11 June 2007

The American participants are on their way to Douala, Cameroon, to set
off GYPA's first Cameroon Immersion on "Youth, Development and the
Millennium Development Goals." The Cameroon program leaders, Eugene
and Augstine, have been working hard this past week to prepare for the
American students, and Josh arrived in Cameroon to help set things up
on the ground as well.

The Cameroon Immersion comes at a meaningful time, as the debate about
development in Africa has come into the spotlight again with recent
decisions made by the world's most powerful countries at the G8 conference
currently in Heligendamm, Germany. Despite the fact that the G8 had
previously made pledges in 2005 towards towards ending global poverty--the
commitment then was to double global aid by 2010 with half of that earmarked
for sub-Saharan Africa-- most country pledges have so far gone unmet. At
the summit, leaders reiterated their promises, and further pledged to spend
60 billion dollars to fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS, though they
set no timetable. But despite these new "commitments" many are hugely skeptical
about whether Africa will meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, and
the debate continues over the most effective means of achieving these goals.

It is important to keep in mind the international climate as we head to
Cameroon as it will inform the context of our discussions on the ground.