US NGO to the Rescue of HIV/AIDS Orphans in Cameroon

By Innocent Chia 
Rural communities in Cameroon are not only the final dwelling places for the many victims of HIV/AIDS; its grounds are the final resting places for most of the victims. In the majority of cases, the village is where Grandma and Grandpa are - in relative peace and quiet. Back in my day, the village was where struggling parents and prostitutes indiscriminately took their kids to in order to pursue their goals or pleasures. But ever since the scourge of HIV/AIDS visited the national bedroom, the incidence of grandparents burying their kids and raising their beloved grandkids has skyrocketed. These kids are a social enigma for the future because one wonders what happens after Grandma and Grandpa.  One such wondering organization that has been impacting the lives of these orphans is called “A Place of Hopes, Inc” - founded in 2004 by two Cameroonians in Charlotte North Carolina , Yvonne Tiandem Adamu and its CEO, Abong Ngranui Fankam who talked with the Chiareport.  

 
Chiareport: From March 17th to March 29th, 2010 your Charlotte - North Carolina headquatered Foundation - A place of Hopes - will be on its third mission to Cameroon. What takes you there?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: Indeed I will be traveling with four (4) Americans to Cameroon for a mission trip. During this trip we will be visiting with thousands of AIDS orphans; overseeing the completion of construction work at a school building in Babalang; and handing over the keys to the building. We will also be providing backpacks filled with school supplies to hundreds of AIDS orphans in several schools and homes in the villages.

Chiareport: Why do you do what you do at this Foundation?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: A Place of Hope, Inc was birthed by the pain that Yvonne and myself felt as a result of the devastation and destruction left in the wake of the HIV/AIDS virus. As we traveled throughout Cameroon we saw families torn apart because of an indiscriminate disease fueled by fear and misunderstanding. Gosh, our hearts ached at the sight of such innocence lost! Children were infected with this vicious predator and dying through no fault of their own. Both of us felt God's calling to help. We responded. It was doubtless to us that "God took Yvonne’s heart and He took my heart and, from it, He created Place of Hopes."
We were then, as I still am now, striving to bring our God-inspired vision to reality for children who have nowhere else to turn to. Commitment and passion have enabled the mission of helping others create and maintain a global legacy of love for those who did not have it before. No doubt A Place of Hope is a grand vision. However, with faith, love and support of others who feel the burden they feel, they know even our hearts stop pulsating, the gifts that are given today will continue to provide A Place of Hope for others.

Chiareport: What are some of the pressing challenges that you have had along the way? Have they ever led you to question what you are doing?

  Abong Ngranui Fankam: There have been lots of challenges that we have faced along the way. One has been the criteria on how to select a child that “A Place of Hopes” can support or sponsor. At the very beginning, when we received the list with the names of 100 AIDS orphans in Babungo village, we thought, oh well, that is a small number. We can do it. We can pay their tuitions and provide them with school supplies. Then a censor was done in Ngo-Ketungia Division. In that division alone, there were more than 10.000 AIDS orphans. In Babungo village there were more than 500 orphans. This was a big issue. How do you support each child? There are moments when it has been heart breaking. For instance, during our last trip to Cameroon a 10 year old child asked us why one child was chosen and she was not? This pierced my heart. It really brought tears to my eyes. She too had lost both parents to HIV/AIDS and she was not getting any support. As much as that episode haunts me, it equally motivates me to do more for these kids.

Chiareport: I bet it is even more haunting and daunting for a non-for-profit like yours to realize your goals in this present economy?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: In today’s economy, there is no doubt that non-profits like ours are suffering tremendously. It’s so hard to get the funds coming in. And one understands why. It’s so hard to be asking people to support you financially when they are losing their jobs; their properties are foreclosed on; they are unable to provide adequately for their own families; organizations are downsizing and there is job insecurity. It can be exceedingly frustrating. But we are truly blessed in that those who have continued to give for the mission of “A Place of Hopes” have not been giving out of their abundance, but from a place of sacrifice.

Chiareport: Is there any correlation between your day job as a Social Worker in Charlotte, your devotion to Christ, your co-founding of "A Place of Hopes" and what you do for the communities that you serve?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: I would say they all fall under the big umbrella of “humanitarian work”.  Being a social worker, a co-founder of a charity organization, being devoted to Christ and the other times that I serve in the community, it’s all for the common good of fellow human beings. No matter what I am doing, I am always serving humanity.

