Weh Village

The Fon welcomed them and expressed a lot of gratitude to Dr. Achu for the work he had initiated and continues to do in order to help the Weh people get rid of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. He gave them the assurance that his palace will remain open for Dr. Achu, his team and all the volunteers for any assistance and collaboration that is needed. He blessed and wished them success.

Personalities present at the ceremony included: The Divisional Chief of Bureau Health Mr. Akap Oscar Geh representing the DMO, Dr. Ndah, the 2nd Assistant Mayor for Fungom, Mrs. Bama Margaret representing the Mayor, the Communal Correspondent Mr. Nji John representing PTG and Mrs Sih Beatrice, the Government Community Health Worker assigned to Weh by the DMO. After introducing the VIPs, Mr. Akap gave the floor to the Mayor.

Her welcome speech was brief and straight to the point. Mrs. Bama Margaret greeted the team from Bamenda and the community. She brought a message from the council which was focused on development. She asked of what use development of a road, pipe-borne water and multi-purpose hall will be if the people were all sick and dying? The council wants development but we want to have a healthy population, strong and reproducing before we can embark on any meaningful development project. This AIDS project is one of the answers that the council is looking for. I invite you all to use all the means available to stop AIDS from spreading. She said the council greatly appreciates Dr. Achu’s initiative and invites him to extend this to other villages of the sub division. She reassured the team of the council’s total support and security in all that they had to do in Weh and asked to convey warm greetings to Dr. Achu and COPAAP.

The Fon’s representative Pa Mewanda Eju, who is the quarter head of Kefum, welcomed the guests and said whenever there is a fire, everybody's plea is to have some water to put it out. He said Weh was under the HIV/AIDS fire, and the coming of COPAAP’s sponsorship of WECUDA anti-HIV project would be the right quantity of water needed to put out this fire. He blessed them on behalf of the fon and the other quarter heads present. He assured them of total collaboration in all their activities in Weh.

Mr. Akap Oscar Geh was happy to welcome the team to Weh on behalf of the DMO. He praised the Weh people for collaborating with the medical services in all their activities especially in the vaccination campaigns. He urged them to give COPAAP and the CHVs including the CHW the same quality of support. He expected a full hall and many more youths which was not the case. He pleaded with the parents to also let their children participate in the MVCT because they are the target. Our schools, our property and good houses will have nobody to inherit if these young ones are not taken care-of. He concluded by thanking COPAAP for recognizing the important role of the medical service in place and assured them of the readiness to assist at all times.

Representing the CEO of COPAAP, Mrs, Njiti Gladys thanked all those present and informed the quarter heads that they were the gateway into the quarters so they had to support the CHVs in the effort to sensitize and educate the community on the importance of knowing their status. She mentioned that this was the second time COPAAP was coming to Weh. The first was on the 26th November 2005 during the WECUDA AGM where Dr. Achu outlined the objectives of COPAAP and the role of the CUDA in the project. During that visit, the trained CHVs took their oaths and were awarded certificates. The purpose of the current visit was to carry out the MVCT and to encourage them contribute into their Solidarity Fund to ensure sustainability of the project. She expressed COPAAP’s willingness to collaborate with the DMO, CC, COUNCIL, DO and the Weh community so that together they can have an AIDS-free community. All these, she said, will be achieved if the Weh people take the project as their first Priority Development Project. Behaviour change from personal or negative traditional practices were important issues for the community and WECUDA to look at, in no distant time. This component is difficult but not impossible if we take our health to be of any importance. She encouraged the CHVs to live up to expectations and to collaborate with Mrs Sih Beatrice the Government Community Worker and other authorities so that the impact of the project will soon be felt by the community they are to serve.

After the speeches, mass pre-test counselling took place and these results were recorded:

Number tested 194
Number tested positive 14 (women 10 men 4)
Number of confirmed cases 14