A Million $$$ Goal for Saker Baptist Ex-Students in the USA – An Interview with Sally Bame

For those who know Sara (Sally) Bame Kum by an iota, seeking the spotlight is probably the last thing to associate her with. But at the 2013 Ex-Saker Students Association (Ex-SSA) Convention in New York, Sara was running the campaign of her life. Sara was in the run for the often thankless, sacrificial, yet prestigious job of President of her alma mater Ex-SSA USA. She won.

Saker Baptist College is a premiere girls only Baptist Secondary School located in Limbe, Cameroon. It was founded by Baptist Missionaries in 1962.

Today, Sara Bame shares in this exclusive with Innocent Chia, Editor-in-Chief at Dunia Magazine, about the organization, her priorities, motivation, and how the organization is distancing itself from the pervasive environment and culture of ineptitude, while helping shape a bright future for girls in Cameroon.

Sara Bame Kum

DUNIA Magazine: Thank you Sara, for this availing yourself to us for this one-on-one to discuss a great organization and the work that you are called to do as a leader!

Sara Bame Kum: Thank you for the opportunity to share our story and our work.

It is totally probable that in the course of your professional duties, you could cross paths with Bill Gates or Warren Buffet in an elevator somewhere in the world. If you had 30 seconds to introduce ExSSA – USA to them and our readers, what would that elevator pitch be?

Sara Bame Kum: ExSSA USA is an alumni volunteer driven nonprofit organization, comprised of African women in the Diaspora, whose mission is to empower the African girl child to be self-sustaining, and a contributor to growth in her community and nation. Each member owns a stake in the success of the organization. Our expertise, skills, and cultural awareness, converge to deliver solutions directly to stakeholders. I really think the development community can learn from our module and partner with us to bring solutions to an array of problems affecting the African girl child.

At the end of your pitch, they decide your objectives are noble and worth supporting. “Which is the most pressing of your projects and how much do you need to complete it” they ask?

Sara Bame Kum: A multifunctional refectory for approximately 900 girls currently cramped into a building initially designed for 36 students. The estimated cost of this project is between CFA 300 million to CFA 500 million. The benefit of a multifunctional cafeteria allows programs that cater to women in surrounding communities in building skills, entrepreneurial training and educational opportunities on issues pertinent to raising sound families.

Which equally important projects did you not present and why do they equally deserve?

Sara Bame Kum: A good health facility that will cater to students’ health and prevent them from making frequent trips out of school for health reasons. Health and education cannot be separated, as one without the other can spell disaster for a teenage girl. Preventive medicine and primary healthcare are critical to a girl’s success at school. Time spent between school and the hospital combined with escalating medical bills critically impacts a girl’s classroom performance and a financially burdened family’s decision to send her off to early marriage. Providing school supplies and scholarships to curb the dropout rate of teenage girls from school is equally important for us.

In Cameroon for example, statistics show that very few girls continue to secondary education after completing primary school. Several reasons account for the drop outs including, but not limited to lack of financial resources. Girls play a critical role in a nation’s development, as they eventually become mothers tasked with raising families that are part of a community. Our goal is to provide financial assistance to as many girls as our financial resources permit. We understand that financial assistance is not the only driver of success at school. We substantiate income through the provision of school supplies as well.

Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics are very important programs we would love to introduce at the school, particularly given dismal numbers of African women, in particular Cameroon in this field.

Leadership of organizations such as ExSSA can be messy. I don’t know whether it is any easier because you are an all female organization. Why did you invite the joy or pain?

Sara Bame Kum: I could not agree with you more on this, but ExSSA sets itself apart as a diaspora organization that is positioning as a strong voice for African girls. Each member of ExSSA owns a stake in our work, and each member brings passion and commitment in a way that is motivating, yet humbling. Leading an organization of dynamic, vibrant women can be tricky, but also rewarding when you see the commitment in each member. I was once a girl, a Cameroonian girl, with daily challenges. My decision to head the organization was driven by the strong desire to build our capacity and position ourselves to partner with any organization to bring resources to the girls in Cameroon and Africa.

Our module is unparalleled: advancing girls’ secondary education while providing sound health facilities that cater to preventative healthcare needs. This cuts into the heart of any nation’s development. Being aware of this, I decided it was time to fully debunk the critics of diaspora organizations, and present to them one organization that stands out in its programs, capacity and approach. Being a leader who is in sync with trends and staying ahead of time is difficult, but the vision, the objectives, and the winds now blowing in our direction with “Let girls learn initiative” [by President Obama’s administration] finally proves us right — a huge joy. The world has finally recognized the importance of girls completing secondary education and how that impacts a nation’s growth.

