EARLY PERCEPTIONS OF A MEDICAL DOCTOR IN MY VILLAGE

EARLY PERCEPTIONS OF A MEDICAL DOCTOR IN MY VILLAGE

By Tikum Mbah Azonga

Among the areas that have seen a marked increase in Cameroon since independence is that of the clergy and our own national medical doctors. When we grew up as little children, the number of Cameroonian priests and doctors were few and far between. Today, the opposite is true because nationals outnumber expatriate in the two domains.

However, when White doctors dominated, we villages of the large Baforchu family had a way of approaching someone who had just returned from the hospital. The first question the patient was asked was:

“A ke docta baghe ze we ke docta firi-e?” which means, “Was it a White doctor who saw you or a Black one”?

If the patient said it was a Black Doctor, utter disappointment was expressed by the interlocutor and expressions of exasperation were uttered such as

“Was there really no White doctor to receive you that you were sent to a Balck Doctor?”

But if the answer was that it was a White doctor, then the joy of the relative was overwhelming. In fact such people at that point already considered that their sick ones were already well, just because they were seen by a White doctor.

The next question was: “Mbe ne` rwefu`eh ne be jhum sa`?”. That means, as you were given drugs, were you also administered an injection? 

If the answer was that there was no injection given, then the interviewer was even angrier and would say something like: “If there was no injection to be given, then what was the point of going to the hospital?”

However, that was then and this is now. The wide availability of our own doctors has broken the myth and the stigma that prevailed in those days.

THE END