Goodbye Kumbo

As I write this post now, I’m actually at Mbingo Baptist Hospital about 2 hours drive from Kumbo. I’ve decided to spend my last week or so in Cameroon on the Children’s Ward at Mbingo Baptist Hospital. It’s hard to believe that it’s almost time for me to come home. I’m looking forward to going back and seeing my family and friends, but it also feels like just when I’m getting used to life here, I’m getting ready to leave.

My last week in Kumbo (the town where Banso Baptist Hospital) has been great.

This past Sunday, I actually got up to go to church and when I got there, all the church doors were locked. Luckily, a nice lady that was sitting outside the church told me that because it was a special holiday that Mass was being held at the Fon’s Palace in Kumbo and she actually walked me down to that area. A fon – as per Wikipedia and what I’ve gathered while being here – is the chief of a region in Cameroon and are most commonly found in the Northwest (where Kumbo is) and West regions. They don’t really have much political power now, but are still highly respected. Anyway, when I got there the Mass was already half over but then they started a long procession back to the church, complete with singing and dancing. I tried to include a short video, but it wasn't uploading so i included a picture instead. They called this feast “Sacrament” because they travel throughout the town with the Eucharist (under the yellow canopy). It’s been interesting to see how other Catholics practice and even though I’m working at a Baptist hospital, almost 25% of Cameroon is actually Catholic.

This is a picture of the Fon's Palace.

Pictured here is Vera, one of the Cameroonian nurse practitioners who works on the Children's ward at Banso Baptist Hospital. She is fantastic and is basically taking care of all of the children that come into the hospital (since there is no pediatrician on staff).

Here are 2 Cameroonian doctors that I've been working with. On the left is Dr. Ebogo who works on the Adult wards. On the right is Dr. Simo who takes care of the patients on the Maternity Ward and the HIV clinic. He is the only doctor at the HIV clinic right now and one of his most recent frustrations is that there are no HIV meds available. In all of Cameroon. All of the medications for HIV actually come directly from the government and are free. But, very frequently, the government runs out of money to supply HIV meds. Although Cameroon is a fairly politically stable country, what I've learned since being here is that many government officials are actually quite corrupt. Many of the Cameroonian doctors suspect there actually is money allotted for HIV meds but some of that money is falling into the pockets of politicians. It is quite sad when patients come to the hospital over and over wanting to get their anti-retrovirals and they keep having to be turned away because there aren't any available.

Today I left Kumbo and traveled to Mbingo. It was a beautiful, scenic drive and we stopped to overlook Lake Oku. It’s apparently spans 60 miles wide (for reference, Lake Michigan is about 300 miles) and is sort of the pride and joy of the area and also the subject of many local myths. Many people are actually afraid to go swimming in it or even to go to the base of the lake. I admired it from a safe distance!

Ok, that's it for now. I will post pictures from Mbingo soon.