CBC Health Services-Nkambe Council Partnership Facilitates Access to Health Care
A massive screening for eye and Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) related conditions has taken place in Nkambe, Donga-Mantung division. The screening campaign organized and conducted by the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Services in collaboration with a team from Nkambe District Hospital was part of the final games of the maiden edition of the Mayor’s Inclusive Sports for Health (MISH) tournament at the Nkambe municipal stadium.
The MISH tournament was all encompassing featuring the effective involvement and participation of people with varied forms of disabilities not only in the sporting activities but also in the organization committee of the tournament.
Nformi Solomon, 22, a person with mobility impairment says it was fulfilling being a part of the tournament. “I felt excited taking part in the wheelchair race.” Solomon has not participated in any recreational activity of this magnitude since acquiring an impairment in 2006. “I will love to have such games regularly,” he added with a toothy smile. To him it was not just a competition but inclusion in practice.
Musa Shey Nfor, Mayor of Nkambe Council and main organizer of the MISH said the importance of the inclusive sports for health cannot be overemphasized. “We want a healthy and active population, who can effectively participate in community development,” he said.
“Besides ensuring the health of the population, we wanted to give persons with disabilities and other vulnerable groups in the municipality a chance to be actively involved in the everyday development endeavor of their town,” he added.
The MISH tournament culminated with the launching of a scholarship scheme. According to Lohshie Eugene, the Program Officer of the Socio-Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disability (SEEPD) program and representative of the Director of CBC Health Services at the event, the scholarship is a salutary move to educate the disadvantaged in the Nkambe Municipality. “Education is a key component of empowerment. Therefore, I urge all you – Nkambe elites, to support the education scholarship initiative of the Council by contributing generously into the fund,” he said.
For a start, the scholarship fund witnessed the payment of school fees and distribution of didactic materials to 30 identified vulnerable children (16 of them with disabilities). According to the Mayor, many more needy children will benefit when enough funds will be mobilized.
It is worth highlighting that the drive to promote inclusion in the Nkambe Municipality is within a partnership agreement the Council shares with the SEEPD program of the CBC Health Services.
This phase of the program, encourages development actors to embrace the concept of Community Based Inclusive Development (CBID) in all community development efforts, ensuring the full and active participation of people with disabilities.
The partnership between the Nkambe Council and the CBC Health Services is supported by Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program.