An interview with the former director of the Emmaus Center, Father Wirnkom Donatus

Conducted by:
Ms. Catherine Sewoyebaa, USA,
Tel: +16513890634
+23779201828 (Cameroon)
Email: csewoyeba@yahoo.com
C/O Mme. Njoyi Florence, USA,
Tel : +16515926614
Email : njoyiflo@yahoo.com

FOR THE DIRECTOR OF EMMAUS CENTER

QUESTION: Please, can you tell us more about the Emmaus Center

ANSWER: Let me trace to you a bit on the genesis of the EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER (E.O.C) Bamenda, a home for the mentally disturbed-homeless people. It is a Catholic Church charitable group that seeks to treat, heal, rehabilitate and reinsert abandoned, desperate persons of society, most of whom are victims of drug addiction and mentally demented persons, dejected by their families and society because of their state of health.

The E.O.C was born of a Saint Patrick missionary priest, Reverend Fr. Byrne Brian, a missionary serving in the Archdiocese of Bamenda in fulfilling the Catholic Church’s mission of evangelization. After formally proposing to the then Archbishop Paul Verdzekov (of Blessed memory) his project of setting up an Emmaus Outreach Center – Bamenda, the Archbishop accorded his consent and approved for setting up such a center to fulfill the Gospel of Christ by meeting the needs of the homeless and dejected persons of society. This Center is a Christian Charity not-for-profit organization, run purely on the Catholic Church’s social mission of evangelization. The Center started at Nkwen within the jurisdiction of Bayelle Parish comprising of a handful of volunteers and several occupants. As a result of no permanent structures of its own, with negotiation for this in progress, the center was moved from one neigbourhood to another. With an increase in the number of occupants, with the rented structures unable to contain the increasing number, two temporary centers were being operated at Emmaus and Bethlehem at Nkwen and Ntamulung respectively. Some times in 2005, the administration of the Emmaus Outreach Center – Bamenda was being transferred from Rev. Fr. Brian Byrne to the Capuchin Friary –Bambui as the former had to move further away from Bamenda, this having to affect his direct administration of the Emmaus Outreach Center – Bamenda.

With the allocation of a parcel of land as permanent site by the State, construction works began at the present site at Down-Town-Bamenda below the Governor’s office and next to Government Bilingual High School (G.B.H.S) Down-Town, just above the AYABA Hotel and two hundred meters (200M) right of Eglise Evangelique. The entrance to the Center is through the Judicial Police road on the AYABA Street.

The center went operational at its present site on the 24/12/2008 and administered to now by the Capuchin Friars (Brothers) in Bambui. Rev. Father Donatus Wirkom is the immediate director. It is ornamented with five (5) blocks edifices as you can see from the photos: ADMINISTRATIVE, MEN’S, WOMEN’S, INFIRMARY and KITCHEN-REFECTORY-RECREATIONAL BLOCKS.

QUESTION: What are the goals of the Center?

ANSWER: As I mentioned above, Emmaus outreach Center seeks to offer logistics, a home for the mentally sick-homeless people, as Catholic Church charitable group that seeks to treat, heal, rehabilitate and reinsert abandoned, desperate persons of society, most of whom are victims of drug addiction to their families and society. Emmaus Outreach Center seeks to create awareness on the importance of providing care and support to the underprivileged persons in the society. It equally wants to nurse hope in the minds of affected families, to curb the level of illiteracy and finally to scale down the delinquency level in the intervention zone (Mezam Division) amongst other objectives as found in article “5” of our Constitutions (Constitutions of the Capuchin Friars Minor).

QUESTION: Where and how do you get your clients?

ANSWER: Most of our clients if not all were people we encountered and met on the streets, sleeping there and living on what they could find in garbage-bins and on what people of goodwill could offer them. The rest of the clients (Residents) were brought in by the family members who have come to know about the Center and whose patient respond to the criteria of people stated above. To explain more on how the clients, or patients or Resident are brought to the Center after meeting them, we create relationship with them sustained by offering them what to eat, spending some time with them at the road and when they feel the warmth and friendly relationship, once we propose to carry them in the car to the Center, they are given what to eat, a place to bath (Shower) and new dresses to wear and finally a bed to sleep. They are in the Center and become new members.

QUESTION: How is Emmaus Center financed or funded?

ANSWER: Like mentioned already above, EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER (E.O.C) Bamenda is a not-for-profit organization run purely and solely from donations, gifts from associations, civil and ecclesiastical groups. We receive material, financial and moral support; to a substantial quantity, we receive food much more than the others, even if the food is always far below in quality and quantity what the Residents consume. The Capuchins friars (brothers) are the main providers for the Center.

QUESTION: Who are your partners in this brilliant venture?

ANSWER: In fact, the EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER Project is a brilliant but challenging adventure. Brilliant because, no human healthy person will feel indifferent at the sight of a brother, Sister, Mother, Father , child or friend who is naked, sleeping on the street and fed from rubbish. To do something to help them is always an interpellation first of an individual conscience, then the attention of others and the society are attracted. This may take time, but if it is moved by Charity, we will soon have partners with society awareness. The society is our partner; it sounds vague and few individuals who come in to give food and other donations at very irregular basis.

QUESTION: What is your understanding of mental health in Bamenda?

