idealist.org

The Mohfesama Foundation for Women (MFW) is an independent, non-partisan, non-profit and humanitarian organization for women founded in July 2007 by Marbell Ngangriyap, a development practitioner and human rights advocate, to bring attention to the needs of rural women, especially in Baba 1 in Cameroon. MFW is the first and only NGO based in Baba 1.

Marbell N graduated from the University of Bergen, Norway in 2007. She later served as a volunteer in Cameroon and was basically paying herself to go to work. Realizing that more needed to be done; she decided to use the money to start up a project that would have a lasting impact in the lives of women in Baba 1. Born and raised in Baba 1, she knows and has witnessed the predicaments of women in this part of the world. The founder felt she could make a difference in the life of the Baba1 women, majority of whom were poor, illiterate, widowed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic and victims of forced marriage and early child bearing, resulting from marginalization and discrimination. During this period, she lost her grandfather, Mohfesama Salifou. In 2008, she established the MFW in memory of her grandfather who was a rare women's rights advocate in a moslem majority community. She allied with other women who shared the same vision as MFW and the organization was officially recognized in 2009. The MFW has expanded and today operates 2 offices in Cameroon, all aimed at fighting the marginalization and discrimination against women and girls in Cameroon. These facilities provide services in the North West and South West region. We work with women groups, orphans, disabled, widows as well as individuals. MFW runs health, education, and income generation projects for women and girls in Cameroon. MFW is a woman-led organization working for underprivileged people, majority of whom are women.