L'Effort Camerounais (English Version)

"The New Bell Prison is a dungeon, a run-down colonial structure of sub-human standard," Rev Sister Jacky Atabong

Interviewed by Ireneaus Chia Chongwain
Following a fire accident that claimed the lives of nine prisoners at the Douala New Bell Prison in the early hours of Wednesday, August 20, the Catholic Prison Apostolate is struggling to alleviate the suffering of some of the victims who are presently in some hospitals in Douala. While the cause of the fire, government and penitentiary authorities say, is yet to be determined, detention conditions at the New Bell Prison continue to be a subject of grave concern. L'Effort Camerounais contacted Sister Jacky Atabong, coordinator of Prison Pastoral Care workers in Africa, who is presently assisting victim-prisoners, to have a better insight of the situation on the ground following the August 20 incident. Excerpts:

Bamenda Archdiocese has not ordained a deacon in four years

Interviewed by Emmanuel F. Sanosi
For four years in a row, the Bamenda Archdiocese  has not had any candidates for Diaconate Ordination. On Tuesday June 24, Christians again lived another disappointment, as not even one  of the 24 deacons who were ordained came from the Bamenda Archdiocese. Six were from Kumbo Diocese, three from Buea and Mamfe respectively, one from Garoua, two from Yagoua, three from the Capuchin Congregation and six from the Piarists Congregation. After the ordination ceremony the Rector of St Thomas Aquinas Major Seminary, Bambui, Rev Fr Agapitus Nfon talked to L'Effort Camerounais about the formation of priests at the seminary.

Handling in-laws, the unsolicited intruders

Interviewed by Franckline Benjika W.

Shey Fondzeyuf Henry is a voluntary Family Life Coordinator in the Yaounde Archdiocese . He and his wife were selected as a leader couple in the diocese of Kumbo where they received training for close to seven years. They were trained on marital counselling, marriage enrichment programmes, couple to couple link, abortion rescue and many other aspects of family life. Mr Fondzeyuf has a diploma in Natural Family Planning from the University of Cincinnati in the USA.  After that the diploma he studied psychology in the University of Yaounde I. Upon the  completion of his studies, he decided to stay in Yaounde where he works on a volunteer basis as Family life Coordinator for the archdiocese. In the following interview with L'effort Camerounais he explains the various ways of handling in-laws who are seemingly a problem in African marriages.

"The best thing for a human being is to have knowledge and awareness of God's existence"

says Dominique Morfaw

Interviewed by Franckline Benjika
Dominique Morfaw is the catechist of St Joseph Parish Mvog-Ada, which is the pioneer Anglophone parish in the Yaounde Archdiocese. He has been a catechist since 1987. Despite the fact that a lot of people dread this profession due to miserable salaries, Dominique Morfaw has remained steadfast in the profession. Few will believe this, but he says he lives exclusively from the profession. He now provides a better insight into a profession many despise. Excerpts: 

Points of view on Lent and how it is observed

Points of view on Lent and how it is observed:

Interviewed by Mirabel Azangeh Tandafor Fru

Ndifor Williams, Vice Principal, GBHS Tiko,
CMA member

"Right from my days as a child I was told that lent is a period
when Christians forgo  many things which they normally eat or do, in order to follow Christ dedicatedly during the 40 days set aside for Lent. From then till now, that is what I have been trying to do. I used to take at least two bottles of beer each night before bed time........".

Unique Ash Wednesday in 200 years

Interviewed by Emmanuel F. Sanosi

Wednesday, February 6, was Ash Wednesday. On this day Christians are reminded, as they are signed with ash, that they are dust and unto dust they shall return. The period between Christmas and Lent ranges from four to nine Sundays. This year it is the shortest with only four Sundays. It will be another 200 years before this happens again. Rev Fr George Ngalim, Parish Priest of All Saints in Bayelle explains the importance of Ash Wednesday in this brief interview:

"US government ready to help track down embezzlers in Cameroon if requested," U.S Ambassador says

Interviewed by Aloysius Agendia
The US Ambassador to Cameroon, Her Excellency Janet Garvey, has revealed that her country is ready to assist the Cameroon government to track the bank accounts of those suspected of economic crimes in Cameroon, if requested. In an exclusive discussion with L'Effort Camerounais, while on a recent working visit to the American Language Centre in Douala,  she also noted that to  reduce the massive exodus of Cameroonians to greener pastures abroad, the Cameroon government needs to carry out revolutionary economic reforms and create an enabling business climate to attract Cameroonians in the Diaspora who are willing to return and foreign investors. She also addressed other topical issues.

CWA holds National Leadership Seminar

  Interviewed by Mirabel Azangeh Tandafor Fru
The Queen of Angels Parish Bojongo in the Buea Diocese, the cradle of Catholicism in Cameroon and the birth place of the Catholic Women’s Association, CWA, recently played host to a 3-day National Leadership Seminar, aimed at providing the recently elected CWA executive members with required leadership skills.   At the end of the seminar, L’Effort Camerounais caught up with the Diocesan President of CWA in the Buea Diocese, who threw more light on some of the issues that came up for discussion during the seminar. Excerpts

“A bishop is a servant and where ever he is sent to, like the Apostle Paul, he must go.”

Mgr Samuel Kleda, Coadjutor Archbishop of the Douala metropolitan See

The Douala Metropolitan See now has a Coadjutor Archbishop. He is Mgr Samuel Kleda. The information was disclosed at the Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral Parish Hall on Saturday November 3, 2007 by the Archbishop of Douala, His Eminence, Christian Cardinal Tumi. Shortly after Pope Benedict XVI’s decision was made public, Radio Veritas interviewed Mgr Samuel Kleda who outlined the complexity of the task that awaits him in his new station and the necessity for all his collaborators to work as a team.
Excerpts

“The Vatican strongly endorses African Traditional Religion,” Fr Humphrey Tatah Mbuy

Interviewed by Emmanuel Sanosi
The Pontifical Council for Inter-religious Dialogue named Rev Fr Humphrey Tatah Mbuy of the Bamenda Archdiocese to head a team monitoring ongoing studies on African Traditional Religion, ATR, for eventual incorporation of the discipline into the syllabuses of tertiary institutions and major seminaries in Africa. He was recently in Nigeria for a three-week seminar, where discussions focused on the different aspects affecting Christianity in Africa, especially when viewed from a backdrop of African traditions. We spoke to Fr. Humphrey Mbuy who comes back to some of the issues that were discussed in Nigeria in greater details. Excerpts: