Rushcliffe School's Citizenship Club won the national Giving Nation Competition, run by the Citizenship Foundation, in 2008 and as a result six pupils had the opportunity to go to Cameroon and learn about the work of the Rainforest Foundation UK.
We went a couple of weeks ago and had the most amazing time ever. It has always been a dream of mine to visit the rainforest, so this was literally a dream-come-true and this was the best experience of my life thus far.
We spent three days with a Baka community in the rainforest, and we learnt about their way of life and the way they use the rainforest. They showed us how the fish and build traditional huts. They also taught us about the rainforest plants and their uses, and we had a great time dancing and singing with them!
The Rainforest Foundation work to get the Baka people's rights recognised by the government in Cameroon, as they do not have the rights to the land they live on, for instance. They map out the area and show where people live, and show the maps to the Cameroonian government to prove that the Baka people live on the land.
One girl we met, Yvonne, was 15 and wanted to continue her education further to become a teacher. However, due to her family's financial situation she may not get this opportunity. I believe strongly that every child deserves an education, so this is one story that particularly struck me. Many of the children we met wanted to be politicians when they grew up, so they could make a difference and improve the lives of people in their community. One boy said that he wanted to tarmac the roads in the area, to improve access to the town. They seemed to want their community to be more like a town. However, living in built-up areas, we appreciated their beautiful environment and could see the problems that come with towns, such as pollution, so found it difficult to understand this wish in some ways.
The way they used the forest was amazing and inspirational, as they use its resources only to the extent they need and do so without destroying it. For example, when growing crops, they only cut down fast-growing trees, and leave the valuable, slower-growing trees.
The Baka people told us that they can get more benefit economically from one tree than a logger can because they use each part of it, such as the roots (for medicinal purposes), the fruit on it (for food) and the bark (to make fire), without destroying it, whereas loggers get a one-off payment.
Everyone we met in this community was really friendly and welcoming. They were some of the nicest people I have ever met, and they went to such lengths to make our stay amazing, such as getting up really early in the morning to boil water for us to wash in, and making really nice food. The children were really smiley, and, despite the fact they had very little, they shared anything we gave them with each other.
We also stayed in Lomie, where we visited a high school and met their pupils. We talked to the head teacher and some other members of staff there who told us about their school. They have around 150 children in their classes, compared to around 20 or 30 in Britain. We sat in on some of a maths lesson and observed that.
We also had the chance to meet people from NGOs, including one man, Ofir, who set up his own NGO to help apes, after seeing first-hand the way poachers treat them when they are caught and sold on as meat or pets.
We slso spent some time in Yaounde, the capital city. Here, we met the British High Commissioner to Cameroon and he told us about his role and work, which was really interesting.
When it came to flying home again, I was REALLY sad to leave. This was an experience that I really will never forget.
You can see some of the photos from the trip at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/86986401@N00/sets/72157617300845397/with/3479145591/