Oumarou-hamadou,
Mellon Library and Information Technology Services graduate intern,
has inspired the student advisory board to the Center for Global
Initiatives to raise funds to help achieve his goal of building a library
in Cameroon to
enhance literacy, especially among women.
This group of Mount Holyoke women created laminated bookmarks bearing
an inspiring quotation that are on sale for two dollars in Blanchard and the
library court. All proceeds will help fund oumarou’s library. “This
is a great project to raise consciousness around literacy, it’s a great
project to raise awareness overall,” said Eva Paus, professor of economics
and director of the Center for Global Initiatives.
Nicole Tuma ’07 is heading the fundraising effort. “I got involved
in this project after meeting oumarou and learning about the deplorable literacy
rates in some parts of Cameroon,” Tuma said. “In the northwest, there
is less than a five percent literacy rate. My father is from Cameroon, so I have
a personal interest, as well as a humanitarian interest. We’re working
on increasing literacy rates in Cameroon because women are usually the heads
of families. When women are educated, the quality of life increases overall.
That’s our goal.”
“This is a chance and opportunity to expand the borders of possibilities
for women,” oumarou said. “Without education, what do you do? You
don’t know anything. You do what you are told. The husband runs the show.
And this cycle gets perpetuated and women continue to remain inferior. I want
to change that. I want to increase the education of women in Cameroon.”
