updated 4:47 PM EDT, Thu August 1, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Dr. Georges Bwelle is bringing free health care to rural villages in Cameroon
- Bwelle and his team spend almost every weekend seeing hundreds of patients
- There aren't many doctors in the west African country; just one for every 5,000 people
- Do you know a hero? Nominations are open for 2013 CNN Heroes
Jamef Bwelle was injured
in a 1981 car accident near Yaounde, Cameroon's capital. He suffered
only a broken arm at first, but an infection developed and spread to his
brain, creating a hematoma that would affect him for the rest of his
life.
"There were no neurosurgeons in Cameroon," Georges Bwelle said. "We would have taken him out of Cameroon if we had the money."
Instead, Bwelle spent
years escorting his father to overcrowded clinics and hospitals, getting
whatever treatment they could get.
"It's not easy," Bwelle
said. "You can leave home at 5 a.m., running to the hospital to be the
first, and you are not the first. There (are) a lot of patients. ...
Some people can die because they are waiting."
The situation hasn't changed much since Bwelle's father passed away in 2002.
In Cameroon, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people,
according to the World Health Organization. For comparison's sake, the
ratio in the United States is one doctor for every 413 people.
And even if they could
see a physician, many Cameroonians couldn't afford it. Two out of five
people in the country live below the poverty line, and nearly
three-quarters of the country's health-care spending is private.
"The only problem they have is poverty," Bwelle said. "And with poverty, they ... cannot enjoy their life."
Seeing his father and so many of his countrymen suffer, Bwelle was determined to do something about it.
Dr. Georges Bwelle and his team of volunteers have performed 700 free surgeries in the past year.
He became a doctor himself, working as a vascular surgeon in Yaounde's Central Hospital. And he started a nonprofit, ASCOVIME,
that travels into rural areas on weekends to provide free medical care.
Since 2008, he and his group of volunteers have helped nearly 32,000
people.
Almost every Friday, he
and up to 30 people jam into vans, tie medical supplies to the roofs and
travel across rough terrain to visit villages in need.
Their luck doesn't
always hold out: They've had to push vehicles through rivers and mud
more than once. But when they arrive, they receive a true heroes'
welcome: a feast, singing and dancing, and the best accommodations the
community can offer.
In these villages, free
medical care is truly a cause for celebration, and Bwelle -- with his
big smile and boundless energy -- is more than happy to join in the fun.
The next morning, the team begins meeting with hundreds of patients.
"We are receiving 500
people in each trip," Bwelle said. "They are coming from 60 kilometers
(37 miles) around the village, and they're coming on foot."
Each of these weekend
clinics provides a variety of medical care. Many people are treated for
malaria, tuberculosis, malnutrition, diabetes, parasites and sexually
transmitted diseases. Others might receive crutches, a pair of donated
eyeglasses or free birth certificates -- documentation that's required
for school but that many impoverished families simply can't afford.
In the evenings, the
team will do simple surgeries with local anesthesia. Operations are
usually done in a schoolhouse, town hall or home; after the procedure,
patients get up and walk to the recovery area to make way for the next
person.
Two out of five people in Cameroon live below the poverty line, and most of the country's health-care spending is private.
With the group's
generator lighting the operating room and sanitizing equipment, Bwelle
and his volunteers work into the early hours of Sunday morning. It's a
backbreaking pace, but village musicians usually help keep the team
motivated.
"They are beating drums all the night to (keep us) awake and continue our work," Bwelle said.
On Sunday, the team
heads back to the city, tired but proud of their work. The group -- a
mix of Cameroonian doctors and foreign medical students -- has performed
700 free surgeries in the past year, and they know that their help can
make a world of difference to those they help.
One man explained that the free hernia surgery he'd received will allow him to work again.
"This will change my future with my family," the man said.
In addition to holding
these weekend clinics and working as a hospital surgeon, Bwelle also
works nights at private medical clinics around Yaounde. It's this second
job, he said, that funds about 60% of his nonprofit; the rest is
covered by private donations.
"I'm not sure when he
sleeps," said Katie O'Malley, a second-year medical student from Drexel
University in Philadelphia and volunteer with Bwelle's group. "He is
always either at the hospital or trying to make money for the
organization so he can go on these campaigns."
For medical and nursing
students such as O'Malley, who come from the United States and Europe to
join Bwelle on his missions, it's a hands-on opportunity they'd never
get at home.
"We've been able to
scrub in on surgeries where we help blot blood away or hold tools for
Dr. Bwelle," O'Malley said. "That's not something you'd ever get to do
in America as a second-year medical student."
The student volunteers
usually pay their own way to Cameroon, often arriving with donated
medical supplies. But once they arrive in Yaounde, their board,
transportation and instruction are covered by Bwelle.
"He's a hero, without a
doubt," O'Malley said. "He gives his life to this organization, and his
desire to help the Cameroon people is everlasting."
For Bwelle, the
near-constant workload isn't a hardship. Helping others live happier
lives, fulfilling a promise he made to his father, is something that
brings him great joy.
"I am so happy when I am doing this work," Bwelle said. "And I think about my father. I hope he sees what I am doing.
"To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that's why I'm doing this."
Want to get involved? Check out the ASCOVIME website and see how to help.
SOURCE: CNN
