Cambridge News, Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Le 14.08.2019, cette organisation humanitaire offrait des produits de première nécessité, des besoins scolaires et une aide financière à l'orphelinat du Bon Samaritain à Babete au Cameroun.

 

Une rentrée scolaire sans stress pour les orphelins du Bon Samaritain à Babete, village cosmopolite de la division Bamboutos, grâce au soutien constant et constant d’une organisation humanitaire, la Fondation Bisong, créée en 2010 avec pour objectif principal de défavorisé une raison de sourire.

 

L'orphelinat du Bon Samaritain, placé sous le monastère Saint-Benoît et créé en 2008 pour accueillir les enfants abandonnés par l'intermédiaire de la directrice, Sylvie Tikun, a félicité le donateur pour ce geste humanitaire qui l'aidera pendant l'année scolaire 2019-2020.

 

La directrice a également promis qu’elle ferait bon usage de ces dons en s’employant sans relâche à faire en sorte que ces enfants à leur charge soient nourris et étudiés de manière à obtenir de bons résultats, comme ce fut le cas lors de la dernière année scolaire. qui est effectivement allé à l'école, 17 ont passé.

 

La déléguée départementale aux affaires sociales pour les Bamboutos, Solange Ngnoupeyou, à cette occasion marquée par une séance spéciale présidée par le révérend père Alain Martial Nguetsop, a remercié la Fondation Bisong pour son soutien inconditionnel, affirmant qu'elle était le véritable acteur du développement participatif.

 

Le président fondateur de la fondation, M. Michael Bisong, accompagné de son épouse, Mme Hortence Manto Bisong et d'autres membres, amis du Cameroun et de l'extérieur, déclarent qu'ils continueront à soutenir les moins privilégiés car personne n'est devenu pauvre en donnant et en invitant les bienfaiteurs à embrasser de tout cœur l’éducation pour un avenir meilleur.

It was another day of varied emotions Thursday, August 16, 2018, for members of the Bisong Foundation when they called again at the Good Samaritan Orphanage in Babete near Mbouda, Bamboutous Division in the West Region of Cameroon like last year to commune with them and share gifts.

There was visible compassion over the plight of the underprivileged and destitute children in the orphanage run by reverend sisters of the St. Benedict Monastery in Babete, and joy over the gifts brought to them to alleviate their plight at the verge of the 2018/2019 academic year.

Like in 2017, Bisong Foundation’s gifts included school fees for all 18 orphans, school needs including books, uniforms, pens, pencils, erasers and rulers, foodstuff, health and hygiene needs and toys. In addition this year, the foundation, registered in the UK as a charity, donated a washing machine and a TV set.

Thanking Bisong Foundation for the donations, the director of the orphanage, Mrs Fomekong Tikun Jeanne Sylvie, said thanks to the foundation’s donation last year and the positive psychological effect it had on the orphans, all the children but one exceptional case, performed extremely well in school and were promoted to the next class.

The donation ceremony, witnessed by the Social Affairs delegate for Bamboutous and the president of the Babete Development Committee, was punctuated with dance and recitation performances by the orphans and kids of the Bisong Foundation.

The ceremony was preceded by a mass said by Rev. Fr. Michel of the local parish and was closed by a football match in which Bisong Foundation defeated a selection of workers of the monastery 2-1.

In other activities this season, Bisong Foundation will on Saturday, August 18, 2018 award trophies, medals and football equipment to winners of the sports tournament organized during the annual get-together of the development association of Bamesso, a village near Mbouda. The foundation’s football team will also play an exhibition football match with a selection of elite of the Bamesso village.

By Franklin Sone Bayen*
*The author is a journalist and communication consultant, and a volunteer with Bisong Foundation

Three teams from the following UK areas: London, Croydon and Cambridge actively participated in a football tournament organised by Bisong Foundation in March 2013. These teams included:

Hackney Lions Football Club
Croydon Football Club
Cambridge African Association Football Club

The tournament started around 11.00 am and ended at 18.30. It was initially decided that the three teams would play each other in the preliminary round since we were unable to come up with two groups. Two teams would then qualify to play the finals.

We had one qualified English Football Association (FA) referee, one qualified FECAFOOT referee from Cameroon during the tournament.

PRELIMINARY ROUND TEAMS RESULTS
 Cambridge V Croydon 1 – 1
 Croydon V Hackney 2 – 0
 Hackney V Cambridge 0 – 1


TABLE: PLACING AFTER REQUIRED TWO MATCHES
 Croydon 4 points
 Cambridge 4 points
 Hackney 0 points


With the conclusion of the first round, the stage was set for the finals. Expectations were high for a thrilling match.

