Help the Baka Kick Diarrhoea Out

The Baka are an indigenous group which migrated to the Dja area of Cameroon from the Central African Republic long before the arrival of other groups in the area. However, though the Baka have been in the study area for a long time, the idea of the establishment of Baka villages occurred more recently in the 70s through the government’s settlement policy. Under this policy the government coerced the Baka to settle in villages and integrate into mainstream Cameroon society. As a result of this late settlement of the Baka their villages are not formerly recognized by their Bantu neighbours and even the state which still refer to such villages as camps (‘campements’).

Being forced to adopt sedentary lifestyle of their more settled Bantu neighbours the Baka have been unable to adopt the sedentary culture of using toilets. That explains why 84 percent of the Baka do no have any access to toilets meaning they defecate in the open. This has produced negative consequences on the health of the Baka I that flies transport germs from the human faeces dropped in the open to food consumed by the Baka; rainwater washes the faeces downhill into drinking water sources down in the valley further contaminating the already dirty water. The result is an acute diarrhoea problem with a massive 92 percent of the Baka suffering from diarrhoea. Please donate whatever you can towards the construction of latrines for the Baka which will contribute in the struggle to eradicate diarrhoea in their communities