Frequently Asked Questions
Answers on who we are, how we work, how we handle money, and how to get involved. If your question is not here, we will answer it directly.
About the Foundation
What is Women's Light Foundation?
Women's Light Foundation (WLF) is a Cameroonian community-based association registered under Law No. 90/053 of 19 December 1990 on Freedom of Association. Established in 2025, it works to advance the rights and opportunities of women, girls and underprivileged communities across Cameroon through seven integrated programme pillars.
Who founded Women's Light Foundation?
The Foundation was founded by Ngong Sonedita Nyeah, a Cameroonian social entrepreneur and women's rights advocate known online as VeryDarkWoman. The Foundation was established in 2025, building on community work she was already undertaking. She serves as Founder and President, and the Foundation uses her public platform to mobilise awareness, community action and support for its programmes.
Is the Foundation an NGO or an association?
It is currently a registered community-based association, which is a deliberate choice. Association status allowed swift registration, community trust and operational agility at founding. The Foundation intends to apply for recognition as an association d'utilité publique with the Ministry of Territorial Administration, and subsequently to pursue full NGO accreditation once it meets the requirements for audit history, programme documentation and governance compliance.
Is Women's Light Foundation politically affiliated?
No. The Foundation is a non-governmental, not-for-profit association with no political affiliation. Its mandate is rooted in community development rather than in any particular political or security context, and it is designed to endure beyond temporary circumstances.
Is the Foundation religiously affiliated?
No. Our core value of dignity commits us to treating every individual with full respect and humanity without discrimination, and we serve communities irrespective of origin, faith or background.
Our work
What does the Foundation actually do?
We deliver seven integrated programmes: gender-based violence prevention and response; girl-child education and protection; sexual and reproductive health and rights; water, sanitation and hygiene; women's livelihoods and economic empowerment; environment and climate resilience; and advocacy, research and policy.
Why run seven programmes instead of specialising in one?
Because the barriers facing women and girls in Cameroon compound each other. A survivor of violence who receives counselling but no route to independent income frequently returns to the household she fled. A girl re-enrolled in school drops out again if that school has no water or sanitation. Delivering the pillars separately produces interventions that succeed on their own indicators and fail in practice.
Where does the Foundation work?
Our head office is at Campaign Street, Buea, in the Southwest Region, with a second base in Bamenda in the Northwest Region. Initial programming concentrates on these two regions because they combine high poverty rates, limited access to social services, large displaced and host communities and significant numbers of out-of-school girls. Our mandate is national in scope across Cameroon.
How are communities selected for a programme?
Through participatory needs assessments conducted with communities rather than about them. Selection criteria are applied openly so that decisions are understood and trusted locally, and priority follows our value of inclusion: underprivileged girls, single mothers, displaced people, persons with disabilities and rural women.
How do you know your programmes work?
Each pillar has a monitoring, evaluation, accountability and learning plan with indicators, baselines and targets. We conduct quarterly internal programme reviews and bi-annual external evaluations, and all data is disaggregated by sex, age, disability status and geographic location. Learning sessions are held at least twice per year to feed findings back into programme design.
Safeguarding and accountability
How do I report a concern about a staff member or volunteer?
Through our Community Accountability and Reporting Mechanism, which includes a confidential feedback and complaints channel. You do not have to give your name, and no action is taken without your consent where you are the person affected. Reports about our own staff, volunteers or partners are treated with the same seriousness as any other.
What is PSEA and does it apply to everyone?
PSEA is the Prevention of Sexual Exploitation and Abuse. Our PSEA policy is mandatory for all staff, volunteers and partners without exception, and every person is briefed on it before they work with communities. It is a condition of working with us rather than a guideline.
Is information I share with the Foundation confidential?
Yes. Confidentiality is a core principle of survivor-centred practice under the IASC Guidelines on Gender-Based Violence, which bind our work. Information about an individual is not shared without their informed consent, and our staff and volunteers are briefed on this before working with anyone.
Are your accounts published?
Not yet. We have not yet published audited financial statements or an annual report. The first annual report, with audited statements, is planned at the close of our first full operating year and will be published on our publications page. Financial authority and programme authority are also held separately, so that no single person both commits and approves expenditure.
Donations and funding
How can I donate?
Our Donate page sets out the ways to give and what different amounts achieve. Mobile money, bank transfer and card payment options are being established, and the page is updated as each becomes available.
How is my donation used?
Donations fund programme delivery across the seven pillars, with a proportion supporting the staffing, administration and monitoring without which programmes cannot be run or verified. Our indicative three-year budget, broken down by thematic area, is published on our Fact Sheet.
Who funds the Foundation?
Our funding strategy combines community and diaspora fundraising through the founder's social media platform, crowdfunding, Cameroonian government grants, UN agency sub-grants, international NGO partnerships, foundation grants, bilateral and multilateral donors, and corporate social responsibility partnerships. As a young organisation we are building this base progressively.
Can my organisation partner with you?
Yes. We work through MOU-based partnerships with government ministries, health facilities, schools and local civil society, and we participate in consortiums with peer associations and NGOs to access larger grant opportunities. Contact info@womenslight.org to begin a discussion.
Getting involved
Do you have job openings?
We publish vacancies as they arise across programme and support functions. If nothing currently matches your profile we still welcome expressions of interest — tell us what you can do and which communities you want to serve.
Can I volunteer?
Yes. We work with volunteers across all seven programme pillars, and we also welcome skills-based and remote contributions such as translation, data analysis, design and research. Every volunteer is briefed on safeguarding and PSEA before beginning, assigned a named supervisor, and provided with a reference on completion.
Do you offer internships?
Yes. Internships are available across our programme areas for students and recent graduates, with the same safeguarding briefing, named supervision and reference on completion as our volunteer placements.
Should I ever pay a fee to apply, volunteer or intern?
No. Women's Light Foundation never charges anyone to apply for a role, to be interviewed, to volunteer or to intern. Any request for payment in our name is fraudulent and should be reported to us at contact@womenslight.org.
Still have a question?
We reply to every genuine enquiry, in English or French.
