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| Dr. Ndonwie Peter talking to the Press in Bda |
By Fai CN
In Cameroon, there are many
people whose daily lives are affected by vision issues that usually originate from
neglect. This is very peculiar in villages and semi urban cities due to abject
poverty and the lack of access to medication as well as related eye service. Dr. Ndonwie Peter, the Managing Director of
the Pan African Organization for Research (based in Ghana) and elite of Nkwen
village in Bamenda, in the North West Region of Cameroon has announced that he will launch the first ever
eye care campaign across Nkwen next week. Talking to journalists
at his Nkwen residence the upcoming free for all campaign, used the opportunity
to urge members of the
public not to miss the opportunity to meet opticians. To him, the
programme is not a politically inclined but rather it is geared towards
improving the health standards of the population as a whole. “Whether you belong
to which political party, be it the CPDM (my party) or the SDF, we are all
people of Nkwen. I grow up in this village and that is why I always have my
village at heart whenever I am around”. According to Dr. Ndonwie, home is home
reasons why he makes sure that he comes back home atleast four times every
year. I cann’t just go without doing something significant to my people that is
why I always believe that the little that you do to the people is what matters”,
he emphasized. “The eye screening for Bamenda free is intended to also reach
out to youths who have been working on computers as well”. He added that after
screening the public will also benefit from free glasses and lenses.
When quizzed whether
this is not a political campaign, Dr. Ndonwie said that it is part of the
little efforts that he puts in place to change lives. “If tomorrow, a mother or
father goes to church and he/she is able to open the Bible and read the
scripture, I think I have impacted on his or her life positively. Or if
tomorrow a voter is able to make a right choice by seeing well the ballot, and
vote wisely or read a hospital prescription without calling on someone to come
and read, I think that is something”. Accordingly, he emphasized that he is not
doing it for politics but for his people, implicitly, he is just trying to give
back something significant to his community. “Whether they paid my fees or not,
I am still appreciative to my people”, he continued. Dr. Ndonwie also
reiterated the fact that political campaigns and elections will always come and
go. “We should do things for the sake of doing it and not always because of
political interest”. He said he left the Mezam Section in 2006, yet every time
he comes back home, he makes sure something significant is done for the
betterment of all. He however said that if the people of Nkwen whom think that
they can push him up when it comes to decision making, he cannot be indifferent
to it.
On whether he has a
package of ideas and programme to unveil every time he is home, Dr. Ndonwie
said that even though he is a development worker, what he is doing is also part
of his upbringing by his father taught them to always share the little they
have with others. “You see, my father actually assisted in developing Nkwen and
Bamenda when they were in the Nkwen council. We saw the good work they were
doing with people like Pa Wanky, Pa Asongwe, and the Late Fon of Nkwen. Sincerely,
supporting community development is part of us. My taught us to always come
home and our family is development oriented, so, every time we always think of
how we can make Nkwen a better place”.
Harping on the Ebola
Campaign in Ghana, Dr. Ndonwie said Ebola has to do with something that has
been putting the lives of children, women, men and the entire population of
most West African countries at risk. “Looking at our work with schools, we see
that when children are sick or families are sick, it really jeopardize the
education of children”. He revealed that Pan African Organization for Research
started intervening in the Ebola awareness campaign to make sure that people
are aware of what Ebola is all about and how they can stay away from
contracting it. “For that reason we worked in collaboration with our partner in
Spain (EDOCU) and with them, we supported 40 schools in a municipality called
Savelugu-Nanton where we supported hand washing facilities and also provided
them with sanitizers, hand washing soap etc”. The support he said was intended
to eradicate in- hygienic conditions given that Ebola spreads where there no
hygiene. He also added that they also worked towards sensitizing the population
on the importance of keeping the environment cleans as well as why they should
wash their hands after touching someone who is sick. “It was not just washing
hands but more importantly, washing hands in running water. So if you look at
the type of equipment we distributed, they are all adapted, because there is a
tap that allows water to flow and after washing your hands, it is thrown away”.
He said the campaign was very successful and the results could be judged from
the fact that Ebola is being minimized in West Africa. He also revealed that he
did not noticed any case of Ebola in Ghana, and this is thanks to the intervention
of NGOs including the Pan African Organization for Research as well as the
collaboration of the communities. According to Dr. Ndonwie, working in collaboration
with the Ghana Education Services is a success story given that given that they
also support schools and communities with learning and teaching materials. This
he said include amongst others the Rights and Protection of Children, as well
as making sure that children are not sent on early marriages. “We have been
working to make sure that children who are less than 18 years old should be in
school and not marriage homes”, he emphasized.
Who is Dr. Ndonwie
Peter
Dr. Ndonwie Peter was
born in 1968 in Nkwen-Bamenda in the Mezam Division of the North West Region of
Cameroon. He holds a Master Degree in Humanitarian Studies from University of
Liverpool ( School of Tropical Medicine) and PhD in Business and Management
from University of South Central (Los Angeles) USA. At International level he
is working as a development consultant and is the Program Director of Pan
African Organisation for Research and Protection of Violence on Women and
Children in Ghana. From 2010, 2011 and 2012 Dr. Ndonwie Peter won numerous
awards for his work. He received the ‘’Best Social Entrepreneur’’ award for
promoting the rights of children in Northern Ghana from a Swedish Organisation
(Reach for Change) and Tigo Ghana, an award that has supported his work with
more than $75,000 for the past three years. As researcher, he is also a refined
writer of many story books in his credit and development publications. This is
so because has spent more than 18 years studying and working in development
related programs in Cameroon, United Kingdom, Germany, Israel, Ghana and other
countries. He is married with children.
When News Breaks Out, We Break In. (The 2014 Bloggies Finalist)
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