Chiareport: How important was it for you to call this organization "A Place of Hopes"?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: Hope is knowing and believing strongly that though one is in a desperate situation, things will improve. This faith and optimism helps gather enough courage to get through the day.  It is like a single candle in a dark hallway, it gives off just enough light to continue on and find the way out of the darkness. This light of hope burns so strongly in the hearts of some, that it is all they need to keep on living. Hope is not resignation; it is motivation and the foundation to build one's life upon. It is a commitment to continue to struggle.

Therefore, hope creates endurance and strength in a person. Otherwise he or she is simply sitting back and wishing away his or her life. This is not the way to live! One must take action and decide what will become of their life.  We wanted them to know that there is light even when we are groping our way through the depths of a dark tunnel. That together we can make it to the promise land. It is not a place of refuge, but a place where you are encouraged, you learn to endure and you come out strong and successful.

Our name, A Place of Hopes, describes what is desperately needed in the communities we serve. Poverty and lack of education are conditions that span multiple generations. Yet for people caught up in these circumstances, encountering just a gleam of hope for a different kind of life can start a process that interrupts the pattern and leads to a changed future.

Chiareport: It is obvious from your online presence at http://placeofhopes.org/index.html that both you and your co-founder, Yvonne Adamou, founded this organization based in large part to your Christian beliefs. How instrumental have your churches been in the work?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: I am a member at Selwyn Avenue Presbyterian Church in Charlotte. My church supports this ministry a lot. I get support from the church, different church groups and individuals. A number of church members have been on mission trips to Cameroon with me. Our Associate pastor was among the others that went on a mission trip in 2007. So, yes, it is safe to say that my Church has been a blessing without which this would have been a harder mission. And let’s face it: this is God’s work.

Chiareport: More often than not the focus is on the giver and not the receiver. What do we need to know about the Orphans whose feet you are going to wash and - perhaps for the first time in their lives - wear a pair of socks and shoes.

Abong Ngranui Fankam: Oh My! The joys and smiles on their faces, how does one begin describing it…? I remember receiving a very touching letter from a boy whom we had given a backpack to. When that child received that backpack, he was visibly thrilled and happy, however, it was expressing himself in a letter that overwhelmed us – each one of us was moved. There is no doubt some of these children may not show any emotions in your presence, but when they write and you read their letters you are moved to give more.

Chiareport: Since the inception of "A Place of Hopes" your counterpart in Cameroon has been another NGO. How concrete is this collaboration?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: I could not have asked for a better partner than Ngo-Ketungia AIDS Fighters (NAFI). They are as organized and reliable as you want a partner to be. They know that we are serious about accountability. They provide us with detail accounts on the spending of every penny. They are good with money management. There are times when I have sent money to be used on 10 kids, but when I get the report, I realize that they managed the money so well and 5 more kids were able to benefit from it. We get monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

Chiareport: Is it fair game to ask why the choice of these specific localities in the Northwest Region of Cameroon?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: One had to start from somewhere. It so happened that when we were deciding to start a non-profit to aid AIDS orphans in Cameroon, someone came from Cameroon and handed me a letter written by a group of Presbyterian Women in Babungo asking for financial assistance for 100 AIDS orphans. The letter was handed to me because I was a social worker. The bearer thought that with my background in social work, I could have better connections and resources to help these children. The bearer did not have any idea that we were in the process of creating a charity organization to help AIDS orphans. We saw this as a sign from God. We then decided to start in this region. Our goal is to spread through out Cameroon.

Chiareport: This is not your first trip to Cameroon. It is not the first time that your organization has raised funds and resources to take back to the children who did not invite the scourge of HIV/AIDS on themselves. Give us the highlights of the previous trips and how these have kept you going.

Abong Ngranui Fankam: The first trip was in August 2006. It was a team of two. That visit was focused in Babungo village. At that time we paid school fees and provided school supplies to 150 AIDS orphans. We did a lot of home visits and spent time with both the children and their care takers. We discovered that a lot of the schools were understaffed. In one school we visited, there were just two (2) teachers that were assigned to all 6 grades. It was abundantly clear to us that while it was good paying for the children’s tuition, share realism beckoned to difference by equally having teachers to teach them. When we got back, we added another project. That was to recruit teachers and pay for their salaries.

