That’s why Wandji and 20 of her fellow Cameroonian ladies hosted the Taste of Cameroon event Saturday in Lansing in the hopes of raising money for a women and children’s health care project in Cameroon. About 200 Cameroonian families and supporters came to the event, which was held at Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish, 3815 S. Cedar St.

Featuring Cameroonian food and drink, African dances and a fashion show, the event was meant to share their culture while supporting the people back home, Wandji said.

Funds raised will go toward supporting a women’s health center located in Baham, a village in west Cameroon, she said. The center has already been built, but money embezzlement has caused the construction process to stagnate, and there are only a couple of rooms for patients, Wandji said.

The money will go toward adding a kitchen and bathroom to the facility, as well as providing first aid kits to villages, she said.

“Women play a big part in Cameroon’s society,” said association member Catherine Tchanque. “They raise the kids and take care of the family. If you have healthy women, you have a healthy country.”

Tchanque graduated from the MSU College of Human Medicine last year, and is currently completing her residency in Southfield, she said.

Solidarity and unity – two main Cameroonian fundamentals – are what hold families together, she said.

When a woman gives birth there, her friends and relatives come to her home to take care of the family, Tchanque said.

Henriette Kengne, vice president of the association, said donating more money toward the health centers will impact those living in the villages because they won’t have to travel as far to receive medical care.

Kengne moved to the United States about three years ago, and her husband and children still live in Cameroon, she said.

Any help the villages receive with health resources is bound to make a difference, she said.

“The one take-home message we have is that we like to be together and we like to support each other,” Tchanque said.