GEOAID REPORT ON TRAINING OF LOMIE WOMEN ON THE PRODUCTION OF A DETERGENT (OMO) AND ‘GARRI’ AS PART OF INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY ACTIVITIES.

As part of activities marking the 25th session of the International Women’s day on March 8th, GeoAid- Cameroon decided to work in line with the Cameroon government which usually marks the week with economic, political and social events for women. GeoAid on its part decided to train the Lomie women on the production of a detergent (omo) and subsidiary meal (garri). The woman is considered well placed to undergo this training as she is the backbone of the African family. Though very important and used on a daily basis in each household, most families in this rural area are not able to afford for such a basic commodity. Moving with GeoAid’s ideals to ameliorate the living standards of people in that community, GeoAid came up with this training workshop. Details of the activities will be highlighted in the paragraphs below.

After conceiving the plan of the training, writing down the project and schedu

ling the date of the training for the 5th and 6th of March 2010, Helena and Georgette rallied the rest of the GeoAid staff to work hand in hand to ensure the success of the program. Pre-training activities consisted of writing down the budget of the training, purchase and assembling the training materials, preparation of training sites, logistics, invitation of women groups etc. Particular attention was given to this phase which was determinant to the success or failure of the workshop.

Participants: On the 5th and 6th of March at exactly 8:30 a.m. women from different villages and of different female associations started streaming into the yard of the GeoAid residence in Lomie which was the training site. Participation was open to 100 women .At the end of the day we had a total of 172 women from 9 different villages in and around Lomie.. About 20% of these women were Bakas (pygmies) who all came out to be part of the occasion. The participants came from all works of life; amongst them was the Mayor of Lomie’s wife, and the deputy Mayor of Lomie Mme Sorelle Mamoho who is the president of all the female associations in the Lomie region, the wives of traditional rulers and women of all social and religious backgrounds.

The excitement of the participants towards this training program could be noticed even as th

ey got into the yard of the GeoAid residence. Most of them came in groups singing. They brought pens and pieces of papers to write down the theoretical phase of the training but fortunately for them, we had prepared brochures which carried the recipe and method of preparation of the soap and foodstuff. All what the participants had to do was to listen attentively and pay keen attention to all the practical procedures involved in the training.

Training Program and activities: According to the program set for the day, first on the menu was the training on the production of a detergent locally called (omo). The trainer here was Georgette Che assisted by Helena Nsamenka. The trainer took time to give the names and the function of each material needed to produce the detergent. She also gave the exact quantity of material to be used and the dos and don’ts to be considered in the omo production. After the explanatory phase, she gave room for questions from the participants before getting into the practical phase. The participants wanted to find out where to purchase the material for the production of the soap, how much the material cost. As answer to these questions we told them that the products can be gotten from hardware shops at cheap prices and that the trainer can help them get these products for those who are interested in starting of micro enterprises in ‘omo’ production 

Georgette and Helena explaining the estimates of omo

The practical phase of the training which came immediately after the explanatory phase was made very participatory. Trainees were called up to participate in each phase of the soap production which involved the estimate of caustic soda needed for a certain quantity of water. Some volunteers were invited to stir the solution.  Among these volunteers were two Baka girls who accepted to stir the caustic soda and water solution. The solution was allowed to settle while we moved on to the next training phase which was the production of ‘garri’.

The training on garri production also drew the attention of the participants, because it is considered a delicacy in that area but unfortunately most of the women do not know how to produce ‘garri’. Helena facilitated this training session and a young lady Therese Octavie, one of indigenes of that area interpreted the process of garri production in their vernacular.  The relevance of the training on ‘garri’ production draws from the fact that its raw materials are locally produced (cassava and palm oil).

Helena brought a sample of cassava and used it to explain to the participants the processes involved. The production process included peeling the cassava, washing and grating it, tying it up in a bag for at least one day to make it a bit dry. Next, a bit of oil is added to the grated cassava and made to get dry by hot fire. The trainer also explained that among the subsidiary cassava meals known in that area like couscous de manioc and baton de manioc (which involves soaking up the cassava tuber for about five days till fermentation before drying and cooking), garri stands as the richest in nutritional value because the carbohydrate in the cassava is not all lost and the palm oil added into it makes it richer as it contains Vitamin A.