Our next trip was a team of 7 people. During this trip, we visited 5 villages in the Ngo-ketungia division. We provided more than 200 backpacks filled with school supplies. We made home and school visits. We also visited the local health centers.  This was a turning point in our organization. We were all touched and moved by the living and learning conditions of the children. In one of the villages, the kids did not have any classroom. When we got back, we raised some funds that are being used to build part of the school – the building we are now going to hand over the keys of.

Chiareport: Would you say that "A Place of Hopes" is meeting all the needs of these Orphans? If not, what do you think is an area that others can step in and either set-up an NGO to assist or partner with you to fill the need?

Abong Ngranui Fankam: We are not meeting all the needs of the orphans. One area of need is in health care.  When you visit a lot of these local health care centers, one is shocked by the lack of basic medical equipment. Also if we can have another organization help with building and equipping schools, it will really be helpful. The administration creates schools on paper but no buildings are provided. It is the responsibility for the people of that area to build the school. In most of these areas that are rural areas, it is so difficult for them to raise enough funds to build the schools. There is also the shortage of teachers. Most often the Salaries of these teachers are less than $200 a month. That could be an area that another organization could follow up on.  

 

Chiareport: We thank you not only for making the world know about what you are doing through the Chiareport, but most specially for the work that you are doing to shine a light unto the paths of these otherwise hopeless brothers and sisters. We pray that you find the time to update us upon your return from Cameroon.

Abong Ngranui Fankam: The pleasure and good fortune is all ours. Thank you.

Comments

[Ndom]

I hope it not gonna be like Haiti where the real intentions of there so called NGO and Charity organisations is to kidnap those poor children, dis-member them and sell thier body part to the rich-devil wishipping Lucifirians there in the US.

[Ndom]

I hope it is not gonna be like in Haiti where the real intentions of these so called NGOs and charity organisations is to kidnap those poor children, dis-member them and sell thier body parts to the rich-devil worshipping Lucifirians there in the US.

[REV.AKIH ABRAHAM KPWEGEH]

HI Abong,
That is a wonderful job you and your team are doing to put smiles on the faces of those vulnerable children and the schools in the area. I pray God continues to bless and sustain your efforts to help humanity survive the challenges of life. Congratulations to all Place of Hope Partners. Keep up with the good work.

[Debbie Wilkinson]

Abong - I love the article and so much good information is provided to allow folks to join you in your ministry... Blessings upon you, the children and the work you do...

[ntam charles]

Thanks to u for making those kids smile even with their broken hearts.The best investment is to invest in humans.When u stretch out ur hands to the needy,u are actually stretching out to christ.I would have loved to know the answer u gave to the needy,orphaned girl who came to u,wondering why she was left out when others were choosen although she actually lost both parents.Could it be that there are some lucky ones choosen who only lost one parent and others like the aforementioned girl are left out.Ur intentions are good and praiseworthy but cameroon being what it is,some partners may go as far as presenting their kids and relatives as victims when the real victims are left out like the young girl.May God guide u as u help his children.

Ntam

[Pa Chi]

will like to know how many cents per dollar donated actually reaches these kids

[Kelvin Ross]

Thank you women for shoudering the burden of the effects of the post 1992 elections biological war fare that was used by the regime in Younde against the Southern Cameroons state.

It will be recalled that during the 1992 post elections violence, the Biya regime deliberatly posted HIV positive soldiers to the English speaking territory and gave them instuction to rape young of child bearing age including married women. It happened and some of the soldiers later confessed the attrocities before dying of AIDS in an attempt to cleanse their souls. Biya is guilty of more than one genocide incidence in Cameroon spaning from the Ahidjo era till date. Witnesses to history know too well that injustice and falsehood has never truimph over justice and truth and Biya shall one day dance to the music he played.

[Isaac]

Hi! Abong and co. its a marvelous job your NGO is doing. The name brings hope. I humbly wish you will introduce these kids to an all lasting hope.So as they go through physical pain they will enjoy a spiritual reality such as you do. Introduce these kids to Christ who is our all time hope. Great job.