Aumazo
Aumazo

Aumazo

Transforming girls lives in rural communities through providing better school infrastructure and STEAM education.

Aumazo transforms the lives of girls in rural Cameroon by creating a new future for them through access to a quality high school education with better infrastructure and vocational training options. The organization helps them design a new future as successful adults and invent ways to make it a reality.

AUMAZO does this by building local boarding school infrastructure as well as a quality Science, Technology, Eengineering, Art, Math (STEAM) based high school education. AUMAZO is not just investing in education; it is investing in Africa’s future community leaders by removing the barriers to a comprehensive secondary school education, creating a safe and supportive learning environment, and broadening the educational horizons of girls in rural communities.

Learn more about how we are helping rural Cameroon’s young women achieve their potential and shape their futures.

About Aumazo

Goals

Given the opportunity, women can be the engines of transformational economy in developing nations. Our aim is to give young women in rural Cameroon and eventually around Africa just that opportunity, by:

  • Creating critical thinkers with STEAM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) education and empowering the next generation of innovative leaders.
  • Constructing safe and supportive community-based schools with better infrastructure and an environment conducive to learning.
  • Preparing young women for leadership roles within their communities and giving them learning skills that allow them to compete in a global economy while fostering economic development in their region.
  • Developing a self-sustaining funding model for our work and ensuring ongoing operation of our schools and programs.

Overcoming Daily Challenges

The secondary education rate for girls in rural Cameroon is just 17 percent. A host of factors lead girls to drop out before entering or finishing high school. Consider the challenges faced by Audrey, a single mother.

Audrey lives in the village of Bankondji, where she participates in Aumazo’s Ça Fait Du Bien/It Makes Good tutoring program. Audrey decided to return to school five years after she dropped out, and joined the tutoring program. She faced enormous difficulties which she overcame successfully.

Read more to find out why, and to learn about the challenges faced by female students in rural Cameroon

More on The Issues

Tangible Results

And The Less Tangible

“I would like to be in charge of my destiny in school and in life. My wish is coming true in the [Aumazo] tutoring program. My higher grades since I started the program are great proof.”
— Maurelle, Grade 8

Thanks to donors and volunteers, Aumazo has achieved significant milestones in its work to stimulate girls’ engagement in school. We have built the foundation for our pilot boarding school in the village of Bankondji. We established our partner business, ZOMABuild, to help make our programs more financially sustainable. We upgraded the road from the village to the school site. We launched our tutoring program, a critical part of preparing girls for higher-level learning. We laid the pipes for the water and sanitation system. We upgraded the existing buildings for classroom and workshop space for the first class of students to start in 2021.

Beyond these accomplishments are the inspiring changes we see every day – in the relationships we’ve built with the community, in the respect we have earned from the parents, and in the new hope for the future that we see in the girls we serve.

Discover Our Projects

Project Sustainability

ZOMABuild: Aumazo’s Sister Company

Aumazo’s primary mission is to transform the lives of girls in rural Cameroon by creating a new future for them through access to a quality high school education with better infrastructure and vocational training options. The organization also has a fiscal mission – to create a sustainable funding model that supports the ongoing operation of the school(s) we build, well into the future. That’s where our partner business, ZOMABuild, comes in.

A social enterprise established specifically to help fund the operating expenses of Aumazo school and programs, ZOMABuild is a building material production and construction business based in Newtown Bafang, Cameroon.

Learn more about ZOMABuild, whose profits go toward funding Aumazo’s education programs.

About ZOMABuild
Sweet Testimonials

I am currently a volunteer for Aumazo, lending a hand to help with fundraising strategies and strategic planning. Aumazo has come a long way from a mere idea to a full blown, not for profit organization. Its founder is an amazing enthusiast and determined woman who will undoubtedly make a boarding school for rural girls in Bankondji an imminent reality. I think combining the funds raised for this purpose with the proceeds of a striving brick business in her hometown was a terrific idea. I truly have high hopes and only praise for Team Aumazo.

Aissata Thiam, PhD, International Condultant in ICT

My visit to Cameroon 2 years ago with the Mount St. Mary's team of faculty and students began my love for Africa... specifically the people of Bankondji. Education is a powerful tool for change; and educating girls extends that positive change to their future families. This project is so worthwhile to support as it will currently build strong women and provide educated citizens in the future. During my visit one of the Sisters at the Daughters of Charity said that “Africa gets into your skin.” I feel that I came home with a piece of Africa in my heart. The land is beautiful. The people are beautiful. My memories are beautiful. I am proud to teach my students at the University about this wonderful project and how to support it with our monies and prayers.

Carolyn, Volunteer

The first time I heard about Aumazo was through a close friend of mine. I am from one of the counties with which Cameroon share its frontier (Gabon) so when I heard about Aumazo and the goals that they wanted to reach I was more than exited to be able to volunteer. In addition it’s not every day that you come across a non-profit organization that has the ambition to bring education to Africa for this reason I strongly believe that they do need more recognition and help from anyone for the hard work that they’re doing.

Patrick E., Volunteer

I heard about Aumazo through a dear friend who insisted that I checkout this cause and support. As a cameroonian girl myself, This is truly a noble cause and I am glad that Jacqueline, the Founder, is giving back to our community. She is a great role model and I encourage others to follow in her footsteps!

Anais G., Donor

I had a great experience working with Aumazo Mrs. Audigé did a phenomenal job at getting a team together to work in partnership with the University of Maryland and spending hours taking hundreds of their chairs, chalk boards and several other school materials that were going to be thrown away and that instead we took to put in a container and ship to Cameroon to help build better schools. It was an eye-opening experience and the purpose was real. Great organization, great people. I would recommend them to anyone looking to make an immediate difference in the lives of people who need it.

Yannick K., Volunteer

During my experience with Aumazo, I learned about the Cameroonian economy and educational system. Aumazo is ensuring that girls in Cameroon have access to education and they have a strong culture built on the empowering women and improving the country of Cameroon.

Patrick Legendre, MBA Candidate at GWU
What Do You Think?

Aumazo unites communities and inspires confidence.

Our Partners

Past & Current