After the theoretical stage, the trainer moved to the practical phase. In this phase a typical African fireside was set up. This involved putting three stones in a triangular form with firewood in between the spaces. What was most interesting in this phase was the desire from each participant to see how the much appreciated garri was produced. After frying the first set of grated cassava, participants volunteered to continue with the frying while others keenly watched. The participants also seized the opportunity to ask questions concerning the process, and simple explanations were given.                                                                Garri preparation by Helena

It is worth noting that each phase was interspaced with Hygiene lessons and singing. The women Associations came with their animator who tuned nice melodious songs which revived the participants. They also seized that moment to give announce

ments and also learn basic ideas on how ‘omo’ could be well used to ameliorate their hygienic conditions. It was all fun, laughter, smiles among the participants as each moment that passed by was very educative. There was such a feeling of love and unity among the women and such a warm atmosphere could even be seen during lunch as they all came in turns to share a plate of food and a bottle of drink offered to them by GeoAid.

Helena and Georgette facilitating reception

The first training day came to a close with the second practical phase of soap production. This phase involved mixing up the Caustic Soda and water solution with carbonate and palm kernel oil. This phase was also participatory as the trainer guided the trainees to do the mixing. It was all fun as four women sat with bowls mixing the solution under the watchful eyes of other participants. The training session for the first day ended at 4 pm.

On the 6th of March which was the second and last day for the training, the women all gathered at the training site to see the final products. The detergent had hardened and was now to be crushed. While the crushing was going on, another group of women filled the ‘omo’ in plastic bags for the participants. The ‘garri’ which was fried the previous day was also put in sachets for the participants. These women where also taught how to produce ‘fufu’ from ‘garri’ (‘garri’ paste eaten with soup). This was an interesting discovery for them as they knew of only one way of consuming ‘garri’. On this day, tee shirts where also distributed to the participants carrying the Geovic /GeoAid logo and the message ‘women, dignity and decision taking, are the conditions which lead to the effectiveness of our actions’. This message was derived from the theme of the International women’s day in Cameroon. Photographs of the event were taken and the participants expressed so much gratitude to GeoAid for such a great initiative.

    Crushing of omo by participants                                                         Omo packaged for distribution

As suggested by the President of the women Associations, the soap and garri produced during that training session had to be officially given to the participants on March 8th. The reason was to cause more women to be involved and interested in joint activities and also a means of telling the entire population of Lomie about what GeoAid is doing in their community. On March 8th, Helena and Georgette joined the Lomie women in their march pass. Our presence in their midst was a great delight both to the people of Lomie and to us.

Difficulties encountered: There was no major difficulty. The GeoAid staff worked together to ensure the success of the program. However the little difficulty we had was having enough chairs for the participants because they turn out was far more than we expected. At the end of the day, we all sorted that out and they had seats. Another problem we encountered was an accident, a chemical product (caustic soda) got into Georgette’s eyes as she was training the women how to produce omo. She was rushed to the hospital and her recovery has been speedy.

Recommendations:  These recommendations are derived from the plea of the participants. They asked that given the importance of omo, to the woman who is there to ensure the success of the family, such trainings should not only be limited to Lomie but that GeoAid should ensure that the Messok and Ngoyla women should also be trained. 

Conclusion: This training workshop ended on a good note. The participants showed great interest in the training. Though these ladies had given GeoAid a letter for financial and material assistance, we substituted that for the training.  At the end of the program some of the ladies confessed that what we gave them was more than what they requested. They said they will not only make money out of the knowledge we have imparted in them but that their health will be ameliorated through their feeding and hygienic conditions.

Helena and the Trained Bakas 

Report by Helena NSOSUNGNINE  with contributions from Georgette CHE.

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