Christian Achaleke Leke, Executive Director of Local Youth Corner Cameroon (LOYOC), gives a presentation to young participants during the peace building activities in Buea, Cameroon, Jan. 27, 2022.(Xinhua/Kepseu)
A former Cameroonian street boy, Christian Achaleke, is fighting against violence among youths through traning and capacity building in communities.
by Arison Tamfub
YAOUNDE, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) -- Christian Achaleke Leke grew up on the streets, witnessing and living a life of gang violence in Fiango, a notorious violent neighborhood in Kumba, a town in Southwestern Cameroon.
In 2007 violence of unusual savagery erupted between two communities sharing a feeling of animosity in Fiango. Leke watched helplessly as the mob beat-up and then burnt alive his companion.
"It was very terrible. This could have been me," he said.
Photo taken on Feb. 9, 2022 shows Michael Tadjuige standing in front of his sewing workshop in Yaounde, Cameroon.(Xinhua/Kepseu)
He had seen and had enough and decided to change the course of his life. He relocated to a nearby town and began pursuing his education. He later joined Local Youth Corner Cameroon (LOYOC), a youth-led organization that empowers youths as peace builders.
And that marked the beginning of a journey of a young man who will later win several international prestigious awards, be named among 100 most influential young Africans and shape his career to become an international development, peace building and violent extremism expert.
The 31-year-old, who is now the Executive Director of LOYOC, the organization he joined as a volunteer told Xinhua his story in Buea, chief town of Cameroon's Southwest region where the non-governmental organization was providing training and capacity building activities to young people.
Christian Achaleke Leke, Executive Director of Local Youth Corner Cameroon (LOYOC), gives a presentation to young participants during the peace building activities in Buea, Cameroon, Jan. 27, 2022.(Xinhua/Kepseu)
"Usually people think young people are trouble makers but in times of conflict equipping youths with the drivers of response to conflict and injustice, human rights, is very important, so that, they can be able to be champions and ambassadors of peace in their various communities," the civil society activist said.
The young participants of the training in Buea were drawn from Cameroon's two English-speaking regions where a separatist armed conflict since 2017 has killed thousands and displaced over a million.
In the regions, young people run crucial programs to build peace, but they most often face violence from separatist fighters and government forces who misunderstand their role, said 22-year-old Sandra (named changed for security reasons).
Young participants of the peace building activities communicate with each other in Buea, Cameroon, Jan. 27, 2022. (Xinhua/Kepseu)
"We are mostly the victims, so involving youth in peace building activities is very important. And (for) us who have also participated here, we can go back to our communities and teach our peers and help them so that we can have a peaceful community," Sandra said.
In 2015, LOYOC launched a program that seeks to rehabilitate and reintegrate violent offenders through entrepreneurship and education. The program targeted 5,000 inmates.
Through the program, prisoners have been given hope and a new lease of life just like Michael Tadjuige.
The 41-year-old gave up on life after he was sentenced for decades in prison. Thirteen years later, Leke and his organization started training prisoners on various fields at the Bamenda Central prison where he was serving his jail term.
Tadjuige joined the program and learned hard and quick and was able to sew some of the best traditional dresses, school uniforms and bags in Cameroon. In 2019, the judge released him from prison after admitting his "remarkable reformation".
He relocated to the capital, Yaounde where he is now a proud owner of a sewing workshop.
"It has changed my life in so many ways because the way I went to prison, is not the way I came out from prison. So what I'm telling young people is that, violence is not the best part of life. It will only end up destroying you and your family," said Tadjuige who has become a veritable beacon of hope for prisoners, travelling frequently to train them and encouraging them to counter violence and extremism.
When Xinhua visited his workshop, he was in the company of Leke who constantly visits to encourage and supervise his works.
"My vision is that we would have young people who would not turn to violence as a means to resolve their conflict but who can hold the government accountable and who would be able to champion the resolution or solving the problems that make them vulnerable to conflict and violence," said Leke. ■
