About Talented Cameroonians at Home and Abroad N° 013 Miss South Africa USA Miss Kenya USA Miss Liberia USA Miss Sierra Leone USA Miss Cameroon USA Miss Gambia USA Miss Guinea USA Nyasha Zimucha Victoria Njau Belloh Julius Philippa Lahai-Swaray Danielle Mingana Fochive Tanta Badjan Binta Diao Miami Florida Texas Georgia Georgia Maryland New York New Jersey Miss Zimbabwe USA Miss Ghana USA Miss Burundi USA Miss Nigeria USA Miss South Sudan USA Miss Ethiopia USA Miss Senegal USA Busi Mlambo Krystle Simpson Danielle Ntahonkiney Esosa Edosomwan Nathalie Zambakari Aziza Elteib Mariama Brown Texas Maryland Texas New York Georgia Georgia Miss Democratic Re- Miss Uganda USA Miss Zambia USA public of Congo Imat Akelo-Opio Mutinta Suuya Andrea Mvemba International Georgia ello Readers, Your favourite E-Magazine is one year old. We acknowledge that your interest and comments have been invaluable to our editorial work and so we hereby pledge our commitment to continue this initiative that ushers in a new era of hardwork, creativity and results that will accompany our country on the difficult path towards development. Things will never be the same again. H HEALTH FOR ALL has been a bestselling slogan and dream for so many decades in Cameroon like in other countries. While we all see Health For All as an achievement that permits everyone to get care in order to prevent or treat most common ailments at affordable prices, we still observe that despite all the individual, collective and government efforts aimed at improving on healthcare delivery systems , so many obstacles imposed by more communicable and non-communicable diseases still exist in an environment marked by poverty. In this Issue, we run to a few dedicated health practitioners for rescue. Our first stop is Daytona Beach in Florida where we find Dr. Philip NDUM, an oncologist and hematologist, to give us an insight into the reasons that account for his success in practice as well as get his bits of analysis and ad- vice on most health problems that we face today. We join health decision makers from all over Africa in the 58th Session of WHO Africa Region Committee holding in Yaounde to learn more about Africa’s growing health challenges and efforts to meet them. One of such challenges is, of course, MALARIA. Our interest in Yaounde is also aroused by a one day conference on African Traditional Medicine. We are impressed by efforts made by Governments to integrate traditional medicine into modern medicine since more than 60 percent of Africa’s population still has recourse to traditional solutions to their health problems. Dr. Philip NDUM’s expert opinions on some non-communicable diseases inspire us to stop for a moment on Breast Cancer and examine its growing threat on the health of especially young women of African descent. We remember the 1978 Alma-Ata Declaration on Primary Health Care and meet one of Africa’s greatest icons in Medicine, Professor Gottlieb Lobe Monekosso, to share his most interesting moments as a talented health professional and administrator throughout his very long period of service and awesome achievements. At the Tiko District Hospital, Dr. EBONG Charles EWANG gives us an insight into the challenges that most health practitioners face in different health institutions in Cameroon. His opinions on several health issues are just so enriching. A few kilometers away, at the foot of Mount Fako, Madam OMAM Esther explains to us how she and the hardworking staff of REACH OUT set out strategies to support underprivileged groups in the community with emphasis on good reproductive health and economic empowerment among youth and women. Next, we accompany the Presidential Couple to New York and Quebec and also join in celebrating the achievements of tal- ented Cameroonians like EBEN ARMSTRONG, FRANCOISE MBANGO ETONE, LADY KATE NJEUMA. We also join in celebrating Prince BELDON’S First Birthday in Colorado, before attending the African workshop on Governance in the Transport Sector organised in Yaounde. Dear Reader, Part of our hopes for African Development lies with the US Presidential Elections and BARACK Tonge B. Ebai OBAMA is our Choice! Enjoy Your Reading. About Cameroonians at Home and Abroad 3 The U.S. Embassy in Cameroon will lead a high-level Trade Delegation of African Business Executives and Entrepreneurs to Chicago for a Trade Mission, Business Forum, attendance to Pack Expo International 2008 and a major Chicago Car Auction Sale. Makuna International, Chicago US Embassy, Yaounde Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected] website: www.makunainternational.com Tel: (237) 22 20 15 00 (4118) Tel: 1630 670 5551 Welcome to