Poverty's Secret

I have skipped a few things out by writing this post because I had one of the most eye opening and emotional experiences in my last 4 days in the country.

After spending a week travelling in the South of Cameroon, visiting beaches and the much more developed region of Cameroon with two other volunteers, they left the country leaving me with 4 days in which I had to find something to do. The director of the NGO kindly organised for me to stay with a family in Douala, the economic capital of the country. Fred had met this man a few weeks earlier; he is a physiotherapist who works with handicapped people. Fred thought it would be a good experience for me to work alongside him to see what he does.

He thought right because what I saw and experienced in those 4 days have left me, even now; speechless. I have always been concerned for people in the developing world, appalled by the conditions they live in and the unfairness of their circumstance. However, something I have NEVER thought about is how the situation of people with mental illness and disabilities is a million times worse!!! I don’t know if it’s just me, but this isn’t something I had ever thought about or heard people speak about.

Emmanuel (The physiotherapist) took me to his workshop on the day I arrived. He had invited all his child patients  so he could explain what problems the children had and how he was trying to help them. There were SO many children who were born with severe problems with their legs and arms but because their parents didn’t have enough money they couldn’t afford to have braces fitted. As a results the children are growing up paralysed. Emmanuel is doing an incredibly charitable job. He has so many patients who visit him and cannot afford to pay. He is put in such a horrible position because he knows that these people are suffering and he CAN help them but he too has a family to feed. In terms of giving the patients braces and special shoes, the patients actually need to pay for these things otherwise the materials etc cannot be bought. Emmanuel himself is living in quite a hard situation economically so he cannot afford to buy these things and give them to people for free. But none the less he tries the best he can to support the patients and do exercises to try and loosen the stiff joints. However, unfortunately, in most cases this doesn’t do a great deal.

On this particular day there was one case which really made me realise the hardship of these people. One mother arrived with her son and sat in the waiting room and began crying. Her son is brain head and paralysed from head to toe. Her husband walked out on her when he realised the situation of the boy and she is now unable to work because she has to look after the boy 24 hours a day as he can’t even sit up on his own. It was then that it hit me that these people don’t get ANY support from the government financially OR emotionally these people have never ever been given any advice or support in terms of dealing with a child with a disability. Many people in Cameroon are still very supistisous and believe that a person with mental illness is a victim of witchcraft. I sat there speechless watching this mother cry. In a country where a person who has the ability to work is struggling to survive, people who are in situations like this are living an incredibly difficult and torturous life. To know there is way to help their child live a normal life but because it is too expensive their child will never walk again is absolutely disgusting!!!

Most of Emmanuel patients find it incredibly hard to leave their house so he visits most of them at home. Again, he does this because he is passionate about helping people but this makes his job even more difficult as it means he has to pay for taxis around the city everyday as he doesn’t have a vehicle himself. Meaning he is barley earning anything for the amazing job that he does. On my 3^rd day I went around some of the houses with him. This was an even more emotional experience as I was able to see the conditions some of these people were living in. Again, one case in particular really exposed me to the hidden destitution of the handicapped. I met a 20 year old boy who was paralysed. Emannuel had tried to help the boy but it was too late; his body rejected the treatment. The house he was living in cannot even be called a house because it was worse than a slum. It consisted on some panels of wood and a piece of tin as a roof. I was informed that the roof had only just been fitted, before that they were living in an open space. Considering it is rainy season the place gets flooed on a regular bases whilst being swarmed with flies and mosquitoes. The boy lived there with his mother, who was also paralysed in one leg. She had an accident a few years earlier and her husband fled because he didn’t want to look after them both. In this tiny area with only one bed also lived a bunch of children belonging to the mother’s sister as she didn’t have anywhere for them to  live. I stood in this house looking at this situation and couldn’t stop my eyes filling with tears. I felt so sad and angry that these people were living like this. But most of all I have never felt so powerless in all my life. I said hello, nice to meet you and walked away knowing that at that moment there was nothing I could do. It was horrible.


I spent the rest of the day speechless. One part of me was really upset at what I had seen and actually really effected by it. The other part of me felt glad to have met the incredible person that is Emmanuel because if it wasn't for him these people would have no one. A massive part of me is also so happy that I have discovered these hidden people suffering huge amounts. I really want everyone to be aware of this massive problem that no doubt exists is every developing country.

I now want to spread the word and help Emmanuel continue and improve the fantastic job he is doing!