ASEC News

Internet connectivity issues resolved for sisters in Cameroon

African Sisters Education Collaborative (ASEC)

Sr. Clarisse Remjika Jaiwo, ASEC Director, Cameroon, searching for an internet connection on the side of the road.

Almost all sisters have been moved to locations with internet connectivity, thanks to the understanding of the Superiors and their commitment to have the Sisters continue studies

In search of Internet connectivity!

Until you completely lose an arm, then do you value having 2 fingers on an existing arm.  We have so often complained about our unstable internet connectivity in Cameroon, even though we still managed to get some work done online. Not until recently, when internet services were completely disconnected in the Anglophone- Cameroon then did we value even more the unstable yet present internet connection.

Since 17th January, 2017, when internet services were deactivated, it looked for a while like all was at a stand-still. With passing days, one had to be creative. On driving past an area, about an hour 30 minutes away from home, I noticed the internet got connected on my phone! Oh!! It was like an oasis for me. Then I planned regular visits to that spot to access the internet and get going with work. By the time of a second visit, it was interesting to find others coming around the same spot for the same purpose. This glory became short-lived, when it became unsafe to use the roadside for internet connectivity, for fear of being mistaken as sending unacceptable messages and being subjected to arrest.

A solution for Sisters studying online

A few days ago, we thought of another solution for the Sisters studying online… that of asking their superiors to move them to communities where they could access the internet! Almost all have moved, thanks to the understanding of the Superiors and their commitment to have the Sisters continue studies in spite of all.

This experience has given me the chance to empathize better with those in situations like mine as well as those in worse situations and also to believe more in God and in the adage that “necessity is the mother of invention”.

In God we trust!

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