the SUCCESS STORY E-MAGAZINE, Dr. Philip Ndum and GREETINGS from our Readers around the world. Medicine can be a vocation or a profession. Which is it for you? From the very early days of my training, I had a constant reminder from my professors that the only rest one could get as a physician would be in the grave. You come to realize quickly that illness has no timing and that your services could be needed at any hour of the day. If you have compassion for your patients like I do, you feel the compulsion to be there when you are needed to make life changing decisions. Now, when my patients ask when I will have a vacation, I tell them my vocation is my vacation. Nothing gives me more real pleasure than the satisfaction of having done my best and seeing an excellent outcome. What inspired you to begin work in this field? Strangely enough, for as long as I could remember, I always wanted to be a physician. Maybe the suffering that I saw growing up, gave me the drive. From my Shisong Hospital for almost 2 years before coming to the United States in days in primary school, I was called 'Docteur' by my friends. My decision to 1996. Within a year, I was able to complete the required medical licensing subspecialize in medical Oncology and Hematology was a well thought out process. examinations for all practising physicians in the United States and begin Cancer is a devastating illness which continues to rob people of a meaningful specialization in Internal Medicine at the University of Missouri which I existence. The weapons we have to fight cancer are still evolving and my passion to completed in 2000. I went right on to subspecialize in Medical Oncology be a part of the groundbreaking work towards a cure for these diseases led me to and Hematology in the same institution and completed this process in this field. I also realize that death is inevitable and as people get closer to life's end, 2003. From then, I have worked at the Florida Hospital Cancer Care Cen- they become more receptive to God's word. It has been a great experience sharing ter in Palm Coast and Ormond Beach. my faith with others who may never have been approachable in the first place. What professional steps led you to your present position? “I worked in Shisong Hospital for Where do I begin from? After breezing through primary and secondary school, I almost 2 years before coming to the went to CCAST Bambili where I obtained a scholarship to study medicine in Nigeria. It took 5 years of medical education and 1 year doing a rotating internship United States in 1996…” before I could practise medicine in Cameroon as a general practitioner. I worked in About Cameroonians at Home and Abroad 5 What are some of the challenges that you faced reaching your professional objectives? “Now, when my patients When I look back, I must say I have been very blessed. I know what many of my African colleagues have gone through to get assimilated in this system. I will not ask when I will have trivialize their struggles by stating the irrelevant. If I must say anything, my chal- lenges have been at a personal level. I got married at 21 while in medical school and quickly had two children. Most friends and family thought I must be crazy vacation, I tell them my then, and juggling family life and medical school was an experience I would not like to repeat. Also, I had to leave my family back home for almost 4 years while trying to regularize my stay here. Those were the most challenging years of my life. vocation is my Who inspires you? No one particular individual serves as my main inspiration. I was brought up in a vacation.” family where faith, integrity, hard work and self sacrifice were categorical impera- tives. These are the attributes which serve as my main inspiration and I respect individuals who embody these qualities. From the woman who sells puff puff on What are some of the strengths that you have as a the streets of Limbe so that her children can go to school, to the magistrate who Cameroonian that help you in performing your job? refuses a bribe and ensures that justice is not for sale, these are my real heroes. I am a product of adversity and this has given me a sense of dedication and What advice do you have for any young person wanting to enter your hard work. Compassion is a great strength in my profession which has profession? been well nurtured by the extended family networks in Cameroon. A deep Christian faith has also given me the mental ability to cope with my pa- Dedication and hard work is all it takes. There is more perspiration than inspira- tients trials and tribulations and quite often the grief of their families, tion in this field.