A Mission statement defines the primary objective of an organization; the business, products or services, and customers. It provides detailed information about what the organization does, how it does, and who it does it for. So indeed, it helps focus the Organization on what really matters - to itself as well as to its stakeholders. Whereas, the Vision statement focuses on its goals and aspirations, which describes how the future will look if the organization achieves its mission. The mission and vision of any veritable organization should be timeless.
The vision and mission statements provide a focal point that helps to align everyone with the organization, thus ensuring that everyone is working towards a single purpose. This helps to increase efficiency and productivity in the organization. (From Blog Article by Colour Infusion, Cochrane AB - https://colourinfusion.ca)
Not having clear mission and vision statements would be like going on a journey without knowing the direction you are to follow or the destination.
The CBC Health Services is a Nonprofit, Faith-based, Humanitarian and Inclusive healthcare Organization that addresses both clinical, social, and public health problems affecting individuals and communities in Cameroon in particular and Africa at large. It is one of the departments of the Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC). CBC founded in 1954 is a living fellowship of churches growing in grace, strengthening one another in faith and working together in obedience to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission of Jesus Christ through worship, preaching, teaching, healing and social ministries. (www.cbc-cm.org).
The Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Service (CBCHS) has as mission to provide care to all who need it as an expression of Christian love and as a means of witness in order that, they might be brought to God through Jesus Christ. Thus, the CBCHB shall provide exemplary Health care with genuine compassion and with overriding purpose of evangelical witness. This is drawn from Matthew 9:35-36. Her vision is, “Quality care to all”.
The CBCHS since its establishment has been operating in Cameroon striving to further her mission and by no means deviating from it. They strive to PROVIDE CARE TO ALL WHO NEED IT AS AN EXPRESSION OF CHRISTIAN LOVE AND AS A MEANS OF WITNESS. If you go through the Scripture, Jesus ministered to all – those with leprosy, the prostitutes - I mean all who were rejected in the society; even those who hated Him. He had a goal in mind, His goal was the salvation of mankind. As the arm of the church, the CBC Health Services seeks to provide Care to all who need it as an expression of this Christian love and equally as a means of evangelical witness. Jesus fully aware that Judas Iscariot would later betray Him did not disown him but ministered to him as well.
The CBCHS has stood the test of time even in the current crisis situation; She has never deviated from providing care to all who need it. She has been seen in hard-to-reach areas. This is because, she developed a clear sense of her values even before the crisis. CBC Health Services' mission statement indicates a clear concern regarding a commitment to "quality and maintaining the highest standards of honesty and integrity in its dealings with all stakeholders”.
We equally praise God for the transformational leaders in the CBC Health Services who inspire, energize, and intellectually stimulate and stir employees to look beyond their own self-interest for the benefit of individual work groups and the organization as a whole.
The CBC Health Services has used her mission statement as a constant guide for her actions. She is out to satisfy customers’ needs. The mission of the CBCHS is clear: equality ("the proposition that all men are created equal and in the image of God")
Persevering through tragedy is not easy. The CBCHS has not let her shortcomings to keep her from her work. Staying true to her mission and vision has kept her in focus to learn from any challenges and sailing through when and where many are failing!!!
The public health luminary with decades of service has continued to receive praise for his selfless services and achievements. The most recent is a National Press Award of Excellence as a Champion of Peace and Welfare of Cameroonians for 2023. The Award from the Watchdog Tribune Media Group recognizes Prof Tih “as the most resilient, most committed, and most selfless Director with impressive records of never ending the search for excellence within the CBC Health Services. The recognition describes him as “A GREAT REFORMER AND FOUNDER OF MODERN CBCHS NATIONWIDE”.
The award was handed to the Director during the morning devotion of Saturday March 9, 2024. In his hand over ceremony, the Publisher/Director of the Watchdog Media Group Ezikiel Nkunawe Dotta made a litany to justify the choice of the recipient as decided upon by the National Press Award Committee and a Jury of 12 members viz;
The CBC Health Services is widely acclaimed as the pride of not only the CBC, but the entire nation of Cameroon.
The award committee acknowledges the team work spirit of Prof Tih which they admire as a virtue of a genuine intellectual who works closely with Administrators, Senior Staff and also ensures unity and passion in all staff working with the institution. The award committee extended their appreciation to the work of the ‘competent [health] board technocrats’ who collaborate with the Director and always strategize for better performance. He [Prof Tih] refers to all staff as his collaborators and has reminded them often that he only receives these awards because of the work that they do collectively.
