Organizational Background
The Teen Educare Global Association with acronym TEGA is a non-governmental and apolitical Association, founded by Mr. NEBA WANKI TORNIBOH in strict compliance with the 1990 Law on Freedom of Association, regulating the establishment and functioning of associations in the Republic of Cameroon. TEGA aims at enabling access to education in conflicted infested communities, conflict affected persons and vulnerable groups such as persons living with disabilities. It aims at engaging Cameroonian Communities across all continents especially America to contribute meaningfully in revamping the education section in villages in hotspots. The early warning signals of conflict across various regions of Cameroon and the ongoing Anglophone and Boko Haram Crisis, greatly inspired the Conception and Creation of TEGA.
The Anglophone Crisis plaguing the North-West and South-West regions of Cameroon for over six (06) years, registered over 700,000 student dropouts. Schools were being forced to shut their doors with attacks on teachers, burning down of schools, homicides, kidnappings, and harassment of students and instructors, creating a pool of vulnerable youngsters.
Since the start of the crisis in 2016, thousands of Civilians from the English-Speaking regions (North-West and South-West Regions), have been relocated to other parts of the nation. The lives of these internally displaced persons, have become miserable and stricken by abject poverty, lamenting in unemployment and registering an increase in juvenile delinquency, youth radicalization and criminality.
Again, the Boko Haram Crisis in the Northern Regions of Cameroon, have had a tragic effect on education in Cameroon’s Far North. As per UNICEF reports, in December 2014, over 120 schools were compelled to close in 10 districts of the Far North for the 2014–2015 academic year after utilizing a purposive sampling methodology to target 110 schools and 93 households in conflict-affected and host communities in the area. Due to school closures in the impacted areas, 33,163
youngsters (43% girls) were compelled to leave their classrooms in order to attend school outside of their home villages.
The aforementioned circumstance are primary factors guiding the vision of Teen Educare Global Association, to build resilient communities where the right to education respected and access to education becomes a priority as a measure to deter youths from recruitment into armed groups, and a means to promote civic education across the nation.