J&A Oben Foundation: Graduating dieticians from CEFOPRODIET urged to uphold professionalism.

The call was made Wednesday October 16, during a graduation ceremony of the 4th and 5th batches of the school, at the premises of the J&A Oben Foundation in Yaounde. 

It brought together the graduating dieticians, staff, parents of the students, founders of J&A Oben Foundation, members of its Board of Directors of the foundation and a cross section of friends and well-wishers of the institution.

The 2023 and 2024 batches of the school graduated after undergoing intensive and high quality training. While the 2023 batch was christened Prof Fokou Elie Batch, the 2024 batch was named Crista Tabi Arrey Batch.

In a welcome address, the Coordinator of J&A Oben Foundation, Malaika Doualla, said in five years of its existence, the Foundation has greatly evolved and keeps impacting communities positively in different ways.

She added that the huge turnout for the matriculation ceremony shows “support to the founders and main funders’ vision, which is to increase understanding of our communities and provide access to good nutrition and entrepreneurship, making malnutrition in Cameroon history and training job creators”. 

The representatives of the graduating dieticians hailed the founders of J&A Oben Foundation, whose vision to transform aspects of nutrition, they said, inspired them to undergo the training.

On her part, the Director of CEFOPRODIET, Crista Tabi Arrey, noted that the school’s students have always produced excellent results in national end-of-course examinations. 

She disclosed that apart from training in dietetics and functional foods, the graduates also received training in entrepreneurship and thus urged them to be job creators and not job seekers.

“Now is the time real work begins for you. Be enterprising, relentless, determined, committed, humble and respectful,” she told the graduands.

“My dear graduands, going through this journey with you all has been full of new discoveries in terms of your different temperaments, passion for dietetics and above all approach to patient care,” she added.

Meanwhile, the Co-Founder and President of J&A Oben Foundation, Prof Julius Oben, urged the graduands to be ambassadors of the institution wherever they find themselves. 

He also enjoined them to be dynamic, professional and remain faithful to their passion, and that their actions should reflect the values imbibed in them by the institution. 

A representative from the Ministry of Employment and Vocational Training, Tsama Eloma Claris, said J&A Oben Foundation puts a lot of energy and importance to the training offered by CEFOPRODIET.

Stating that CEFOPRODIET is among the best schools offering training in dietetics and functional foods, she said the school offers quality training.

To the graduands, Eloma Claris said: “The road is still long, but with the good training you have received, there is hope that you will succeed”. 

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3269 of Thursday October 24, 2024