Tragedy Hits CBC Health Board

By Peter Musa

The Cameroon Baptist Convention (CBC) Health Board, one of Cameroon's oldest, most efficient and major provider of health services since the start of this year, has been hit by tragedies.

First Tragedies:

It all started when a CBC Health Board team returning from Bafoussam where the CBC recently established a health centre had a motor accident onthe 17th January 2000. The six health workers who were in the jeep transporting them sustained minor injuries and survived the mishap. Memories of this tragic event were still fresh in the minds of the hundreds of CBC Health Board workers while the wounds of those involved in the accident were yet to fully heal when not up to three weeks after, another CBC Health Board team got involved in another car accident. The team of four from Mbingo Baptist Hospital (MBH) survived the accident.  MBH founded as a leprosy hospital is today a public health facility with various departments and operates the CBC New Hope Leprosy resettlement village.

Two Pioneers Exit:

The month of April was the most tragic in the life of the CBC Health Board. First came news of the death of former Cameroon Baptist Mission (CBM), United States missionary sister Margaret Kittlitz as the month began. Kittlitz , a nurse worked with the CBM from 1944 to 1954. She was amongst the team of North American Baptist missionaries that took over control of the small health facility which has now grown up to be known as the Banso Baptist Hospital (BBH) from the British colonial administration in 1949. It is from this institution that celebrated its Golden Jubilee about a year ago that the CBC Health Board was established. Sister Kittlitz died at 94 in the United States.

April 2000 quenched life untimely for CBC Health Board veteran driver. Pa Numfor Josiah, driver to one of the CBC Health Board's oldest vehicles (a land rover acquired in the 1970's) fell into a stream while crossing on a poorly constructed bridge and died.

Sun-set for Missionary Doctors:

On the 13th April 2000 Dr. Carl Elden Sandberg who also served with the CBC Health Board died from a heart attack at the age of sixty nine. He served in MBH for fifteen years. During this period, Dr. Sandberg was Chief Medical Officer of the hospital and the representative of his home mission, the Baptist General Conference (BGC). Before coming to Cameroon he also served as missionary doctor in Alaska and Ethiopia. Prior to joining BGC he worked for the United States Public Health Service in Anchorage, Alaska. He retired from the CBC Health Board in 1995. Prof. Tih Pius Muffih, Director of Health Services CBC Health Board, described him as "an excellent and competent surgeon." Prof. Tih revealed how Dr. Sanberg became a missionary doctor. He said Dr. Sandberg's key bible verse was Isaiah 6:8 "Then I heard the voice saying, whom shall I send and who shall go for us?" The Dr. and Mrs. Sandberg said "Here we are, send us."

Dr. Laura and Dr. Ruby, Inseparable friends united in faith and service for Africa's Health Care die in ghastly accident

The major catastrophe, which has caused a big vacuum in the the CBC Health Board, is the motor car accident of Wednesday 19th April 2000, which took away the lives of two inseparable missionary doctors. Dr. Laura E. Edwards and Dr. Ruby N. Eliasion died in a ghastly motor car accident at the Rom rocks while going for a field supervision trip to Ngang LAP Post in Mbem, Nwa Sub Division. The CBC Health Board operates the Mbem Baptist Health Centre and some Life Abundant Programme (LAP) Posts in this area. The team was traveling in a land rover cited above.

According to one of the survivors, Pastor Ngoh David, who works with LAP in an eye-witness account revealed all he could remember was the shout by one of the doctors who was in front "Joe. Take care!" The driver responded "What can I do now. My steering is cut." After this the vehicle started rolling on the rocks and after two stumbling, Pastor Ngoh in his testimony said "It was as if the land rover was raised higher in the air, after this instance the vehicle continued on high speed and by God's grace it was halted by a tree. At this point, all the six occupants of the vehicle were flung out, as all the doors by this time were wide open. Unfortunately, doctors Laura and Ruby fell directly on the rocks." Pastor Ngoh, also a health worker injured his left arm with a fracture. He however did all he could, considering his physical shape, pains, trauma and lack of equipment and medicines to save the lives of the doctors. At the time of writing this article all four survivors of the accident are responding to treatment at BBH.

Both doctors had a particular interest in working both in Cameroon and India. During this final visit of theirs to Cameroon, they passed through Indiawhere they spent a week with their Indian friends and colleagues.

Dr. Laura was born on 31st January 1922 in India. She served in India for many years as a missionary doctor. She arrived to Cameroon on the 7th March 2000 and was to return home to Minnesota, USA on 2nd May 2000. Her interest to come to Cameroon was kindled in 1984 when Dr. Ruby Eliason with whom she worked in India invited her to come for a visit and to set-up a training programme for village birth attendants. She accepted and came. Since 1984, Dr. Laura has made fifteen trips to Cameroon and during this period trained over one hundred Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) for CBC health facilities. During this her last visit to Cameroon she showed a lot of interest in working towards the prevention of HIV transmission from mother to child and in conducting a refresher course for midwives. "She contributed greatly towards raising awareness and stimulating interest in many American doctors towards the work of the CBC Health Board," mentioned Prof. Tih. Dr Laura was a member of Helping Hands for Medical Missions (HHMM) an organisation which has been supporting the CBC Health Board LAP Programme to which Dr. Ruby and Dr. Laura were committed body and soul. Prof. Tih described her as "A teacher, a generous woman, and a loving mother. She loved village women and devoted all her last fifteen years helping to reduce maternal deaths and infant mortality."

Born on 10th April 1923 in Robsart, Canada, Dr. Ruby worked as Principal of Nursing School in India before joining LAP shortly after its establishment in 1982. Her major role recently was developing a curriculum for the training of health personnel using modules. She was chair of this curriculum committee and the course director. "The future of this programme for Cameroon and Central African region is bleak, very uncertain," Prof. Tih lamented. Her other interest of late was the development of rural communities using their own traditional believes and wisdom. Talking about Dr. Ruby, Prof. Tih stated that he was a member of his doctoral committee and was very helpful. He described Dr. Ruby as "A scholar and a teacher. Her loss is like a library set on fire."

On behalf of the CBC Health Board, Prof. Tih during a memorial service organised on Good Friday 21st April, 2000 for the three doctors started by expressing the grief and sorrow of the CBC Health Board. "We are mourning like soldiers whose colleagues are missing in action" he told hundreds of CBC Health Board personnel, CBC Christians and missionaries, government officials and friends of the CBC Health Board that turned out massively for the requiem.

What future for CBC Health Board?

The CBC Health Board with a total work force of more than five hundred with two hospitals, a separate central pharmacy department (to cater for the drug needs of the different health institutions run by the CBC), twenty health centres and with more than thirty four LAP Posts is a true health network covering all two Anglophone provinces and is building her presence in the Adamaoua, Centre, West and Littoral which are Francophone provinces. The challenges awaiting the CBC Health Board are enormous. There is the growing need for personnel increase and staff training, infrastructural development, medical equipment and drug supplies, the list inexhaustible. The CBC Health Board institutions scattered as illustrated above offer many challenges. The road network is poor in many areas so as lack of electricity/water which is unavailable and telephones do not connect all CBC Health Board services/institutions.

With the passing away of such dedicated CBC Health Board staff the challenges become much heavier. To this effect, a call for prayers for this health network in Cameroon was prime at the requiem.

The CBC Health Board can be contacted by writing to:

The Director of Health Services

CBC Health Board

P.O.B 9, Kumbo

NWP, Cameroon

4th May, 2000