Welcome to Mboa Sawa O America, Inc.

We, members of Mboa Sawa O America, Inc (MSOA) are so glad to welcome you to our website. MSOA is a Cameroonian cultural association in the Washington DC metropolitan area. It regroups people tracing their origin from the ocean coast of Cameroon, specifically from Manfe in the Southwest to Campo in the South. This population group includes the Douala, Batanga, Balimba, Bakweri, Bakoko, Bakossi, Banyangui, Bankon, Bonkeng, Bodiman, Balong, Bandem, Banen, Ewodi, Mboh, Mongo, Pongo to name a few. Other sister groups are formed across the USA with the help of MSOA and in Canada.

MSOA is a duly US 501 (c) (3) nonprofit corporation registered in the state of Maryland and in DC organized for charitable, educational, and scientific purposes. Presently, we are also working to register and been recognized in Cameroon by the Ministries of Territorial Administration and Foreign affairs. The registration in Cameroon will lead ways to several planned works and will help to give back to our county of birth and to Africa.

We have 3 types of members:

• Regular members: This membership group is open to all SAWA by birth, adoption or affiliated by marriage living in the US. They have voting right and are eligible for benefit and to hold office.
• Non-Voting Regular Member- these are regular members who have rejected their voting right and eligibility.
• Honorary members- this membership group includes all physical or moral persons who are committed to the purpose of the Association and willingly accept to assist financially or through other donations.

Our general meeting is held on the first Saturday of each month at the residence of one of our members. Members take turn to host the meeting which generally starts at 7pm. We have shifted our meetings virtually on ZOOM in April 2020 due to COVID 19 and we have resumed the in-person meetings since October 2021. Members who can't attend in person are allowed to join in zoom. Our current main activity is to work for a better future for our members and help alleviate suffering of our brothers and sisters back home. We provide benefit assistance to members in case of bereavement (loss of spouses, parents, siblings and children and in time of joy (wedding and births). Our planned events include a showcase of our culture that is widely diverse through our history, dance, music, dressing fashion and food. Cameroon is well known for its diversity, and we certainly add to it.

Our ultimate goal is to unite all Sawa people and carry out activities that promote our culture and better life to all our members. We assist and encourage young men and women to pursue education and career opportunities. We have been very successful in awarding scholarships to high school, disabled children and college students. We have helped and continue to assist our communities in Cameroon to fight COVID 19 and other diseases like Cholera, malaria and flu.

We also fund various programs in the communities we live in, like helping and serving meals to street homeless, people living in the shelters and nursing homes. We do assist the food banks in their distribution and the farmers during the harvest periods.

We annually hold fundraising events to fund our various programs and activities.

We look forward for your assistance to help us help people in need here and in Africa!

Guillaume Mbappe
President
Mboa Sawa O America, Inc.