Regional Hospital Bamenda benefits a 200KVA Generator from the Bamenda City Council.

By Pedmia Shatu 

              Acquired 200KVA generator

The generator was handed over today 2nd April, 2021 by the Mayor to the Bamenda City Council Mayor Achobong Paul who doubles as the Chairman of the hospital Management Board to the Director of the hospital and his administration. To the Mayor, this donation comes at a time when it is most needed to save humanity, coupled with the epileptic electricity supply the city has been plagued with for long. Mayor Achobong in his address indicated that whenever a need is expressed, there is always a way. He congratulated the efforts of the hospital Management  Board, where he is Board Chair, for placing a constructive demand for an equipment that will serve the needs of the population. To the Mayor, the Council's prompt action is a clear indication that the wellbeing of the population is pivotal in its developmental efforts.

 He saluted the efforts of all the health personnel at the Regional Hospital Bamenda despite the challenges and urged them to continue with their level of professionalism in caring for patients and maintaining the high level of sanitation that  obtains in the facility. The 200KVA generator, it should be noted, comes with an automatic change-over switch so that "as soon as electricity misbehaves, the generator behaves," Mr. Achobong Paul said. 

Achobong Paul

Mayor Bamenda City Council

Taking place in the context of the #COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council also thought it wise that another donation of facemasks and sanitizers be made to the hospital to help contain the spread of the virus. This comes to add to previous donations the council has made towards the fight against the spread of the virus.

From Left to right; Simon Emily Moon(SDO Mezam), Dr. Nsame Denis ( Director RHB) and Achobong Paul (City Mayor) 

Upon reception of the generator, the hospital's Director, Dr. Denis Nsame  Nforniwe, in a brief note expressed gratitude for the hospital has in the past suffered the effects of power disruptions and has constantly been on a lone generator which sometimes cannot serve its multifaceted needs. The lone generator used to work between 7 to 15 hours daily because most of the machines in the units such as the Haemodialysis Centre, Imaging Centre and the laboratory could not function due to low voltage

Dr. Nsame Denise Nforniwe, Director Regional Hospital Bamenda

 " ..... We have ENEO certainly but because of the low voltage, most machines cannot work right down to our photocopy  machines. So you find out that services like the Imaging Centre, Haemodialysis Centre and the Laboratory cannot run if the voltage is not up to capacity. In the past, we have had machines in the Haemodialysis Centre break down because of low voltage. We have been living in fear with just this one generator because if it breaks down and has to go on repairs then we might loose some patients. We are most grateful today for this donation we are receiving. We sincerely thank the Management Board who thought it wise that our plea was worth the salt and channeled it to the right quarters. When one works in the night, the other will work during the day." The Director on behalf of his team, pledged that they will do all in their powers to judiciously put the equipment to use. 

Regional Hospital Staff

While appreciating the efforts of the City Mayor and his team, the Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam, Simon Emile Mooh described the Mayor as a man with great vision for the city of Bamenda and that he believes that with the collaboration of the population, Bamenda in the years ahead will be likened to Abu-Dhabi. Mr. Simon Emile appealed to the beneficiary, the Regional Hospital Bamenda to use their technical know-how and professionalism in handling the equipment. He also congratulated the efforts of the City Council in helping to contain the spread of the novel virus by providing some COVID-19 kits to the hospital. He used the opportunity to call on health personnel to sensitize the population on the need to respect all barrier measures for a COVID-FREE Bamenda in particular and the Northwest Region in general.

Simon Emile Moon, Senior Divisional Officer for Mezam

The brief ceremony took place at the power house of the Regional Hospital Bamenda. Also present at the ceremony were the DO for Bamenda II, the Mayor for Bamenda II, hospital administration and staff.

Authorities present at the event

NW Women Peacebuilders Fortify Skills In Peacebuilding

By Pedmia Shatu

   Women Peace builders in a group photo

Mediation Women Peace builders within the North West Region have  strengthened their capacity in Meditation and Peace Building in amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic and crisis rocking the region. This was the outcome of a two day workshop on advancing women’s rights in response to community mediation and peacebuilding processes  with the hope of shifting the advocacy of women mediators in communities. 

