Meet Mbu Waindim, Cameroon’s first Aerospace Engineer with a PhD

She is just 27 yet has a PhD in Aerospace Engineering…and she is Cameroonian! Meet Mbu Waindim, the first Cameroonian with a PhD in Aerospace Engineering.

On a bright 6th December 1990, there was celebration in the family of Dr and Mrs Waindim as a baby girl was born…little did they know that this little girl they named Mbu Youpughu Waindim was going to shine as a star to Cameroon, Africa and the world!

A bright smile is sure to greet you whenever you meet Mbu Waindim, irrespective of place or time.

The high-spirited girl who hails from Kom in the North West Region of Cameroon spent a greater part of her childhood in Bamenda and Douala with her three siblings and parents.

After obtaining her Advanced Level Certificate from the prestigious Saker Baptist College, Limbe in 2008 with excellent results, Mbu moved to the U.S. where she enrolled in the Florida Institute of Technology.

She graduated in May 2012 with a BS in Aerospace Engineering and another BS in Mathematical science, scoring a 3.89 score on 4.0, emerging 2^nd out of 52 students.

She then enrolled in a Masters and later PhD programme at the Ohio State University.

Throughout her academic pursuit, Mbu Waindim has been exceptionally bright and this has earned her various leadership roles and awards.

While carrying out her PhD programme, she worked as a Graduate Research Associate at the Ohio State University from 2012. She is also a Thermal Analyst at Harris Corp and worked at NASA and the U.S. Air force while she was in school.

The open-hearted Cameroonian lady says her driving force has always been to be the role model she wanted to be and to be able to provide the resources she lacked growing up. “I am passionate about women’s roles in innovating the future,” she adds.

About role models, Mbu has many but greatly admires her parents. “My parents made my journey possible.”

Mbu is a Baptist Christian. She loves reading a great deal and has co-authored over 12 publications. When she is not reading however, you could find her trying out some dance steps (I bet you, she doesn’t even know how to dance though!) and taking care of her hair (yeah, it is nappy!).

Her word of encouragement to young girls interested in science is, “Question everything; Challenge the status quo. World solutions come from people trying to make their lives better.” She adds, “Work hard early. It gets harder as you go up and a strong foundation is invaluable. Establish a strong support system.”

It is such passion for the sciences and the role of women that made Mbu opt to run a computer programming club at her alma mater, Saker Baptist College to build young Cameroonian problem solvers.

Mbu Waindim graduates with her PhD in December 2017.

Way to go, Damsel! GOD bless you!!

Raihanatu Sali, Mbororo girl breaking cultural barriers

“What others can do, we (Mbororo ladies) also can do”

Born in the Bambili Health Centre on 22nd September 1992, Sali Rahainatu is a Mbororo lady who hails from Sabga in the North West Region.

The Mbororos are a small subgroup of the Fulani ethnic group known for their cattle-rearing and strict respect of culture.

Shai, as many call Raihanatu Sali, is Mbororo yet she has stood her ground to defy a culture which usually holds down the girl child from achieving her full potential.

Being an only daughter amongst four boys, Raihanatu says her parents have been her inspiration all these years. “My parents are people who believe that the place of a woman is not in the kitchen only but out there getting an education and working like any other man. So I was brought up with that mentality.”

Talking about prejudices, Raihanatu says they are many. “It is true that as a Mbororo girl when people see you doing things which they don’t expect from a Mbororo girl, they always wonder aloud saying, ‘so a Mbororo girl can do this too?’”

Raihanatu also mentions the use of pejorative slangs on her like ‘mamiya”, a provocative way to refer to a Mbororo woman.

“Sometimes when I talk, people listen keenly trying to hear if I have that Mbororo accent when speaking English. The truth is, most people are surprised that I don’t have the accent. All these things however, never bothered me and they still don’t,” explains Raihanatu. “I instead took them as a challenge and I thought to myself, ‘what better way to let the world see what a Mbororo girl from the North West Region can do if not through television ?!’” That is how her passion for journalism birthed and grew.

In 2012, after completing her secondary education in CCAST Bambili, Raihanatu Sali got enrolled at the National Polytechnic, Bambui in the North West Region where she graduated in 2015 with a BTech in Journalism and Mass Communication.

