Welcome to the Cameroon Community of Georgia website.
Every day, Cameroonians like us make difficult and often dangerous treks from our home country to a new nation. Motivations for leaving our home country are as varied as mankind — some leave for opportunity, some for adventure and some to escape the oppressive regime that threatens their rights. We leave Cameroon in the hopes we will find higher-paying jobs, better schools and safer homes than we had access back home. We are often motivated by providing our children with a better place to live and better career potential than what we could have found if we did not move.
However, we are faced with many barriers once we arrive in the United States of America including: difficulty speaking and learning English, raising children and helping them succeed in school, securing work, securing housing, accessing services, transportation and cultural barriers. Despite all these challenges, some Cameroonians we encountered are incredibly strong and grateful for the opportunity to be in the United States, whereas others continue to feel like outsiders.
As we settle into the United States of America successfully, it appears that our cultural identity is likely to change, and we feel nostalgic about our past. Therefore, creating the Cameroon Community of Georgia, an association that stands for something bigger than a single individual was a brilliant idea by the founders.
Cameroon Community of Georgia, Inc is a section 501(c)(3) organization of the Internal Revenue Service. Cameroon Community of Georgia, Inc is the umbrella organization of all Cameroonian associations in the State of Georgia. The missions of this association include the following:
- To promote unity and friendship within the Cameroonian community in Georgia.
- To promote the cultural diversity of the people of Cameroon in the State of Georgia and beyond.
- To facilitate the collaboration and interaction among Cameroonians in the state of Georgia.
- To provide a forum for the sharing of information that is pertinent to the Cameroonian community.
Full membership to this organization is only open to associations that have a minimum of ten (10) individual members. However, honorary membership to the Cameroon Community of Georgia, Inc is open to businesses, religious organizations and other non-profit charitable entities within the Cameroonian community in Georgia.
This website is a 24/7 community platform, a one-stop spot where stakeholders can find just about any information that pertains to our Cameroonian community in Georgia. While the features of this website are subject to improve our modus vivendi as a community, it remains a perfectible tool.
Therefore, any suggestions for improvements are welcome. It was John F. Kennedy who said, “Ask not what your country has done for you but what you can do for your country”. Our forefathers, parents, children and community are counting on all of us to do something and now is the time.
Let’s begin the journey…
Ben Ekwalla
President of Cameroon Community of Georgia, Inc