January 7, 2009 - St. Herbert's Catholic School - Mbanga

Pere (Fr.) Gabriel of St. Herbert's Catholic Church in Souza is the only Catholic priest for miles and miles around - he has a huge parish family, knows everyone in this region, and is the administrator of St. Herbert's School which includes Grade 1 through secondary (high school) and has boarding accommodations for students who live too far away to go home each night. Pere Gabriele very kindly offered the use of his private bathroom which we all gratefully accepted - we've already learned that bathrooms in rural Cameroon aren't like we know them at home - we'll always bring paper with us and hope there's running water or at least a bucket to dip some into the tank. I was taken with the simple elegance of the moustiquaire hanging over his bed - hung from the ceiling by 4 cords, it draped gauzily in the soft light filtering through the shuttered windows.







Pere Gabriel graciously allowed us to conduct health assessments with his school children and faculty in some of the classrooms. This was an incredible first day - we were indescribably hot, missed lunch, didn't drink near enough water, couldn't wash our hands, supplies were terribly disorganized, we were frustrated and exhilarated, and we were exhausted after 7 hours of non-stop hard work! When it was over, it was affirming to discover that we could do all that we did, and we were humbled and proud. I knew that in the coming days I would spend a lot of time studying - there's so-o much to learn about the skin disorders, infections, and gi complaints.


The volunteer translators were invaluable. I paid the man who helped me with a bottle of vitamins for his daughter.


We were mobbed by people of all ages wanting health care for health problems of varying degrees of severity.

We paid for a consultation at the local medical clinic - it turned out that this sick baby was so ill that she was referred on to the big hospital in Douala. Mom had no money - fortunately the family could help since she would have been denied care if she couldn't pay.