Latest Embassy News
Ambassador Janet Garvey Visits The South Region
On February 25 and 26, 2009, Ambassador Janet Garvey visited Ebolowa in the South Region of Cameroon. . The Ambassador’s team included Public Affairs Officer Richard Johannsen, Peace Corps Country Director for Cameroon, James Ham, and Jean Pierre Ghonda, Director of the Embassy’s Information Resource Center. The trip, that comprised many stops, started with a courtesy visit to the Governor, Mr. Bernard Wongolo, to whom Ambassador Garvey presented a copy of the French translation of President Obama’s “The Dreams of my Father.” Later on the same day, the Ambassador visited the “Colleges Unis d’Elat,” an institution founded in 1909 by American Missionaries, as well as the Protestant University, which is an offspring of the Colleges Unis. The day ended with a dinner with the five Peace Corps volunteers working in the South Region.
On February 26, the Ambassador visited the “Lycée Classique of Ebolowa,” the largest and most modern government secondary school in the region. There, she was welcome by enthusiastic students and teachers with whom she held a lively town hall discussion in the school’s auditorium. The subjects discussed ranged from U.S. politics to studying in the United States as well as to her life and actions as an ambassador. She later visited Radio Communautaire de la Mvila (RCLM), a community radio station funded by les Salesiens de Don Bosco and Cameroon’s Linguistic Center in Ebolowa, which is in charge of implementing bilingualism (English-French) in the South Region.
Wherever she went, the Ambassador was received with warmth and enthusiasm and was presented with many artistic gifts. In return she made several book donations to underscore the point that education is key to development, democracy and peace.