"Surviving Against All Odds: The Inspiring Story of Resilience in Cameroon"

At my recent Amnesty International meeting this week I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Vanasius Nyuchem 42 , who is on asylum in the U.S. from Cameroon. I was so moved that he shared his personal experience of escaping human rights in abuses in Cameroon, I felt compelled to share his story to the world. Mr. Nyuchem, when he spoke, I felt his trauma as well as his triumph. In 2008, working as a lab technician at a hospital in Cameroon, he was helping some of the activists of the southern Cameroon National Council with their wounds and he was mistakenly accused to being part of their group that is anti-government. He describes one morning, how unidentified men came to his door with weapons and interrogated him for two hours.

He was then taken to a truck by gunpoint along with other people to a jail. Inside the jail he explains how he was tortured, tied to a chair and beaten. After a couple of days he was released and was allowed to go to a hospital. Once released from the hospital he thought this was all behind him until the men came a second time. During the second encounter, he was told that his name was to be put on a black list and on one occasion, his wife was raped leaving him devastated and scared. In 2016 as Mr. Nyuchem was attending a peaceful protest that suddenly erupted in violence by military forces, he was beaten openly in the streets. After laying low for a while and facing danger, Mr. Nyuchem knew he had to flee his country.

Mr. Nyuchem arrived to the U.S in 2017 not knowing anyone, but a cousin of his wife that was studying at a university in Iowa which was how he was able to get a visa to enter. Even till this day he has never met this cousin. Upon arrival in Los Angeles, he met an uber driver from Cameroon that allowed him to stay in his garage, but it was under very poor conditions. After a while Mr. Nyuchem was able to get in contact with an organization here in LA called "PTV" - Program for Torture Victims. Through the help of the organization PTV, he was able to get connected with St. John's Episcopal church where he met a couple who allowed him to stay in their home in Van Nuys, CA. The couple has provided him with clothes, money and a safe place to live. During this time Mr. Nyuchem is currently employed working as a security guard at Olive View hospital and in May of 2018, he was granted asylum.

As time goes on , Vanasius is realizing how expensive living in southern California can be and he is planning to move to Minnesota and the end of this month. Currently his wife and daughter are in hiding. He is also in process of adopting his brother's daughter as well, so they can all one day be reunited.During our time together, he was so happy to show me around the house and his room. He told me that he often uses Skype to communicate with his wife and he is still very scared of the police and fretful to go out except for work and church. Nervous, yet grateful for all of the people that have helped him on this journey, I'm sure it is hard to leave the past behind. As we parted ways, I reminded him that in our darkest times in life, that is when we have to cling to hope the most. The hope is that in due time we can take comfort in knowing that the sacrifices and risks that we take are all for a better life.

How can you help? People in Cameroon’s Anglophone regions are in the grip of a deadly cycle of violence. Security forces have indiscriminately killed, arrested, and tortured people during military operations, which have also displaced thousands of civilians. Write to the government of Cameroon and join Amnesty International's campaign to end torture and violence in Cameroon, by clicking the link below.

https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/afr17/8481/2018/en/