It was a moment for the Director to once more say THANK YOU to all staff across the Health Board for their indefatigable, passionate and selfless service delivery. He called on them to continue to “uphold what builds and not what destroys”. He has continued to build and will continue in the same spirit, he declared.
In some of his recent tours, the Director has stopped at nothing to continue to encourage staff and ensure the expansion of service delivery. Visiting Pouss in the Far North Region of Cameroon in February 2024, the mission has been to establish a health center that will serve the people of Cameroon and the people of Chad. This announcement received acclamation from staff at the devotion.
The CBC Health Services’ progressive expansion reveals the zeal of a health institution that strives to reach out to everyone with quality healthcare delivery.
Cameroonian-born Dr. Daniel Gwan-Nulla, a cardiothoracic surgeon in Georgia, USA led a three-man team to Mbingo Baptist Hospital and Baptist Hospital Mutengene from February 28 to March 1, 2024, to prospect the site that is most suitable to host such a giant pediatric hospital. Speaking to the press in the CBC Health Services head office in Bamenda, Dr. Daniel Gwan-Nulla said they would pray and allow God to choose the hospital that will be accessible to every Cameroonian as well as the Central Africa sub-region.
Quizzed on his motivation to construct a pediatric hospital, the cardiothoracic surgeon who hails precisely from Bali in the Northwest region said he is interested in changing the narrative of the high infant mortality rate in African countries. He explained that the hospital will serve as a one-stop-shop where a child comes in and gets whatever specialist service, he/she needs to stay alive – no referral to another hospital elsewhere!
On the choice of CBC Health Services, Dr. Daniel Gwan-Nulla said it is on record that the organization is best in providing quality healthcare in Cameroon, and therefore, the choice could not be otherwise.
“A similar hospital has been constructed in South Africa and after Cameroon, we shall move on to another African country,” Dr. Daniel Gwan-Nulla revealed.
Two other team members included: David Wright, Architect & CEO, HFG Architecture, Wichita, Kansas, and Ellery Walker, Master Planning Fellow, Engineering Ministries International (EMI), Colorado Springs, Colorado. Both officials registered positive remarks of their sojourn to the CBC Health Services.
The Deputy Director for Administration and Finance, DDAF, Mr. Warri Denis received the team on behalf of the DHS.
The exchange visit enabled the team to visit a similar project initiative funded by CBM in some provinces in Rwanda.
The team comprised; the SEEPD Program Manager, Mr. Awa Jacques Chirac, the Assistant Program Manager, Mr. Tamon James, the Project Coordinator Mr. Lohshie Eugene and Mr. Chick Sama, the General Coordinator of the Coordinating Unit of Association of People with Disabilities (CUAPWD) Northwest region.
The visit began February 19, 2023 with a meeting at the CBM Rwanda office in Kigali, where the project team presented their objective of the visit and shared the experience of CBCHS as a CBM partner organization in Cameroon.
Weeklong activities took the team to four districts (Huye, Ngoma, Gisagara, Rwamagana) across two provinces (East and South), holding meeting with district authorities and understanding their involvement and role in promoting inclusion and ensuring the full and effective participation of people with disabilities in community life.
With the major objective of the visit being to understand the implementation of livelihood project, the team met with several Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) to understand how they are empowering members/participants to increase access and control over resources and how they are using collective power to overcome social and financial barriers.
The team also met with several youths accessing technical vocational education and training in formal and informal settings. Highlight of the visit was meeting with the leadership of the Rwandan National Council of People with Disabilities (NCPD), who spelled out how the government is working in policy to improve on the situation of the vulnerable population especially those with disabilities.
With field support and orientation from staff of the National Union of Disability Organization (NUDOR), the visit ended with a debriefing session at the CBM Rwandan Country office, where the project team presented their learning and suggestions to the Rwandan team.
This activity was supported with funding from CBM.
