The tradition of reuniting as former students of Ombe College likely began with the first graduating class of 1956. However, I believe that a formal alumni association didn’t take shape until the mid-1960s. Since the college was exclusively male until 1982, the association was widely known then as the “Ombe Old Boys Association.”

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Initially, the alumni group was primarily based in Cameroon, as most former students remained in the country. Over the past several decades, however, many former students have and continue to relocate around the world, particularly to the United States and Europe. In the United States in particular, there was a clamor to begin an alumni association but for several years, the idea never fully materialized, partly due to a lack motivation, procrastination and other factors. That changed in the summer of 2020, when Dr. Solomon Agbor and Mr. Paul Saah took the initiative. Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, they organized the first meeting of former Ombe students living in the Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia (DMV) area. The excitement at that initial gathering was palpable.

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A few months later, the group was hosted by Mayor Michael Nkeng. At that meeting, a fundraising campaign was launched in response to and to address a critical need identified by the college authorities: providing portable water to the college. The initiative raised approximately $16,000, and the project was completed in under eight months. The handover ceremony, held on May 13, 2022, was presided over by the Regional Delegate of Education for the South West region, accompanied by the Divisional Delegate for Education and the college principal.

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This outstanding achievement spurred members into greater action. In the summer of 2022, we held our inaugural convention in Maryland that brought members across the United States and Canada, marking the beginning of what has become an annual tradition. In 2023, the convention held again in Maryland and the following year, it held in Dallas, Texas. The next convention is scheduled to hold in Milwaukie, in the great state of Wisconsin.