The Workshop was organized by Mother of Hope Cameroon MOHCAM with support from Women Mediators Across the CommonWealth for members of the Women Peacebuilders’ Network WOPEN NW. 

In November 2020 MOHCAM executed a project on strengthening the capacities of members of the  Women Peacebuilders Network-WOPEN to Effectively Engage in Mediation and peacebuilding in  response to crises in the North West Regions. Through this activity, over twenty-six (26) women leaders from  the grassroots and community organizations were trained with support funding from the Women  Mediators across the Commonwealth.

During this workshop  an action plan for the network was developed for one year and it’s against this backdrop that this project seeks bridge the skill gaps of network  members in the domain of human rights, lobbying and advocacy, the use of the social media handles and  online tools for effective communication to enhance their effective participation in community mediators and peacebuilders.

Reacting, Adah Mbah Executive Director of MOHCAM highlighting aspects of the activity enhance the capacity of women to serve as mediators for peace, increasing women participation in lobbying and advocacy in peacebuilding while encouraging the women peace leaders to increase their visibility and results in the field with the effective use of the social media to enhance their peacebuilding actions.

                    Mme Adah Mbah

           Executive Director of MOHCAM 

During the two day session, the participants we educated on the the Role of the National Commission in defending the rights of women rights defenders and CSOs. Barrister Agbor Nkeng noted that women are great peacebuilders and help to consolidate peace as such are helping the government to realize her objectiveWith the crisis that has gone on for over 5 years no especially as women continue to bear the brunt, there was the need to engage them in a self care session particularly through a  trauma healing session to help them  develop coping mechanisms with loss,grief and bereavement. Mme. Mah Fundo advised them to quickly talk to a specialist, find a support system, try to maintain your hobbies, draw your comfort from your faith  and take care of self so as to get out of any of such situation. 

To further intensify the healing process and wounds of the women peacebuilders, practical sessions, outdoor activities  and spiritual sessions were upheld as many participants at the end of the two days expressed satisfaction and testified of going back well equipped and light hearted to give back to the community. 

                  Barrister Agbor Nkeng

                           Legal expert

       

In order to amplify women’s voices in human rights and community meditation, Barrister Blessing Chia also member of the network, urged the women peacebuilders to uphold the qualities and skills of a good mediator, so that they can be able to, help both parties maintain a healthy relationship even after the conflict, ensure peace and calm between the parties as well as instill trust in both parties for sustainable peace. “We can amplify women’s voices by, empowering women, building relevant networks that bring women together and carrying out advocacy campaigns.

 

In order to intensify their actions and create greater impact on a wider scale, the women gained skills in advocacy and lobbying in peacebuilding and also how  to use the  Social Media for effective communication. “A lot can be done to shift the mindset of the online community if social media users who are peacebuilders, can use it positively. However, the dangers abound if you use it poorly. I will suggest that we do not share just for sharing sake or join the band wagon of those who propagate hatespeech, misinformation and disinformation. Our social media handles should be used to build peace and encourage non violent actions,” Rosaline Obah, communication expert indicated.

Rosaline Obah Akan, Communication expert

With the crisis that has gone on for over 5 years no especially as women continue to bear the brunt, there was the need to engage them in a self care session particularly through a  trauma healing session to help them  develop coping mechanisms with loss,grief and bereavement. Mme. Mah Fundo advised them to quickly talk to a specialist, find a support system, try to maintain your hobbies, draw your comfort from your faith  and take care of self so as to get out of any of such situation.

To further intensify the healing process and wounds of the women peacebuilders, practical sessions, outdoor activities  and spiritual sessions were upheld as many participants at the end of the two days expressed satisfaction and testified of going back well equipped and light hearted to give back to the community. 

Violence Against women and girls a neglected reality; SOPISDEW exploits ways of prevention and management in crisis hit NW and SW Regions.

By Pedmia Shatu 

Violence against women and girls is a hidden global crisis which knows no boundaries of geography or culture. The limited evidence on the extent and nature of VAWG in conflict and humanitarian contexts has been a key barrier to investment in VAWG programming in emergencies and building the evidence base is a priority for SOPISDEW and partners. However, there is existing evidence which indicates that VAWG in emergencies is more prevalent than currently acknowledged, and has a life-threatening impact on women and girls.

