The Story of Celestine

As I mentioned, I am here working with CEFASE --  a women’s organization dedicated to improving the living conditions of the underprivileged in Cameroon.  CEFASE focuses on capacity building and sustainable community development in four key areas:  agriculture, violence prevention, vocational training and health education. 

CEFASE is the creation of one dedicated woman, Celestine Youonzo.  You may have read some of my depictions of Celestine, who is certainly an interesting character.  But she is also a fiercely passionate, committed and empathetic woman.  Like Augustine, she has donated much of her personal finances, countless hours of her time, and the entirety of her heart to her cause. 

Today I want to tell you her story.  While not as dramatic as Augustine, I still believe it is worth sharing.  Extraordinary circumstances are not required for extraordinary compassion.

Celestine grew up in a rural village in the West Region of Cameroon.  She is the first-born of six:  three boys and three girls.  Celestine recently turned 42 and her youngest sister, who still lives at home in the village, is just 16.  As you may have noticed, Celestine is the “mother hen” of the group – taking in and providing for a rotating cadre of family members.

Although now a devout Catholic, Celestine was raised in a traditional religion.  Her family would leave sacrifices out for the gods at the base of a tree – money, slaughtered goats and hens, etc.  Celestine laughs now and says she understand it was not the gods, but the ants that would eat the sacrifices.  My particular favorite of her village traditions:  10 years after your family members die you dig up their corpse and place the skull in a special room for worship. 

First…can you imagine digging up a 10 year old skeleton?!  Second, just think of how terrifying that room must be – human skulls of all your ancestors?!  Celestine began having premonitions that someone in the village wanted to sacrifice HER to the gods.  Conveniently, it was about this time that she found a Bible and made the conversion to Christianity.

Celestine’s commitment to helping the underprivileged began at an early age.  While still in primary school, Celestine met two disabled classmates.  Although both faced discrimination, one was from a modest family who could afford a wheelchair.  The second could not.  He was forced to rely on someone to carry him to and from school every day and would crawl in between classes.  Often times no one was available to carry him, and as a result he was unable to finish his primary degree. 

Celestine graduated secondary school and was fortunate enough to attend university in Yaoundé. Behind the bakery where she worked during the holidays was a very poor family.  The children would come and beg for bread – no matter how old it was.  Their bellies were swollen from malnutrition; even with the handouts she snuck them these children were starving.  These inequalities nagged at Celestine, and developed in her a sense of social responsibility.  It was then that she realized she wanted to do something to help.

Following her graduation, Celestine completed a secretary training class on computers and got a job in an internet café.  She says she spent most of her time there helping African women set up dating profiles to attract white husbands.  However,  at the café, she met a French man who recognized her passion and commitment and offered to make connections for her in France to help her get her own organization started.  Personally, I think he liked her…but she was appalled at even the suggestion!

Celestine began talking to women in church and around her neighborhood.  As I mentioned, an outward-facing philanthropic organization is a novel concept to the people of Cameroon where the majority of organizations focus on exclusively helping the members.  The response was lukewarm at best; most told her she was crazy.  However, Celestine remained committed and was able to recruit ten members.  Together they wrote a constitution and mission statement and CEFASE was born.

Shortly after, Celestine was accepted into the school of social welfare in Cameroon.  What she learned there helped her organize and move the mission of CEFASE forward.  In October 2003, they received authorization from Cameroon to begin work as a non-profit, but Celestine was still working and in school so activities were limited.

After graduation Celestine went to get experience in the field -- working in an orphanage and an organization that worked in community development on education and children’s rights.  It was the practical skills she learned here that helped her advance and focus her work.

CEFASE activities began in earnest in 2008.  At that time, there still remained ten members, but numbers began to dwindle as people were unable to unwilling to the make the financial sacrifices or time commitment for the organization. In 2010, Celestine decided to commit herself full-time to CEFASE, leaving her job as a social worker.  She receives no compensation for her work, and in fact finances much of the activities out of her own personal pocket.

Today, there remain five invested members of CEFASE and they conduct on average about 6-10 community development projects per year, depending on available funds.  Projects vary from teaching modern composting techniques to farmers so they can rise above subsistence; targeting pervasive domestic violence in rural villages by teaching women’s rights, holding mediation session and establishing vigilant committed to encourage reporting; working to break the larger cycle of violence by teaching peaceful conflict resolution to parents and teachers; and offering vocation trainings such as sewing and hairdressing to widows and orphans.

I have grown to recognize that people like Celestine and Augustine are the backbone of their countries and the hope for the future.  In places victimized by generations of exploitation, crippled by educational and infrastructure limitations and victimized by countless wars and despots, these people remain hopeful.  They believe in building up their communities form the ground-up and in the idea that everyone needs to do their part for a better future.  It is people like these that inspire me; that remind me that although politics and humanitarian work can often be flawed, there is at its root…hope.