Real Life Stories: People Trafficking in Cameroon (WOGED)
Beatrice Titanji is an empath, a women’s rights activist, and an entrepreneur at heart. She is the author of Curbing the Tide of Human Trafficking and Slavery and she founded the Women’s Guild for Empowerment and Development (WOGED) in Cameroon, which is a nonprofit that empowers girls and women with vocational and entrepreneurial skills to reduce their vulnerabilities to human trafficking. This blog post was written by Liluye staff writer, Sylvia Nalubega, who also writes a blog, Sanyu Centre for Arts and Rights. Sylvia’s personal message to everyone is, “We live beyond ourselves by sharing our story to hopefully impact a person.”
Watch Beatrice’s short, inspirational video about her organization’s mission and goals:
This is the Liluye interview of Beatrice:
How did you first get involved in being part of this work? In other words, what motivated you, or still drives you, to work on the issue of trafficking? Can you share a personal story?
As a child growing up in Cameroon, my parents were very empathetic people. They used to feed people that passed by our house, whether they knew them or not and this positively impacted me. As a young adult who got married very early, I was exposed to a women’s group called Nkumu Fedfed that would help the vulnerable in our area. Mostly, these were young girls who were taken to the city and then forced to do labor that earned them almost nothing. So as part of this group, I brought in my empathetic upbringing skills. We identified those girls and would always equip them with some skills so they could become responsible and have sustainable livelihoods in their communities. Through that group, we brought in so many girls and boys who became independent human beings in the community. Unfortunately, in 2016 the group had to reduce operations because of the internal crisis in Cameroon that greatly hampered our work.
Having been identified as a passionate and empathetic person to the needs of vulnerable people, I was invited by Vital Voices in 2014 (in the United States) to see what is actually happening in the trafficking world. I saw for the first time women who told us stories of how and why they had become sex workers and this shocked me. Before then I used to look at sex workers as very bad people, girls or women, and couldn’t understand why someone would decide to sell their body. It was after my visit and interaction that I got a completely different perspective about sex workers. I have made friends with some of these women whom I work with today because their stories stem from human trafficking.
After my first visit to the United States, I decided that I would do something to inform my community and society back home about human trafficking. I then started writing my book on human trafficking. Moreover, as a teacher, I would educate my students about human trafficking and let them act out some of the stories.
In 2015, there was an increase in girls fleeing to the Middle East and Eastern Europe to get work. This touched me so much that it greatly informed my book, Curbing the Tide on Human Trafficking and Slavery. The book was published in 2019 and since then I have been organizing seminars and workshops, partnering with other women to tell their human trafficking stories.
Then, in 2019, I started my non-government organization (NGO), Women’s Guild for Empowerment and Development (WOGED), based in Buea, Cameroon. It was created to primarily help young girls and women in the development process, focusing mostly on victims of human trafficking; and more recently on victims of the internal crisis [war in Cameroon]. The internal crisis has brought so many internally displaced girls and women into the cities, primarily due to running away from violence, killings, and maiming that is so rampant now in the villages. With WOGED, I am able to expand my work to reach more vulnerable girls and women. I have also collaborated with many NGOs. Together, we are finding the vulnerable in our society and informing them of the difficulties they would face if they set out in the world seeking greener pastures. Human trafficking is a recent development in the 21st century and very few know about it here. Moreover, with the outbreak of the crisis here, many more girls have become trafficked and they are disbursed all over the country; human trafficking is on the rise.
What are the specific mission and goals of your organization?
WOGED’s mission is to teach girls and women to be self-sufficient and sustainable in the development process.
We focus on vulnerable girls by empowering and teaching them skills, and educating them on how to create small businesses so they can create sustainable livelihoods in their communities. The idea is to empower girls and women to have successful businesses so they don’t look for, lean on, or become dependent on somebody else.
We therefore carry out educational, skills training projects that can sustain the girls and women, to give them some independence toward self-development. We also empower single mothers in sustainable management and vocational training, and provide free counseling and consultative coaching to vulnerable girls and teenage mothers so they can thrive in their lives.
What kind of change do you want to see as a result of your work among the survivors of sex trafficking, or those who are most vulnerable to it?
When I wrote and published my book in 2019, my vision and wish was, and still is, that every woman in a developed or underdeveloped country, would have the knowledge of what human trafficking is all about. I desire that as girls, women, and even boys and men read it, they get as much information on what to do about human trafficking as well as helping victims of human trafficking and crises, too.
Women are worth loving and cherishing. They are not a common thing for sale. Women help each other to grow positively. Women and girls deserve power to talk about themselves, write their stories, and say NO to violence! Every woman deserves a fulfilled, independent, and sustainable life through businesses and income generating activities that respect and uphold their dignity.
Where to send funding for your work?
WOGED needs financial support to reach out to more girls and women. Funds can be given through their project account as provided by the organization.
To connect directly with Beatrice:
beatitanji@yahoo.co.uk
To find out more about the WOGED:
Visit WOGED on Facebook: Women’s Guild for Empowerment and Development – WOGED
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