Friends of Women, Environment, & Health

Friends of Women, Environment, & Health Friends of WEH supports the work of Women, Environment & Health in Cameroon to keep orphans in school

The Friends of Women, Environment, and Health (FoWEH) is an American non-profit that supports the Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Women, Environment and Health (WEH) in Cameroon, Africa. FoWEH uses donations to help WEH support its mission of providing school fees for orphans and vulnerable children, as well as medical care when needed. Women, Environment, and Health (WEH) is an NGO in rural C

ameroon, Central Africa founded by 25 local women living in the Douala area, including Ruth Titi-ManYaka, of whom is originally from Congo and was educated at Linfield College, Oregon in 1969. The mission of WEH includes: empowering and educating women in their community as entrepreneurs (often in agricultural related businesses) to improve their social/economic status; improving the environment, including reforesting local areas denuded of trees for firewood; improving rural healthcare through AIDS prevention education and treatment coordination; and providing education and healthcare to children orphaned by AIDS. In 2007, the Cameroon government asked WEH to be responsible for housing, feeding, and educating nearly 500 orphans (many of which were AIDS orphans) in the Littoral Region outside of Douala. WEH began defraying the costs of school, clothing, healthcare and nutrition and used a group of village coordinators to oversee the children’s welfare in their area. All Cameroonian Government funding that was supporting the WEH orphan program was discontinued due to security threats, and WEH used other resources to help support the very important work that needed to be continued. These included agricultural cooperative initiatives including a pig farm, an apiary to create honey for sale, and an educational academy to educate women and girls. Beginning in 2006, Ruth worked with Linfield College’s Nursing program to arrange for groups of senior nursing students to visit Cameroon villages in teams to provide community health clinics. During these trips, nursing students completed hundreds of medical assessments on WEH orphans, compiled the data for WEH to track, supplied mosquito nets, and educated the children on priority health concerns. Groups of 10 – 15 students visited in 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2014 before security concerns in Cameroon forced halting the January term program. Beginning in 2007, FoWEH was founded to provide financial support and encouragement to the important work of WEH.

05/19/2025

No vaccines? Outbreaks turn into pandemics.
No education? Social systems fray.
No safety? Families are forced to flee.

When children are denied their rights, the ripple effects reach everyone.

UNICEF has stood by children for nearly 80 years. We will continue to stay and you can stay with us. Say I AM .

https://unicef.link/4kCQz7k

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Pritha Chatterjee is working to end violence where it often begins—in childhood, in classrooms, and in communities.

She’s working with schools and communities across India to break harmful norms, end gender-based violence, and build safer, more equal futures .

💡Learn more from Pritha: http://unwo.men/LRbx50VUFEj

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From landless laborer to fearless leader — Haribati Maravi’s inspiring journey! 🌱
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Cameroon Schools

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The most effective and safest way to prevent polio is to be vaccinated. From 24 to 27 October 2024, with an additional two days of sweeps in areas with low coverage, vaccination teams will be visiting households and other public places to administer two drops of oral polio vaccine to children under 5.

10/27/2024

🌍🍽️ Goal 2: No Hunger aims to end hunger and achieve food security for everyone. Let's build resilient food systems and promote sustainable agriculture! Together, we can make a hunger-free world possible.
https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/hunger/

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Jour 3 de la campagne nationale de vaccination contre la polio au Cameroun.
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WEH and its friends’ story

Women, Environment and Health (WEH) is a non-government organization working in rural Cameroon, West Africa. It was founded by 25 women living in the Douala area. Its president, Ruth Musunu Titi-Manyaka, originally from Congo , was educated at Linfield College, McMinnville, Oregon (B.A. 1969), and Loma Linda University, California (Masters in Public Health, 1970).

The founding mission of WEH included empowering and educating women in their community as entrepreneurs to improve their social/economic status, improving the environment, improving rural healthcare through AIDS prevention education and treatment coordination, and providing education and healthcare to children orphaned by AIDS.

In approximately 2005, the Cameroon government asked WEH to monitor the care and schooling of nearly 500 orphans (many were AIDS orphans) in the villages of the Littoral Province. WEH organized a group of village coordinators to oversee the children’s welfare in nine villages. At first the government provided funding for this effort but when that funding proved unreliable, WEH began paying the costs of school, clothing, healthcare, and nutrition for the children. Ruth reached out to Linfield College, her alma mater, to arrange for Linfield nursing students to assess the health needs of WEH orphans. In 2007, 2009, 2011, and 2014, senior nursing students spent their January mid-term conducting community health clinics in villages near Douala. During each trip, 10 to 15 nursing students completed hundreds of medical assessments on WEH orphans, compiled the data for WEH to track, supplied mosquito nets, and educated the children on priority health concerns. Regrettably, recent political unrest in Cameroon has ended Linfield’s January mid-term program that sent nursing students to Cameroon.

The Friends of WEH was founded in 2007 by Ruth’s Linfield College roommate, Carol Smith Hosler of Arizona, and Allan Anderson of Seattle. Allan headed up a scholarship fund for Ruth’s Linfield education in the 1960s. He wanted to help Carol and other friends of Ruth to support her in keeping her promise to return to Africa and help her people.