ANSWER: My appraisal of the mental health in the North West Region is that little has been done on this field for many years especially by the government. There is a progressive increase in the number of mentally sick persons in the Region provoked by drug addiction, social ill, witch-craft, family related conflicts etc. Individuals and private organization are taking a lead in attempts and effort to help the direct victims, families as there is a growing number of NGOs, Health Centers, as ours and individual practitioners. On the 12th of November last year 2010, some of these groups , associations or individual practitioners had a meeting with the Regional Delegate for Public Health for the North West Region as and in an attempt to have a Unite in the Regional Hospital Bamenda for the coordination of our activities. This is still to see its birth as the government has to react to this appeal. Some of these include: B.I.H.C (Babungo Integrated Health Care Mbenjeh for Traditional and Modern Psychiatric Home)), CARONMEHF (Cameroon Royal Natural and Modern Mental Health Foundation) and EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER (E.O.C) for the mentally disturbed-Homeless.

We are coordinated by Dr. Kamga Olen Jean-Pierre (Psychiatrist) JAMOT Hospital Yaoundé / Faculty of Medicine Yaoundé Email: olen_cm@yahoo.fr
QUESTION: Cameroon?

ANSWER: At the level of Cameroon, the situation is not different as North West is a reflection. North West Region is even far more placed than other parts of the country in the anxiety to help. To my knowledge, there are only two psychiatric hospitals: JAMOT Hospital in Yaoundé and another one in Douala and with only four psychiatric Doctors. Psychiatric nurses are certainly more but only in Regional Hospitals.

QUESTION: What are the challenges?

ANSWER: The center at moment offers lodging and feeding to nineteen (19) permanent occupants called (Residents) and four (4) volunteers called Assistants who stay therein. There is still a good number not yet resident that are being attended to daily for feeding and medical attention. The center was built for a maximum capacity of forty (40) Residents: – twenty (20) men and twenty (20) women in four common big rooms respectively. The rooms need to be partitioned in order to manage critical cases with relative ease. In spite of the ever increasing mental patients that crowd our streets and villages, the E.O.C cannot but accommodate nineteen (19) for now due to the lack of the necessary finances and personnel for proper management.

One Resident who at moment have started enjoying a good mental health is current undergoing professional training with specialization in agriculture at the “NAZARETH AGRO PASTORAL TRAINING AND PRODUCTION CENTER MENTEH-NKWEN”, operated by the Piarist Fathers in Nkwen Village. If they cannot do something at this stage due to lack of follow-up, lapses and recidivist tendencies are obvious.

EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER is associated to Saint Francis Catholic Hospital Ntasen from whom it benefits from the medical services of a permanent medical Doctor.

Mental health care is indeed a call for concern. The administration of the Emmaus Outreach Center has been doing a great deal to provide shelter and feeding to these mentally sick but need financial assistance to assume and to accomplish more fully its mission for the good and dignity of the victims. As far as the psycho-medical services are concerned, E.O.C is just at the beginning phase and handicapped in human and material resources: a trained psychiatric nurse, Psychologist, psychiatrist and lack of drugs.

The E.O.C plans to embark more forcefully on the psycho-medical care of its residents in the year 2011. The available structures shall be extended and adapted to suit new and challenging realities, but its administrator needs financial assistance. The E.O.C would like to better the nutritional and running cost of the resident which has been operating on a monthly budget of six-hundred thousand (600,000) franc CFA. E.O.C will like to have a presence of a permanent campus psychiatric nurse with a well equipped pharmacy as well. These are some of the areas of challenges we are appealing for help, not neglecting capacity building seminars that will empower the present minimal human resources. We will welcome any voluntary services especially those related psycho medical domain. We have at least three small rooms set aside for this purpose.

Since EMMAUS OUTREACH CENTER envisages in its program of activities, the rehabilitation and reinsertion of patients who have been proven a certain level of mental balance, there is need for self reliant activities for the benefits of the Residents and of the center like livestock production and cultivation of crops to alleviate the running cost and to train these people.

Construction and completion of the already started fence to keep the Residents put for more intensive medical follow-up and restrain them from continuous drug addiction. This will help to keep pigs, or goats and a craft center either to remedy the feeding running cost, occupy the Residents as part of healing process (idleness as symptom meaninglessness of life) and to initiate them to self employment.

Since it is a not-for-profit making institution and operated purely on voluntary donations from communities, associations, other institutions and from people of goodwill. This does assure continuity if there are no partners who want to commit themselves to the course in a constant and permanent way.

Since we started offering them medication, we have had much difficulties in purchasing these drugs; first because the drugs are specific; secondly, very expensive and thirdly, rear to find. Our purchasing power is limited due to the fact that we live only on providence. You will see below a list of some drugs that we need and with the hope that you may come across interested persons who wish to share this dream and adventure, we may come to put up-right if not one patient but all and those who are still to come.

QUESTION: What do you think could be done to create awareness of mental health in Bamenda

ANSWER: The government under the ministry of social welfare must assume the responsibility. The public must be sensitized on the dangers and consumption of illegal drug. Unfortunately the agents of Law and Order are involved. Families should be educated on crisis management. Employment of the youths is imperative

QUESTION: You have been working with Grace for a year, what are your impressions about Grace improvement?

ANSWER: I have not been with Grace for long. In fact, I came to know Grace but last August 2010. My predecessor while giving me the report on the residents remarked with joy the improvement Grace was undergoing. Unfortunately I could not continue with the women because I dreaded their security due to the lack of personnel to look closely after them and due to the fact that the Center is not yet totally fenced. If Grace had remained here, I think as Catherine might bear you witness, she should have been far better to help herself and may be someone else. I hope we will be able to put things together quickly and have her back.

QUESTION: Do you have anything more to say about mental health in Cameroon?

ANSWER: No!

We are therefore addressing this note to you, appealing for assistance, so that together we can be able to treat these mentally disabled and homeless people and set them on the normal life as much as possible.

These are some of the drugs we need beside a huge financial budget that covers feeding, maintenance/repairs and payment of allowances to four voluntary Assistants: (Medical Nurse, A cook, A compound carer and a Night Watch.

Thank you in advance for your promptly and generosity.