CAMEROON - If our latest visit to Cameroon were to be written up into a travelogue, the chances are it would be given a title along the lines of "From paradise to purgatory", such was the starkness of contrast we encountered in the West African country.
Accompanied by our indefatigable local partner Francis Kammogne, who works with the Cameroonian branch of the Centro Sportivo Italiano in collaboration with the Yaoundé diocese educational orientation centre, we begin our visit in Limbe, a coastal city in the shadow of Mount Cameroon.
An active volcano, the remnants of Mount Cameroon's most recent lava flow greeted us as we arrived in the city, the cooled ooze making many of the roads impassable.
Limbe was to be the setting for 30 adults and many more children from all over Cameroon - from Garoua in the north to Mbalmayo in the south, Kumbo in the west and Bertoua in the east - to get together for a ten-day training camp.
For many of the participants, it was the first time they had left their home village, let alone their first glimpse of the sea.
Our coaches, Davide and Silvio, set about training the local coaches using the Inter Campus methodology, which focuses on sport as a key element in promoting the children's general development.
The three intense days of theory-based and practical sessions came to a head with a special celebration alongside young volunteers from the Centro Sportivo Italiano.
While the camp continued, we then made our way to Douala, and a very different setting.
Douala is the biggest city in Cameroon and its main port, but our destination was the city prison. Though originally designed to hold 1000 people, the building is actually home to three times that number.
Our training courses saw participation from the 34 adult prisoners that have set up a sporting and cultural association within the prison. The goal for us was to supply them with the theoretical framework they need to train minors incarcerated in the prison, working alongside the Cameroonian branch of the Centro Sportivo Italiano.
Though we can barely begin to imagine the stories the prisoners carry with them, our course is a chance for them to show who they really are and demonstrate their desire to make a new start.
To mark the end of our visit, they organise a tournament with the younger prisoners in the facility's only courtyard.
Usually home to people cooking, playing cards, praying and even cutting each other's hair, the courtyard is suddenly a football pitch. The inmates crowd around, cheering on the players. It makes for a joyful spectacle, one rarely seen inside the prison walls.
With the match over, we hand each participant a certification and a bar of soap, which is vital in warding off scabies.
The inmates say their goodbyes, urging us not to forget them. And as we take our leave, we know we surely will not.
Visita il sito intercampus.inter.it
