“CoSMO Project is not just fighting HIV, but making a difference in Lives”

The Consolidating Systems and Services for the Management of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (CoSMO) Project’s impact on the lives of participants in Cameroon has been highlighted.

This was during a field visit by George Siberry, PEPFAR Deputy Principal (DP) for Cameroon, and Cathy Nguyen, Senior Country Associate (SCA) at USAID (United States Agency for International Development) in Washington DC to Cameroon.

After a tearful success story-sharing session at MERENSO, a Sub-Recipient Implementing Partner (SR-IP) of CoSMO in Douala, George and Cathy had firsthand experiences from the project participants. Each story told, recounted the struggles of participants and their households without CoSMO and highlighted the impact of the project's intervention.

We had such a fantastic visit to MERENSO [SR-IP of CoSMO], a chance to meet the caseworkers who do incredible work there, and even to hear from three program [project] participants talk about their stories, says George.

MERENSO (Association Meres et Enfants Solidaires) is a community-based organization and one of the 26 SR-IPs of the National Episcopal Conference of Cameroon (NECC), implementing CoSMO in Cameroon.

“Just a moving reminder. We listened to the story of one woman – whose teenage son had HIV and she was just lost and didn’t know how to tell him about his status and why he was on treatment. But thanks to the intervention of the caseworker, harmony and hope were brought to the household, as well as helped the mother disclose the HIV status to this young man – who’s today taking his medicine. He told me he wants to be a surgeon when he grows up,” he says George.

His dreams have been restored to him, quipped George adding that he thinks that’s exactly what the OVC (Orphans and Vulnerable Children) program can do – “not just help us with the fight against HIV, but help make an incredible difference in the lives of children and their families in the long-term.”

Speaking during the visit, Ebene Jacqueline, Head of Institution (HOI) at MERENSO greeted the USAID Team and thanked them for choosing her organization. “Thank you for all you do for OVC. We asked you to continue to support the OVC program in Cameroon because it is said he who says thanks is asking for more,” says Ebene.

Responding to the participants' stories, Cathy saluted the courage of the participants, while commending the caseworkers for their diligence. “Each participant and their households face different needs, yet you [the caseworkers] have individual ability and intuition to meet those. That’s commendable,” she says.

Before the visit to MERENSO the USAID Team had made a courtesy call to the Secretary General of NECC and afterwards, stopped over at the Zone 2, Zonal office in Douala – where the zonal team presented an overview of CoSMO’s works in the Zone.