There is growing evidence on what works to prevent violence against women, based on well-designed evaluations. In 2019, WHO and UN Women with endorsement from 12 other UN and bilateral agencies published RESPECT women – a framework for preventing violence against women. The key concepts include Relationship skills strengthening; Empowerment of women; Services ensured; Poverty reduced; Enabling environments (schools, work places, public spaces) created; Child and adolescent abuse prevented; and Transformed attitudes, beliefs and norms. 

Physical and sexual violence against women and girls has risen in the North West and South West region of Cameroon due to an on-going crisis. COVID-19 is adding to the existing situation with the number of cases of domestic violence steadily on the rise. Formal structures intervening on the prevention and management of domestic violence against women and girls have been disrupted and the situation is worsened by physical restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 emergency. Community Based Organizations like The Society for the Promotion of Initiatives in Sustainable Development and Welfare (SOPISDEW) have shifted their interventions to a community based approach which is dependent on very limited resources and often involves the management of complex situations.

SOPISDEW is currently supporting vulnerable women and girls through both preventive and community based case management services targeting physical, sexual, psychological, emotional and economic abuse while serving as part of the referral pathway including feedback and complaints mechanisms put in place by the Protection Cluster led by UN OCHA. Key interventions include preventive activities involving the development and dissemination of outreach and communication materials on domestic violence through Community Radio and other local organizations of the GBV network.

SOPISDEW staff at a strategic meeting on prevention and management of GBV 

According to Kemey Daniel Mbuntum, head of the Social Works Program, SOPISDEW’s community based case management system involves the use of community social workers and peer educators to offer Emergency Psychosocial First Aid to victims and referring them for appropriate action. He further reiterates that community peer educators who are mostly former victims and survivors are best placed to assist in interventions. The program has reached out directly to over 200 cases in Mezam and Bui Divisions of the North West Region of Cameroon and is presently scaling up to many other conflict-affected communities.

Talking to the Executive Director of SOPISDEW, Mr Tah Kennette Konsum about future plans to adapt the prevention and management of domestic violence interventions against women and girls, he reiterated that they are capitalizing on new community based mechanisms identified such as benefitting from traditional laws, media and technology. This will be realised through the development and expansion of community capacity and local best practises for local context specific interventions; a system based on lessons learnt due to the present humanitarian context in various communities. 

                Mr Tah Kennette Konsum, 

          Executive Director of SOPISDEW

A Senior Legal/Protection Officer with SOPISDEW, Mrs Tata Charity Yenlan further raised arguments about the very central need to counter domestic violence against women and girls. According to her ‘’when domestic violence prevails in a home, children suffer greatly, and this is one of the reasons we have children living in the streets’’. The programme is also intended to address one of the root causes of child streetism through advocacy and collaboration.

SOPISDEW’s Programs Manager Ms Sakghe Mildred elaborated on the key activities which have been previewed to achieve greater impact. They include working with couples to improve communication and relationship skills; community mobilization interventions to change unequal gender norms; school clubs that challenge gender stereotypes and promote relationships based on equality and consent; and group-based participatory education with women and men to generate critical reflections about unequal gender power relationships. 

Sakghe Mildred, 

SOPISDEW’s Programs Manager

On the use of local networks, SOPISDEW plans to expand a grassroots prevention system involving the use of community social workers and peer educators (mostly survivors and former victims). The peer educators and social workers will mostly intervene through community education at informal women’s meetings, churches, mosques, schools, hospitals. SOPISDEW will liaise with these communities to expand temporal safe spaces for women and girls where they can share their experiences in preventing domestic violence. Direct beneficiaries will include 12 conflict-affected urban and rural communities in the North West and South West Regions of Cameroon. The wider community will indirectly benefit through production and dissemination of audio-visual contents through the Cameroon Community Media Network (CCMN); a network of over 25 community radios and TV stations in both regions, including other regions. The needs of vulnerable groups (IDPs, specifically women and girls, people with disabilities and indigenous minority groups such as the Fulani Mbororo) will also be met.

