The Circle of Friends of Cameroon, CERAC, will today be formally celebrating its 15th anniversary. Yesterday at its Yaounde headquarters, an open-day was organized in order to get the general public know a little more about this friendship organization founded in 1995 by Mrs Chantal Biya, barely a year after she became the First Lady of Cameroon.

CERAC is a grouping of the nation’s topmost women, drawing its membership essentially from the ranks of wives of members of government, female members of government and other leading women drawn from industry or the liberal professions. The diplomatic component of the organization includes wives of resident Ambassadors or representatives of international organizations or such officials who are female.

In short, the organization is composed of the most outstanding women who, as the élite of the society, are hardly ever so accessible to the ordinary citizen. Hence, the apprehensions and some strange clichés ordinary folks tend to label CERAC with. And yet, the reality is far, very far from this truncated image of the First Lady’s association. In the past 15 years, CERAC has emerged as a dependable developmental partner with many achievements to show across the country. Its actions and policies have generally been directed at the scum of the earth or the down-trodden, with leprosy patients being the main beneficiaries of the organization’s largesse. Hardly has any leprosy settlement in the country gone without the support of CERAC, to the extent that some of the most remote locations in the country, hitherto known only because of their association with leprosy, have become household names and even tourist destinations. Thanks not only to the hope brought to inmates through numerous and varied donations, but because of the rehabilitation works carried out on buildings and facilities. In the exercise, veritable modern villages have sprung up from primitive bush hamlets, bringing joy to hundreds of patients. The aspirations of these abandoned segments of our population have, consequently been brought to the public eye, further reinforcing national unity, cohesion and a greater sense of solidarity.

This has just been one important aspect of what CERAC has been doing to make life better for ordinary Cameroonians or of those in permanent conditions of suffering. But the actions of CERAC have gone beyond that, especially in the health sector where donations have often been made to ensure that patients, with a special emphasis on children, are more efficiently followed up. The same has been for the nation’s youth with the introduction of schools of excellence, veritable beacons, dotted here and there across the country and reminding all the important actors of the sector of what a typical school should be. Mrs Biya could have limited her charm, warmth and availability to inaugurating or christening ships, aircraft, inaugurating art exhibitions or patronizing humanitarian galas. But she chose the down-trodden. And in a developing country as ours, that is quite significant in that we have a First Lady who is very comfortable with people of the lower stratum of society.

The fact that she has blended the women élite into such a formidable instrument of socio-political cohesion is no mean feat. Remember that within CERAC, are wives of ex-ministers or former female ministers who, by normal human reasoning, would hesitate cooperating with a system which at one time has thrown them over the political board. Moreover, the very active participation of the diplomatic community in the activities of CERAC works further for its credibility. On this double front, the First Lady has not only helped facilitate developmental initiatives, but is also helping in promoting a better image of Cameroon in the eyes of the international community. So, all this is not just about giving gifts or bounties. But it goes beyond the bounties as these activities help sustain the advancement of the nation.