FINALS TEAMS RESULTS  Cambridge V Croydon 1 - 0

The finals kicked off at 17.00 and ended at 18.30. The Cambridge football team won the tournament for the first time from first participation. The high tempo of the game, the creativity of the players and the beautiful goals, made it a truly memorable event and one, which once again showed the Cameroonian talent and passion for the ‘beautiful game’.

At the end of the tournament, a cash prize of 150 pounds was awarded to the winners - Cambridge and 75 pounds to the runners-up - Croydon.

Football trophies were not available, but promises were made to both teams by Mr Michael Bisong Cambridge Community Group Tournament Coordinator that the second edition would be better organised and he hope to get some sponsors. He also promised to invite some legend of African Football to the second edition.

EVALUATION OF THE TOURNAMENT
The tournament was a success because of the exceptional entertainment value, diversity, colour, celebration of talent, opportunities for the community to compete in a spirit of friendship, unity and love – ideals cherished by our leaders and the Olympic Movement.

However, the absence of the following: refreshment for match officials and teams, trophies and medals dampened the excitement and grandeur of the tournament.

The absence of official resources to provide refreshment, led to Mr Michael Bisong - tournament coordinator, taking his personal initiative to keep match officials and teams refreshed.

Overall, the tournament was a huge success.

THANK YOU ALL, LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 2ND EDITION OF THE CAMBRIDGE TOURNAMENT 2014!!!!!!!!!!

Michael Bisong (Cambridge)

The Lord Mayor of the City of Cambridge, Councillor Paul Saunders, was the guest of honour at the second edition of the Football Tournament organised by the Bisong Foundation. The tournament took place on Saturday 10th May 2014 at Whitehill Abbey Pools Cambridge (Coldhams Common)

A truly memorable day for the community as this year’s event featured stars of African football and heroes of the World Cup (Italy 1990) from Cameroon national squad, the Indomitable Lions namely; Cyrille Makanaky, Andre Kana Biyik, Charlie Ntamark alongside former Junior Lions Michael Bisong, Jean Black Ngody, Victor Mafiamba, Boni Ngu as well as a former Premier League player Wayne Butfoy.

Under the theme of integration in diversity, Bisong Foundation chose to leverage the powerful influence of the elite footballers to mobilise the community and promote personal, social and community development. The tournament objectives were to:

• Foster social connections – bringing people together to expand and strengthen social ties and network, creating a sense of belonging.
• Promote good health and behaviours through social inclusion, fair play, fun and excellence at every level, helping to empower people and building self-esteem as one of the teams in the tournament represented young homeless and sufferers of mental illness.
• Communication, education and social mobilisation by engaging with football stars to mobilise the community and promote critical information and messages on malaria prevention and control within the African community and travellers.

The following eight teams took part in the tournament; Cambridge FC, Bafana Bafana (London), Pond Park Rangers (Chesham, Bucks), Holy Moses (Birmingham), Orchard Athletics (Cambs), Croydon FC, One Zero (Depford) and Hopebidge Homeless FC (Cambs).

After the preliminary round the best teams Bafana Banafa and Holy Moses clashed in the finals which Bafana Bafana won by 3 – 0. A gallery match between a selected community team against the World Cup Stars preceded the tournament finals. The Stars beat the community team 1 – 0.

The Lord Mayor of Cambridge commended the organisers for the diversity of participants and the inclusive nature of the tournament, notably with teams from the West Midlands, Buckinghamshire, Croydon, East London, South East London and Cambridge.

Bisong Foundation Chairman, Mr Michael Bisong, a Senior Social Worker noted that "there has always been a moral case for inclusion, but we need to take practical steps to harness the benefits of diversity in the community in order to successfully create and sustain a genuinely inclusive community”.

Over 300 supporters of the participating teams as well as the host community attended the event, which was organised in partnership with African Diaspora for Action Against Malaria (ADAAM). The tournament was supported by the Cambridgeshire FA and covered by the local media.

Mr Samuel Taku a former FECAFOOT referee of Cameroon and currently a qualified FA referee was the main match official of the tournament.

The tournament was generously sponsored by

• Lancaster Toyota Cambridge
• Lovell Lodge Hotel Cambridge
• Mrs Hortence Bisong (Cambridge)
• Mr Shiraz Peer (Senior Advocate Immigration Assist Birmingham/Watford)

The Winners trophy was awarded to the captain of Bafana Bafana Mr Nqobile Nkomo and the Runners – Up trophy was awarded to Mr Willy Gobina.

On Sunday, September 4, 2016 has been an indelible mark in the life of the humanitarian Bisong Foundation. This is because Bisong Foundation has successfully completed its first outing in Cameroon to bring smiles to the faces of the underprivileged. This honour was given to the Children's Home “Hope AGAPE” which is an orphanage founded in 2009 by a Christian couple John Jonas and ADJI in order to help the abandoned and disadvantaged children. This family now has nearly thirty (30) children aged three to twenty years in school.