SOPISDEW team members exploiting ways to prevent VAWG

Founded as a volunteering organization, SOPISDEW’s mission is to work with local people by leveraging on their knowledge and skills so they can achieve a sustainable lifestyle for peace and posterity. SOPISDEW has a combined experience of over 8 years working with vulnerable communities by leveraging on good community practises.

UNIPSY enhances the mental health skills of maternal health care workers in the NWR

By Api Precious

Participants at the workshop

Enhancing the mental health skills of maternal health care workers from the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmonC) network in the North West Region was the reason for a two day training organized by the United Nations Populations Fund (UNFPA) and the Ministry of Public Health in partnership with the national NGO Psy Universe (UNIPSY). The two day event that ran from the 26 to 27 of March 2021 took place at the Alliance Francaise Bamenda premises.

The training was strategically implemented under the World Bank Pandemic Emergency Financing Facility (PEF) project and has as key objective; to increase participants knowledge (competences) on the risks of maternal psychological health and child development, through the detection of

psychological suffering.

According to WHO (2011) depression is the second most incapacitating or

disabling disease for women at child-bearing age, with a prevalence of about 12-

22%, mainly during pregnancy and the first year after delivery which has effects on the

foetus, baby, child, family; Low birth weight and growth retardation.

The training brought together about 30 participants amongst which were; Doctors, nurses and midwives from different health centers in the Northwest region and focused on topics such as;

▪️Upsets of pregnancy and birth. Some of which were listed as follows;

• INTRAPSYCHIC UPSETS

•NEW TIES TO CREATE (type of attachment)

•FAMILY UPSETS

•SOCIAL CONTEXT OF BIRTH and more

▪️Perinatal stress and it factors such as; pre or antenal period, the period of delivery and postal period.

▪️The risks/states of psychological suffering surrounding pregnancy and birth which includes; Baby blues, perinatal anxiety, posttraumatic stress disorder, perinatal depression.

The following were listed as frequent parinatal depression symptoms:

• Stress, worries

• Irritability, anger, aggressiveness, violence

• Changes in mood, sadness, down casted

• feelings of abandonment

• Exhaustion

• Enclosure, isolation

• Alcoholism

• Sleep and eating disorders

• Feeling of unsatisfaction in his role of a father.

▪️EPDS (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale) and PDS (Psychological Distress Scale). A valuable and efficient way of identifying

patients at risk for perinatal depression.

The head of Psy Universe (UNIPSY), JOËL DJATCHÉ MIAFO Clinical Psychologist and Psychopathologist Psychotherapist, Psycho-addictologist, and Psycho-pediatrician in his interview said the main objective of the training is to increase information and scale of health worker to be able detect and manage the mental health diseases of the mother in breast feeding and pregnancy.

UNIPSY's head, JOËL DJATCHÉ MIAFO

Clinical Psychologist and Psychopathologist

Psychotherapist, Psycho-addictologist, and Psycho-pediatrician

He also added that there are specific diseases mentioning maternal depression as one of the possible diseases that can cause psychopathology disorders in women before, during or after delivery. To correct this, he spoke about placing treatment where he mentioned psychological technical aspect (counseling), bringing support to the mother, reinforcing family and health worker support to the mother.

Being the second phase of the program, the first phase took 3 months (October - December 2020) in 2 health facilities; Regional Hospital and CBC Nkwen. The training was concerned with Psychological intervention, treatment, evaluation, counseling and education.

He mentioned that Psyco-education was given to more than 1000 mothers, Psyco-evaluation and counselling to about 200 mothers. He says that the main objective of the first phase was to create awareness of mental health problem around maternal period to the health worker, mother and family.

He recommends that such trainings be continued, to reinforce the skills, competence and information to the health workers and supervision be done after. He furthered that, they are working on a system to take care of Psychological problems in mothers especially.

The training ended with satisfied participants who opined that the training met their expectations and beyond.

WhatsApp to switch off messages for all who reject new terms

WhatsApp users who do not accept its updated terms and conditions by the 15 May deadline will be unable to receive or send messages until they do so.