It is my understanding that transparency, accountability and professionalism have been watchwords over the course of your tenure. You even hired the services of a 501c3 specialist to talk to your EXCO. How important are these to the success of any such organization?

Sara Bame Kum: I would say very important. Transparency, accountability and professionalism are core elements to a successful organization. We are an organization, not a social club, governed by rules and regulations, subject to audits and financial reviews. Our donors must continue to be encouraged through proper allocation of funds solicited and reports of program funding and results achieved. Failure by any organization to comply with regulations is an open invitation for law enforcement to step in. In a professional environment, you disagree on facts, not character traits. We can never be successful if we do not bring the professional ethics of our distinctive professions to volunteer in our organization.

Professionalism reminds everyone that beyond socialization we have a structure in place, an image to portray, and rules to comply with. There’s the recognition in the development community that the diaspora plays a critical role in development, but lack the capacity or organization to handle big projects. The myriad of berating emails on the internet fuel these believes and discourages partnerships. Across a spectrum of diaspora organizations, we are running on volunteer fuel. Success lingers on tepid waters for too long due to the inability to clearly delineate personal differences from professional responsibility, albeit, volunteering. Training is part of capacity building, and provides the right tools and resources for the entire team to contribute positively to growth. It instills confidence in any team member to represent the organization and implement projects with sustainable results and positive outcomes for both recipients and donors.

There is no doubt that ExSSA – USA is a fundraising behemoth in the Cameroonian community. To what do you attribute this status?

Sara Bame Kum: Sakerettes show ground results through project implementation. I dare you to look around and point to a diaspora organization that is delivering solutions to health problems through a health facility at the school, engaging in communities, educating to empower through scholarships, substituting income through the provision of school supplies, has delivered clean drinking water, refurbished school structures and living quarters, supplied books to promote reading, provided graduation robes to more than 260 girls to instill confidence and encourage them to complete school, mentoring young girls, and already advocating for STEM programs for girls, etc. You would agree that when one reads of these programs you are tempted to look beyond Africa to western NGOs. No, it’s us, empowered women, pulling our skills to empower girls. Each member’s passion for improving girls’ lives is demonstrated in our work and is unquestionable. ExSSA is an organization that prides itself in a strong network of chapters across the globe, pulling the skills and expertise of more than 7,000 women to raise funds and implement projects.

There are instances where financially successful Ex-student organizations lock horns with the School over management choices. How do you manage the relationship?

Sara Bame Kum: We are very fortunate to have a management at Saker that is very cooperative and open to working with us across initiatives. We have adopted a teamwork approach, where every member contributes and shares a stake in the outcome. I am sure you read the papers, and particularly Oxfam pushing for a development module where the stakeholders are consulted prior to building programs. As Oxfam argues, the west always has big ideas, with good programs on how to solve a problem in a developing country, but when they face realities on the ground the project stalls. Same applies to us, Alumni organizations. Our program modules should reflect consultations with school administration, and a critical buy-in, to avoid administrative hiccups. We may have the money; they know the problems and can create the networks and positive environment. Approach, teamwork, and sharing our success together has worked well.

Minnesota will be your convention host-city for 2015. What do you expect from your members and the vibrant community in terms of attendance, participation and meeting fundraising goals?

Sara Bame Kum: Yes, and I am looking forward to another memorable convention in Minnesota. Every convention is a celebration, highlights our achievements, forces us to reflect, and out of this reflection we emerge with a renewed sense of determination to move our work forward. Our members should show up with the same spirit of love, unity, and sisterhood. Bringing with them new ideas to delivering solutions to problems facing African girls. While our Minnesota chapter is already hard at work, members should engage traditional and nontraditional donors prior to the convention so that our fundraising this year can surpass previous years.

Do you ever worry about community donor fatigue and imagine new ways that you can share on how respective Ex student groups, ethnic organizations and others can use for their fundraisers?

Sara Bame Kum: The ExSSA module really prides itself on making an impact through the implementation of programs. I trust that our donors will continue to take pride in seeing results on the programs they support, and continuously fund them. Despite this support we cannot be complacent with our work and programs. Embracing more challenges requires additional funding sources. There are several untapped resources that, in addition to our current donor base, would generate adequate financial resources for our most challenging projects and allow us to create more lucrative programs. Our fundraising efforts are still tepid when compared to non-Cameroonian organizations. We are stepping up efforts to reach non-traditional donors, while demonstrating results that allow current donors to take pride in the programs they support.

Why is it, you think, that female organizations (ExSSA, LESA) have a financial edge over those of their male counterparts (SOBA, SESA, BOBA)? How can they compete?

