HIV AIDS EDUCATION IN
BALI AND THE REST OF US
Last week, I
worshipped with the Presbyterian Church in Cameroon (PCC), at the Ntanfoang-Bali
Congregation in Bali Sub Division of Cameroon`s North West Region, where my
good friend, the Rev. Titatang Kingsley is resident pastor. He is also
Secretary of the newly-created Bali Presbytery.
The
presbytery comprises a total of 23 congregations, among which are those of
Ntanfoang-Bali, Njenka, Gungong, Bawock,
Ntaiton, Sang-Bali, the Cameroon Christian University (CCU), and CPC/Bessem.
This was the first time I was meeting him since the creation of the Bali
Presbytery and his installation as its pioneer Secretary. I remarked to him how
young he was to hold such a position but also added that it was God`s choice
and also that the young must grow. I wondered loudly to him why despite a
presence of over a century in Cameroon with Bali playing a leading role to the
extent that while the Duala language used to be the official language of
Presbyterian churches in the South West, and Mungaka (the Bali language) was
the one used in what is today the North West Region, it was only now that the
locality was being given a presbytery of its own. The pastor responded in a rather
philosophical manner by saying God`s time is the best. I agreed with him.
Although I
had always enjoyed Rev. Titatang`s church services, that of last Sunday was
special because he added a new chapter to it. He installed a Committee to pilot
the affairs of the pandemic HIV AIDS within his territory. The committee will
henceforth identify, counsel and support members of the congregation who are
infected or affected by HIV AIDS.
After that
church service, it dawned on me that although I had written a book on HIV AIDS
awareness, I had not done enough to publicize it. Yes, it is currently on the
national book list of the Cameroonian Ministry of Secondary Education for both
Anglophone and Francophone classes; it is being voluntarily used by some
primary schools and the Minister of Higher Education has written authorizing me
to take it into state universities and other institutions of higher learning.
Even so, I do
not believe that that is enough. It appears Cameroonians do not like buying
books. They prefer to use the money drinking beer. Someone once remarked that
if anyone wants to hide something from Cameroonians, he/she should put it in a
book and they will surely not see; but if they want Cameroonians to really see
it, they should put it in a bottle of beer. Parents would normally buy books “if
they are on the book list”. Even so, the Ministry of Secondary Education has
caused some confusion by impressing it upon parents that books that can be
regarded as “compulsory” are only those for English Language, French Language
and Mathematics, the so-called compulsory subjects. What is worse, teachers and
educational establishments are restrained from compelling students to buy the
books. So buying books on a burning health issue such as HIV AIDS has ended up
by not being a priority. Yet the pandemic is killing daily, regardless of age
or sex.
In a bid to
make my book on HIV AIDS more accessible to the general public, I have now made
it possible for people who are interested to read it in its entirety entirely
free-of-charge. But this is for now solely online and involves only the e-book
edition. The standard price of the physical paper edition is still 2000 Frs.
CFA, although there can be a discount in the case of bulk orders.
I am by this
post launching an appeal for suggestions as to how we can make this book reach
a wider audience not only in Cameroon but in the world as a whole. If we
consider that the world has really and truly become a global village, then we
should look at the world as our oyster, not just our individual countries.
To view the free
online e-book version of the publication, please follow the link below to the
appropriate page of my sumbola account. If the link does not open, copy it and
paste it in the address bar at the top of your screen, then press “Enter”.
