Vocational Skills Improve Cameroon Quality of Life
It is a very hot late afternoon in Kossehone, a village in Cameroon’s Far North Region when Pascal Deli receives a phone call: the village chief has a power failure in his home and needs an electrician. Pascal quickly grabs his electrical testers, puts on security gloves and boots and leaves for the client’s home to make a diagnosis. Pascal is the first-ever resident electrician in his village. The entire population of Kossehone depends on his technical know-how to support the electrical supply in their homes, shops and in the community.
Pascal Deli is a trained electrician living in Kossehone, a village in Cameroon.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
Pascal’s desire to bring about change in his community motivated him to change careers.
"I learned about electricity because in my village each time there is an electrical fault, we must hire an electrician from another village to come and fix the problem," says Pascal.
Catholic Relief Services supported Pascal and 250 other participants of the Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region, or STaR, project to learn a trade and acquire skills needed to start their own businesses. Pascal learned about electricity for six months at a vocational training center in Mokolo. After his training, he received a kit comprised of electrical cables, testers, plyers and gloves to help him get started in his village.
Pascal Deli fixes an electrical fault on a meter that supplies power to his and other shops.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
Since August 2024, Pascal has been doing electrical work in his community. He has installed electricity and repaired electrical faults in more than 15 homes and shops, earning about $280 in the process. He used the money he made to buy more electrical supplies. He also reinvested in another small business selling slippers and children's clothes. He is putting into practice the entrepreneurial skills he learned during his training.
"I learned how to manage my expenses," says Pascal. "With the profit I make from my business, I provide for my family’s needs, I invest in my business, and I always save regularly."
The inhabitants of Kossehone village now spend less to install and repair electricity in their homes.
“I had no light in my restaurant,” says Pauline Kouvou, a restaurant owner. “Pascal connected electricity for me and the neighbors’ shops. We are proud of him.”
Pascal Deli, a CRS STaR project participant, serves a customer in his shop in Cameroon.
Photo by Mabel Chenjoh/CRS
As a way of giving back to his community, Pascal also offers free services to families living in very vulnerable conditions. He plans to further his training as an electrician so that he can carry out more complex electrical installations and repairs in his village. His says his dream is to train other young people in the village to become electricians like him so that there is available expertise to attend to the growing needs of his community.
The Stabilization and Reconciliation in the Lake Chad Region project is funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development via the German Development Bank. Phase I of the project began in 2019 in Chad, Niger and Nigeria, while Phase II launched in September 2021 with an expansion into Cameroon. In Cameroon, CRS partners with Caritas Maroua-Mokolo to implement the project. Since 2021, Phase II has supported more than 26,000 people by improving access to basic infrastructure and services, enhancing livelihoods, reinforcing social cohesion and improving local governance.