She later got recruited at the Cameroon Radio television (CRTV), Cameroon’s state broadcaster in 2016 where she is a news reporter and news presenter.

Shai presenting the Midday News on the CRTV

About the education of Mbororo girls, Raihanatu explains that Mbororo girls go to school but most of them drop out either after the Ordinary or Advanced Levels and get married.

She adds that the few who go to the university get married after graduation and most do not bother to look for a job so as to be independent.

The determined journalist explains that apart from being her backbone, her parents are amongst the activists who encourage Mbororo girls to go to school.

Raihanatu speaks English, French and Fulfude. She is usually dressed in bright colours and never forgets to cover her hair when she is outdoors, in line with her faith, Islam.

Having gone this far and expecting to go even further, Raihanatu advises her Mbororo sisters to work hard so as to be independent ladies. “The knowledge they gather from school should not end up only in marital homes; they should work towards becoming career women in addition to being housewives. They should know that as an educated Mbororo woman, you have a lot of opportunities. What others can do, we also can do!”

About her plans in the next five years…Raihanatu Sali plans to keep inspiring and mentoring other Mbororo girls and hopes to anchor news or programmes on some international media like CNN just like her role model, Christine Amanpour.

What more can we say than, “Go Shai! The sky is your stepping stone!”

Amy Banda, square peg in a square hole

“When a child has gold, give him the opportunity to refine it.”

It is with this belief in mind that Amy Banda, a Cameroonian journalist, chose to study her lifetime passion, journalism at Esg-Ista, now the Institut de Golf de Guinea in Douala, Cameroon.

Born in 1985, Amy Ngwangunu Banda epse Youmbi is a popular name to almost every Cameroonian.

The talented lady has produced and presented renown TV programmes including “Voice of the Voiceless”, “Cameroon’s Crow”, “Views, Voices and Visions” and “Monuments” and “Holidays”, amongst others.

Amy Banda began her rich professional experience in 2008 at LTM in Douala.

She later moved to Spectrum TV (STV) in 2012 where she was host of the daily breakfast show, “Goodmorning Cameroon”.

In 2014, Amy left STV and then returned to LTM in 2015.

She however left LTM in 2016 and spent the end of year in the U.S. as one of the nominees for the Edward Murray Fellowship.

After the U.S. experience, Amy Banda was recruited at the Cameroon Radio Television, CRTV, Cameroon’s state broadcasting house in 2017.

Since her recruitment at the CRTV, Amy Banda has been doing radio reports and slots for radio programmes. She is also presenter of a TV show, “The Artist”.

About her driving force, Amy says she has an energy within, to execute. This, she says, has enabled her overcome many challenges especially in her professional milieu.

Her faith in GOD, as a stunch Baptist Christian has been her overall drive.

She is also happy about the existence of two role models who have inspired her to success:  her father, one time journalist, Ephraim Banda Ghogomo and late Anne Nkwain Nsang, another journalist.

Amy is also a Blogger and a Peace Advocate through an online campaign aimed at promoting peace, “Target Peace”.

She is also the Vice Chair of Phenomenal African Women (PAW) – Cameroon. Women, she explains are ICEd (Inspired, Celebrated and Empowered) at PAW to do greater exploits.

Talking about favourite quotes, the 32-year old Cameroonian lady says when she lost her in Mum in 2002, she felt her world was crumbling but a friend told her, “Tough times don’t last; tough people do.”

Another quote which has spurred Amy Banda on is, “Out of every bitter situation, come out better.”

The open-minded journalist who hails from Ndop in the North West Region of Cameroon is passionate about making the world a better place and giving the voiceless, a voice. This was the major inspiration behind her “Voice of the Voiceless” programme which has recently earned her many awards.

She just received the Regional and Country Most Influential Women in Business and Government award in the Media Category, the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Awards by Lifetime Newspaper for the Female Rising Journalism Icon and the Best TV Social Programme Award by The Scoop Newspaper in 2015…yes, so many awards in three years!

Throughout her professional circuit so far, Amy Banda thinks she most impacted her audience on the programme, “Voice of the Voiceless.”

About women working in the media…Amy says the challenges are many and sometimes the women are not allowed to be where they ought to be. Thatnotwithstanding, the go-getter will keep pressing on with so much Faith.

Go Amy!