr.org/travelr/
Richard Wesley | Berudep volunteer 2009 | http://richardwesley.blogspot.com/