We were welcomed by the house nurse “Mama Mado” followed by introduction of members. We started the session by singing religious songs to put the spirits of the children in a festive mood. We were then led in prayers by Princess one of the children of the orphanage under the coordination of the Secretary.

The Executive President explained to the host and children the purpose of our visit followed by presentation of gifts.

After presentation of gifts, we continued the session with songs of praises to give thanks to God almighty for giving Bisong Foundation the opportunity to put smiles on the faces of these innocent children. Nothing more than satisfaction could easily be read on their faces as they set their eyes on their beautiful gifts.

At the end, we to ok individual, and group photos and also conducted interviews. The executive President thanked the host and praised the children for their warmed welcome as the visit came to a close with a prayer from the house nurse.

The following gifts were presented to the orphanage;
- Food; rice, spaghetti, milk, biscuits, cooking oil, butter, sugar, hot chocolate.
- Soft drinks
- School supplies; exercise books, notebooks, slates, chalks, erasers, rulers, pens, and pencils.
- Cleaning products; washing liquid and soap.

We left around 18:30 with great satisfaction and confident to have achieved our noble task; in hope and desire to have given a wonderful day and start of a new school year to these children, whilst praying to God to give Bisong Foundation the means to continue providing for the underprivileged.

Bisong Foundation feels that giving to those in need can be turned into powerful lessons that teach compassion, empathy, and meaning to the underprivileged.

Congratulations and long live to Bisong Foundation...

On December 26th 2016, the Bisong Foundation organised a visit to the orphanage “Le Bon Berger”. This orphanage is located at Nkoabong, a neighbourhood of Yaounde, the capital city of Cameroon.

We arrived at 14.00 and we were greeted by all of the cute little children.

The children looked so happy when they saw us. They cheered happily and welcomed us with opened arms. We were all surprised with their respond.

The event started off with a short prayer followed by the opening speech from the Vice President of Bisong Foundation Mr Jean-Philip Ntoukam. The mother of the orphanage Mama Marie welcomed us with her short speech followed by some beautiful songs from the children.

After that, we sang and danced with the children. We also performed two short sketches based on forced marriages and education. We had a lot of fun and the children enjoyed themselves very well. They seemed to have a nice time with us. Lastly, we gave presents that we had brought to the children. We set up a Christmas Tree and gave presents such as:
• Toys
• Rice
• Cooking oil
• Medications
• Washing soap
• Biscuits, chocolate and sweets
• Drinks

Then we took some pictures with the children and had a walk around the orphanage. Mama Marie thanked us for our generosity. She reported to us that it has been very difficult for her to pay the children’s school fees and urged us to visit again.

Soon, it was time to leave. Everyone had a great time and this visit was a huge success. Mama Marie’s words were echoed by one of the children when she said she would like Bisong Foundation to visit the orphanage again. She went on to state that we” rarely get help”.

We hope to visit “Le Bon Berger” and other orphanages in the near future as we aim to improve the lives of the vulnerable children and adults in Cameroon. Bisong Foundation feels that everyone deserves to have a life surrounded by love, to have nutritious food, education, health and safety. But sadly not everyone does. We care for the orphans and the underprivileged in Cameroon. The visit to the orphanage was a fulfilling one.

Bisong Foundation took part at the Papworth Everard Village Fete that took place from 10 June 2017 – 11 June 2017 at the Chequers Lane playing fields in Papworth Everard. The Fete was organised by the Papworth Everard Parish Council.

Our aim to take part in this fete was to raise funds that will help to reduce the impact of poverty on orphans, young people and families we support in Cameroon. We feel that poverty is an issue that we see affecting orphans and families in most of the work we do. We believe it is outrageous that individuals should suffer the consequences of poverty.

Our aim was also to raise awareness of the causes and services of Bisong Foundation.

Funds were raised through BBQ, food and drinks sale. These funds would be used to provide food, clothing and medication to those living in hardship. Funds will also be used to offer scholarships to orphans with the aim of enabling them to acquire education.

We met a lot of generous people and members of other charity organisations. They were highly interested in the work we do and promised to support our work through donations.

Bisong Foundation wish to express its appreciation and gratitude to Bleeker Foundation for offering several computers to support its work of promoting computing education and the delivering of computer skills training in Cameroon. Bisong Foundation aims to provide rigorous academic computing classes to orphans and the underprivileged to help promote their future learning and motivate well-being though technology.

Many thanks to Bleeker Foundation for providing these valuable materials. We also wish to express our gratitude to Dr Samar Reghunadanan and family for offering computers, clothes and toys to support our work.