It is a region close to the Mandara mountain range that separates Cameroon from Nigeria. The hills are sparse and rugged, strewn with boulders, and are sometimes quite steep. Terraces of stones built by farmers wind along the contours of the hillsides to protect the topsoil and improve water retention. Compounds are dispersed all over the village, with cultivated plots generally close by. The village was selected by CARE principally because it had an adequate potable water supply, and each selected family had at least one member living in the compound who could speak French.
Water is the lifeblood of the community in two critical respects.
First, access to sufficient potable water, and to adequate, timely rainfall, is the critical to survival. Second, the need to tackle the overriding water problem has brought the community together and energized its members. With support from CARE Cameroon, the 500 villagers in the Chechem district dug 2 wells, organized a water management committee, and each family pays 3 cups of millet annually to finance maintenance and repairs. Mandaka's 5,000 inhabitants are subsistence farmers, producing food for their own needs, and modest quantities of crops for cash, mainly white beans, groundnuts, and cotton. They have tackled their potable water needs, but adequate rainfall is entirely beyond their control.