Sara Bame Kum: Have you heard the adage, “educate a woman educate a nation?” Women are born with organizational and multitasking skills, adorned with brains that run on one thousand gigs per second. Sakerettes’ ability to thrive should come as no surprise to you. We are organized, and woven into the fabric of our culture are Love, Unity and Sisterhood and a burning desire to deliver solutions with measurable results. We pride ourselves in strict accountability, reporting back to donors who feel compelled to continuously support our work. We have a cause and message that is consistent, is evolving rapidly, and gaining steam.

I do not encourage competition, for men play an important role in our work. Rather I would encourage collaboration to build capacity, adopt lessons, learn and pull our resources to bring social change in a professional, structured environment, where egos are silenced in favor of ambitious targets and achievable milestones. We need SOBA, SESA and BOBA to continuously build on our work, for they are the fathers with the key to unlocking doors of opportunities for their daughters and sons.

Each time a new leader comes into office they get the big picture and get hit in the face with some reality they did not know beforehand. Can you share one big unknown that surprised you after winning a rather contentious election at the ExSSA USA Convention in New York and any changes made to rectify it?

Sara Bame Kum: The depth of regulations a nonprofit organization must comply with was overwhelming. I knew I had to fold my sleeves without regard to title, but the mountain of work ahead of me was one I could not climb alone. I reached out to friends and colleagues and began a journey of edification on nonprofit management. I have outsourced expertise services, called on friends with expertise in nonprofit management to help out with structuring, reached out to management of nonprofit organizations for critical insider tips on management. Members have volunteered services on several communities and they are just incredible with moving this train forward.

What advice would you give a friend or sister who wants to run for the same office, and why?

Sara Bame Kum: Do not run for office if you are a crowd pleaser or love status. Run for office because you have a passion to change a social problem, a vision, and a road map for achieving success. Leading an organization as diverse as ours is a very delicate task, with no perks attached. A leader with a set vision and a clear path to success will move the ship forward amidst all forms of distractions and does not need accolades to accomplish tasks. Never give up if you believe in your vision. It takes strength, audacity, and humility to achieve results. Keep friendships out the door, be fair, know who you are, for people will cast doubt on your character and convince others to see you differently. Stay away from negative influences, and tap into positive energy, you will need that to survive. Inject excellence in all you do and never settle for mediocre results, for such results never set you or your organization apart in a crowded field.

Your Vision Statement states that you “provide women and girls with the resources and opportunities to reach their full potential”. In the ensuing Mission statement, the emphasis is to improve their lives through programs that will enable their social emancipation and economic empowerment. Why not political empowerment?

Sara Bame Kum: Politics does not bring social change; it uses social issues as a platform to gain political advantages. Political empowerment is a derivative of social emancipation and economic empowerment. An educated and economically empowered woman can gain employment, is able to read and make informed choices, including but not limited to running for political office.

The journey of a shy little girl on her first day in Saker Baptist College, to her leadership of its most vibrant Ex-students organization… How much do you put into it and do you think of that little girl even as you steer this ship?

Sara Bame Kum: The little girl drives my every action, thought, and ideas. She is the reason I stir the ship, burn the midnight oil to keep the ship afloat. Fame and popularity never courted me for friendship, neither was I adored because I did not fit the status quo. This little girl did not allow society to define her or chart her path.

It’s been an amazing journey, one filled with heroes and mentors who provided guidance, resources every step of the way and still do. Without these heroes and mentors, I may, like many Cameroonian girls have been married at 13 or trafficked to work in brothels with my name flashing across email subject lines. The solid precepts on which I was raised are the lasting reference guide on my nightstand. Excellence and hard work are the pillars that hold the roof over the foundation on which my two feet stand. Everyone has a story. My story is not isolated and may be the inspiration any shy little girl needs to surpass my accomplishments. I see this little girl everywhere I visit and where my work has taken me across the world. Some are worse off — starving, left to raise families alone, rescued from bonded trade, betrothed, etc. Images of these girls run like a movie loop in my thoughts every day. I am convinced, like me, these girls can succeed, only if they have the resources and assistance. I volunteer to bring hope, if only little, where there’s despair, for many shy girls may only have me to change their path in life. These girls deserve a future and a life full of accomplishments.

Thank you, Sara, for your edifying answers and the treasure of your time.

—

June 2016 UPDATE

Innocent Chia blogs on www.chiareport.com; Twitter: @InnoChia

DUNIA Poll (participate and see how others are voting)

Does Africa need more female leaders at the top to help move the continent forward?

Loading ... Loading ...

Join mailing list for updates and monthly newsletters

 

Facebook Comments

Related Posts

Comments

Do not miss