have been donated to five District Hospitals and the St. Joseph Children and Adults Home (SAJOCAH) Bafut in the Northwest region. The Director of CBC Health Services Prof Tih Pius Muffih handed the equipment to Administrators of the hospitals in the presence of other stakeholders at the end of a one-day stakeholders meeting that took place at the Baptist Center Nkwen Bamenda on February 15, 2024. The meeting was organized by the Comprehensive Program for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities and Inclusive Access to Basic Services of Health and Education in the Northwest Region of Cameroon. Speaking during the handing over, the Director of Health Services (DHS), Prof. Tih Pius Muffih extended gratitude to CBM for the support that has enabled the program to provide some equipment to the hospitals. He said the equipment are intended to support and improve service delivery for vulnerable people especially those with disabilities. He revealed that efforts have been made in demonstrating good practices on access in the area of remolding of Out Patient Departments and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) facilities. The meeting, which was chaired by the Director of CBC Health Services, Prof. Tih Puis Muffi brought together stakeholders from the Health, Education, Livelihood, and Social Inclusion domains of the program. According to the Director, the objective of the meeting was to provide an understanding of the mandate of stakeholders as well as provide updates on the implementation of project activities highlighting the outputs, outcomes, and challenges. He thanked the stakeholders for their contributions to the program in promoting inclusion at different levels of society. The high point of the meeting was the presentation of a progress report for 2022 to 2023 presented by the Program Manager, Awa Jacques Chirac. The Manager said for this period of implementation, the program has recorded the following results; Health and Rehabilitation 106%, Inclusive Education 74%, and Economic Empowerment and Social Inclusion 89%. Under the Health Component, the Program Manager noted that the program has built the capacity of 15 District Medical Officers, Directors of District Hospitals, and Municipal authorities on inclusive healthcare and financed accessibility assessment and remodeling in five District Hospitals and SAJOCAH amongst others. As a result of these actions, there has been improved access to the built environment, increased acceptance by healthcare providers, and provision of healthcare with principles of universal design which have improved access to healthcare for 171,182 persons with disabilities with an 86% increase compared to 2020-2021. In addition, 2400 children received neonatal ear screening and 62 were referred for follow-up. Mr. Awa underlined that under the Education component, the Program trained 82 examiners and education authorities, equipped 2 special exam centers, carried out an annual review of exam sessions and revision and adoption of good practices in inclusion, and conducted an assessment of the entire exam circle and proposed recommendations for inclusion. With these efforts, there is an improved access and participation of learners with disabilities in GCE Exams with 55 of them who wrote the GCE in 2021 with a 46.67% passing and 70 who wrote in 2023 with a percentage passed of 76%. In addition, there has been the revision of exam guidelines including the use of scribes, additional time (30min/1hr), and revision of exam registration forms to inform the provision of reasonable accommodation measures. In the Livelihood and Social Inclusion domain, the program has lobbied, advocated, advised, and technically supported Councils, the Regional Assembly, and two technical structures to ensure the inclusion of people with disabilities and socio-economic opportunities. Also, the program provided fee and material support to 50 youths with disabilities to access Technical Vocational Education Training (TVET) programs. Mr. Awa also highlighted that Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) have been formalized with decentralized local authorities 12 Councils, the United Cities and Councils of Cameroon (UCCC), and the National School of Local Administration (NASLA), and the introduction of a module on inclusive development in NASLA's curriculum. Despite the results recorded, the Program Manager expressed some challenges faced some of which are that the adoption of universal design practices in municipal development is still below expectation, new projects are conceived and implemented without accessibility and awareness of the 2010 law on the promotion and protection of the rights of persons with disabilities remains low among duty bearers, thereby restricting the benefits and participation of persons with disabilities in health and education amongst others. At the end of his presentation, stakeholders applauded the project for the results recorded so. Prof. Tih moderated a session during which participants made salient recommendations that would go a long way to improve the current phase of the program as well as ameliorate the lives of persons with disabilities. This program is implemented with support from CBM.
This gathering united staff, mainly from the chaplaincy, from all its satellite centers in the country in a powerful display of faith and resilience amidst immense challenges.
The conference acknowledged the ongoing conflict's impact on CBCHS services, finances, and staff safety. Professor Tih Pius, Director of Health Services, highlighted the plight of the institution’s "two mother hospitals operating at 1/3rd" of capacity and staff facing "torture" and even death. He expressed gratitude for the continued support of partners and emphasized the importance of prayer during these difficult times, highlighting their desire to "do more with us and Cameroon."
Despite these hardships, the conference resonated with hope and determination. Rev Ngwang Simon, Chaplaincy Supervisor explained the need for the gathering, calling on the Chaplaincy and others to take up spiritual oversight for the staff and the institution. Mr Wirba Livinus, facilitator, further emphasized the power of prayer, stating, "Prayer is only as effective as the burden you carry, there is so much to pray for."
Participants engaged in prayer sessions, testimonies, and reflections, fostering unity and purpose. Intercessory teams were formed to ensure continued prayer and support beyond the conference.
Professor Tih highlighted the resilience of the CBCHS, stating, "How are we still able to keep drugs, keep staff, send drugs and pay salaries? We balance needs in a careful way to maintain services." He encouraged staff to "stand firm and be diligent," emphasizing the need for leadership to push forward.
This event underscored the CBCHS's core values: unwavering faith, commitment to community service, and resilience in the face of adversity. The spirit of hope and unity resonated throughout, empowering participants to move forward with renewed strength.