Information and Experience Sharing on U.S. Government Exchange Programs in Cameroon - West Region

The MDAO session for the West Region took place on Monday 18 January, 2019 at the Conference hall of the Institute of Fine Arts of the University of Dschang in Foumban under the theme “Information and Experience Sharing on U.S. Government Exchange Programs in Cameroon”.

It brought together 160 participants together, was facilitated by Nteta Philip Nfon (Fulbright TEA Alumnus), Akaba James (Fullbright TEA Alumnus), Chi Anestine (YALI Alumnus) and Ako Nchinghe Tambe (Fulbright TEA Alumnus). The main objective was to enlighten participants on the different opportunities offered by the U.S. Government to Cameroonians.

After the words of welcome from the Director of the institute and other personalities, the day started with the first presentation by Akaba A. James, a Fulbright TEA Alumnus, who introduced the fifteen most popular U.S. government exchange programs in Cameroon and presented the conditions for participating in the different exchange programs to participants. His presentation gave way to the second presentation on “My U.S. government exchange program experience” from two U. S. government alumni from the YALI and the Fulbright TEA programs, Chi Anestine and Ako Nchinghe Tambe respectively. They shared their personal experiences and the impact of the programs on their professional and personal lives.

Next up were video projections of the 2015 Fulbright TEA program at the Appalachian State University and the 2017 TechWomen program at the Silicon Valley in California which provided a real time experience to the participants. The next presentation was by Akaba James, wherein he assisted participants to identify leadership skills which could improve their selection chances for U.S. government exchange programs.

The next presentation was by Ako Tambe who narrated his Fulbright TEA program experience in Ohio and how service learning was instrumental in impacting young learners. Then followed a workshop on “Preparing a good exchange program application” coordinated by the entire project team. The workshop ended with closing remarks from the director of the Institute, a statement from a representative of the participants and a word from Ako Tambe for the project team.