I Know Someone

“Wow Kate, it seems as though the best Cameroonians are working on your project. How did you find them?”  For the past three weeks Sharyn Moss, an MPH Nutrition student from Loma Linda University, has been working with me.  Last Wednesday she met Nancy during a brief stop in Bamenda.  She met Nancy after meeting Dr. Okwen and the staff at the Life Abundant Primary (LAP) Health Training Center, where I live.  I immediately agreed that they are very impressive people: Nancy, who initially studied law and then discovered the rewards of public health and now is  Cameroon’s public health version of the main character from the books The Ladies No. 1 Detective Agency; Dr. Okwen, who is trained as a medical doctor yet is really a Cameroon Technology Renaissance Man, and the administrator at LAP who wrote an article about exclusive breastfeeding in 2005 and sparked my idea for this project.  

  After Sharyn asked her question I tried to briefly explain all of the connections: I worked with Dr. Okwen when I was here as a Peace Corps Volunteer and we wrote the grant to the Nestle Foundation together.  He knew Nancy who knew Dr. Fonteh, our Co-Principle Investigator from Dschang University, who knew Dr. Focho, our scriptwriter.  Dr. Okwen knew Dr. Yota, the District Medical Officer in Kumbo who essentially facilitates all of my work in Kumbo.  If I need people for a focus group discussion, he makes a few phone calls and a couple of days later I show up and there are a group of men or women eager to share their ideas.

Recording an audio segment at the District Medical Office

Cameroonians do a great job of performing a variety of functions.  For example, Gilbert, shown in the picture above, is Dr. Yota's driver, photocopier, and our voice actor agent.  He helped me recruit 12 voice actors for our audio program from the health district office and nearby health center.  He even recruited himself and enthusiastically played the part of the doctor and one of the women.  However, after listening to a few of the recordings, we realized a couple of days ago that nurses and office workers don't necessarily make great voice actors.  So now I'm in the process of finding a whole new set of voice actors.  It was suggested to me that I visit the secondary schools and see if any students in the drama clubs would be available.  There are two major secondary schools in Kumbo.  One of them is attended by my good friend Emmanuela.  I told Emmanuela what I needed and she said she would talk to the principle for me.  I didn't know anyone at the other school, only where it was located.  Last Friday morning I showed up to talk to the principle and he resolutely told me know, the students could not participate in such activities.  He said that if they did a drama about breastfeeding it would encourage the students to have babies at a young age.  In the afternoon I visited Emmanuela's school.  Within minutes I had a room full of teenagers eager to participate in the drama.  Its a set back to have to start all over again recruiting voice actors and recording the audio program, but I am confident that through the my various relationships it will work out.  It always does.

Friendship and community are first of all inner qualities allowing human togetherness to be a playful expression of a much larger reality.  They can never be claimed, planned, or organized, but in our innermost self the place can be formed where they can be received as gifts.

Henri Nouwen, Reaching Out