Their account will be listed as "inactive". And inactive accounts can be deleted after 120 days.

Calls and notifications will still function for "a short while" but, TechCrunch reported, probably only a "few weeks".

WhatsApp announced the update in January. There was a backlash among many users who thought it meant the company was planning to change the amount of data it shared with its parent company, Facebook. It later clarified this was not the case - the update is actually aimed at enabling payments to be made to businesses.

Notifying users

WhatsApp already shares some information with Facebook, such as the user's IP address (a sequence of numbers attached to every device which connects to the internet, it can also be used to pin down its location) and purchases made via the platform.

But this is not the case in Europe and the UK, where different privacy laws exist. Following the initial announcement, platforms such as Telegram and Signal saw a huge surge in demand as WhatsApp users sought alternative encrypted-messaging services.

WhatsApp delayed the initial rollout and has now changed the way it is notifying users of the changes.

Culled from BBC news

Covid infection in Lagos 'may top Africa's official total'

A Covid-19 antibodies survey in Nigeria suggests that four million people in Lagos state alone have had the virus - more than has been officially recorded for the whole of Africa.

The official figure for Nigeria is 153,000 cases with 1,862 deaths.

The study was done on 10,000 people from four Nigerian states to estimate the extent of coronavirus in Africa's most populous nation.

It was conducted before a second wave began in early December.

High rate of infection

The findings of the seroprevalence survey, carried out in September and October by Nigeria's Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the Institute for Medical Research (IMR), are staggering, reports the BBC's Mayeni Jones from Lagos.

Rates of infection were initially thought to be low during the first wave of the pandemic, our reporter says. The country recorded its highest daily infection rate in January, when it logged 1,600 new cases, suggesting many more people were infected in the second wave.

What does the survey show?

The results found that one in five of those tested in the states of Lagos, Enugu and Nasarawa had been infected. In the north-eastern state of Gombe, the proportion was one in 10. The country recently approved the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine for use, but it is not clear when it will receive them.

Why are statistics important?

Experts say having an accurate picture of who is dying, from what and where, is crucial when it comes to allocating resources and funding.

The number of positive cases and fatalities from coronavirus in Africa could be higher than reported because of low testing and poor registration of deaths.

Nigeria is among countries on the continent that do not have a compulsory system to register deaths, a BBC investigation found.

Only Egypt, South Africa, Tunisia, Algeria, Cape Verde, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles and Mauritius have a universal death registration system.

Infections in men was higher and people living in urban areas were particularly vulnerable to contracting the virus, the study said.

For the head of the NCDC it shows that a large portion of Nigeria's 186 million inhabitants are still at risk from the virus. "Eighty to ninety per cent of the population in these four states are still susceptible to the virus which makes the vaccination efforts we are about to start in Nigeria even more important," said Dr Chikwe Ihekweazu, Director-General of the NCDC.

Culled from BBC news

COVID-19: NW Governor challenges population to respect strict barrier measures to fight #COVID19

Press Release signed by NW Governor,  Adolphe Lele L'Afrique 

The Governor of the Northwest Region,  Adolphe Lele L'Afrique has in a communique indicated that there is another wave of the virus which may escalate if the efforts to fight the virus are not reinforced.

He made this call recently in Bamenda as he precided over  a regional advocacy meeting with some stake holders in the region. He revealed that for over the last 10 days, the Northwest region has recorded about 116 positive cases and 5 deaths related to the virus. Statistics shows that, 1189 persons tasted positive and over 935 recovered,173  active cases are on treatment and 81 deaths were recorded, he added. It should be noted that 40 of these deaths occurred in health facilities while 41 were from the communities. 

It is equally worth mentioning that Mezam  division, Boyo, Donga mantung and Ngoketunjia are so far the most affected divisions in the region.The entire population is equally expected to actively participate in  a covid 19 campaign expected to run for the next  three months in all health facilities.

Moreso, the population must continue to put on their face masks in all gatherings, maintain social distance, carry out testing, regularly wash hands with soap and running water and in cases where there is no water use a hand sanitizer.

Protect yourselves and your loved ones from the virus

By Amambo Carrey-Pride