By Hope Nda and Kai Laura Bih
The Buea-based community radio, Christian Broadcasting Service, CBS, recently received an award from the Walcutz Community Development Association, WACUDA, honouring its impactful humanitarian and community reporting.
The award was handed to CBS Radio’s Station Manager, Masoma Boris-Karloff Batata, during WACUDA’s Beauty d’Or award ceremony in Buea on July 13, 2024.
On the award, bearing the signature of WACUDA’s President, Ekie Walter Ngalle, the organisation notes that the recognition was meant to appreciate CBS Radio’s “outstanding dedication and invaluable contributions” to the community.
It added that the radio station’s “unwavering commitment, selfless efforts, and inspiring spirit have made a profound and lasting impact on the lives of many”.
To Boris-Karloff Batata, whose humanitarian and community storytelling inspired the award, the recognition is proof that CBS Radio remains relevant to the community, amid the multiplicity of media in Cameroon.
“As the Manager of CBS Radio Buea, receiving this award means a lot to me because it comes as a push, as a motivation that I should keep up with what I’m doing together with my team,” he told The Post.
“This award coming in is like fuel to the engine that, ‘Man, drive on’. The community is watching. People are getting the impact which is so much desired,” he added.
This was the first award CBS Radio was receiving since Batata took over as Station Manager in 2023. The humanitarian journalist says one of his main goals is to keep the Presbyterian Church-owned radio station relevant in an era of social media and media plurality.
He does this by “bringing out stories that impact community so that community members can make informed decisions while listening to us”.
He continued: “The kind of stories that we tell on the radio, that’s what sets us apart. We don’t just cover stories from the viewpoint of event organisers, but we comb communities to unearth stories from the people’s perspective.”
Before receiving the award, Batata had covered Walter Ngalle’s (Walcutz) humanitarian activities for four years, during which he exposed the Walcutz Community’s outreaches to orphans, prisoners and street children in Cameroon.
“As a humanitarian journalist I was really captivated by his story. So we went to several orphanages, giving free haircuts and didactic materials and other humanitarian support.”
CBS radio was the only media house that was honoured during the Beauty d’Or award, which crowned the two-day Battle of the Beauticians ceremony.
The event was meant to valorise the works of barbers, stylists, make-up artists, beauty pageants and other actors in the Cameroonian beauty industry.
The event, in its 4th edition, was organised by Walter Ngalle’s WACUDA in collaboration with Liv27, a Dubai-based beauty enterprise.
Ngalle said it was an opportunity to recognize talent in the often neglected beauty sector, and was another opportunity for him to give back to his community.
An established barber and owner of the Walcutz Barbing Salon in Buea, Walter Ngalle has been living in Dubai for over one year now after he won a lucrative contract.
As a humanitarian, he has empowered several young people affected by the ongoing conflict in Cameroon’s English-speaking Regions through his free training programmes in Barbing.
The Battle of the Beauticians was an opportunity for these young talents and other beauticians to compete, innovate, collaborate and network, a rare opportunity in Cameroon.
At the end of the competition, 15 outstanding beauticians received cash prizes and beauty items, while the winners of the barbering contest, makeup contest, and Miss Beauty D’Or earned free visas to Dubai to enhance their skills.
Among other award recipients in the media sector included Dream FM host and humanitarian journalist, Rene Issa, and popular entertainment blogger, Fuchor.