North West: Ngemba Cultural & Development Association USA donates equipment to 17 health facilities.

Some of the facilities included the Bamenda Regional Hospital, Bamendankwe CMA, Mankon CMA, Bafut District Hospital, Santa District Hospital, Tubah District Hospital and Piyin CMA. 

The official handing over ceremony took place Tuesday July 9, in Bamenda. It was chaired by the Governor of the North West Region, Adolphe Lele L’Afrique. 

Speaking at the event, Governor Lele L’Afrique appreciated the kind gesture of the Ngemba community in Georgia, USA, and confirmed that the donation falls in line with the government’s policy of improving the health standards of the population. He also urged other communities abroad to follow Ngemba’s philanthropic footsteps.

“It falls well in line with the government’s policy of neglecting nothing as far as providing and improving the health standards of the population is concerned. We commend the association for its commitment to supporting the healthcare sector of our Region and encourage other sons and daughters of our Region to emulate this example,” Governor Lele L’Afrique said. 

Barrister Aneneba Akufor, President of the Ngemba Cultural and Development Association, Georgia, said the donation is intended to help improve the services offered by recipient facilities.

“This initiative was conceived by your brothers and sisters back in Georgia, and other parts of the United States, to make sure that the quality of healthcare delivery that the population back home aspires to, is met through this little donation that we have put together,” he said. 

The donation of these health equipment, followed a needs assessment conducted in some of the health centres within the Ngemba communities under the supervision of the North West Regional Delegate of Public Health, Dr Kingsley Che-Soh. 

“During the course of our working sessions, at some point we were bound to do a situational analysis of all what we have in our medical facilities in terms of equipment/supplies and we saw some gaps. It was in respect to this gaps that we did the advocacy and these equipment and supplies were put together by the association and given to us as a donation,” Dr Che-Soh said.

The Director of the Bamenda Regional Hospital, Dr Denis Nsame, whose facility also received a portion of the donations, assured that the equipment will be properly used for the purpose of which it was intended.

“I will really like to thank the Ngemba Cultural and Development Association in Georgia and their partners, for thinking about us back home. We can assure them that this donation will actually be put to good use. When we talk of a hospital, we are talking about disease prevention. Through this donation, we have received a lot of modern material for disease prevention like the hydration therapy machine. We will make sure all this equipment’s are used judiciously,” Dr Nsame told the media.

Mankon Fon urges others to emulate 

The Fon of Mankon, HRM Fo Agwafor IV, also present at the ceremony, appreciated the gesture and called on others to follow the footsteps and generosity of those in Georgia.

“As a father, I am overwhelmed with joy for receiving this equipment and health supplies by my children. Our health system has suffered a lot because of the socio-political crisis and this donation is a well thought idea to lift the delivery of health facilities here by providing these equipment. We are calling on all the citizens of this Region to continue meeting the humanitarian needs of the population…,” the Fon said. 

The Ngemba Cultural and Development Association, with support from MEDSHARE and Allieh Foundation, hopes this donation reaches the people intended and promise to do more in the near future. 

“This should trickle down to the exact people it was intended for, because we are going to be getting feedback from the Regional Delegate and his affiliations. Once we get feedback, we can conceive another package to bring back again, which will not just benefit those within the Ngemba community, but we might go beyond that particular point,” Barrister Akufor Aneneba reiterated. 

The modern life-saving equipment and medical supplies are expected to boost the healthcare delivery within the Ngemba communities and by extension, the entire population of the North West Region. The project was facilitated by other charities such as Medshare that strives to improve the quality of life of people and the planet.

This story was first published in The Guardian Post issue N0:3173 of Friday July 19, 2024