For 21 years, Georges Bwelle watched his ill father slip in and out of consciousness, traveling to hospitals that weren’t equipped to help him. There were no neurosurgeons in his native land of Cameroon, so Georges spent years escorting his father to overcrowded clinics and hospitals, getting whatever treatment they could get. The situation hasn’t changed much since Bwelle’s father passed away in 2002.

According to the World Health Organization, there is only one doctor for every 5,000 people in Cameroon (compared to the United States, which has one doctor for every 413 people). And even if they can get to see a physician, many Cameroonians can’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. Seeing his father and so many others suffering, Georges Bwelle became determined to do something about it …

He became a doctor himself, working as a vascular surgeon in Yaounde’s Central Hospital. And he started a nonprofit organization that travels into rural areas on weekends to provide free medical care to residents there who wold otherwise not be able to access it or afford it. Since 2008, he and his group of volunteers have treated & cared for nearly 32,000 people.

Almost every Friday, he and up to 30 people jam into vans, tie medical supplies to the roofs of their vehicles, and travel across rough terrain to visit villages in need. When they arrive, after reveling with villagers in a joyous welcome celebration, the team begins meeting with patients — about 500 each trip. In the evenings, the team performs simple surgeries with local anesthesia. Operations are usually done in a schoolhouse, town hall or private home; after each procedure, patients get up and walk to the recovery area to make way for the next person. In this manner, Georges Bwelle and his team have performed over 700 free surgeries in the past year alone.

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 a 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 his campaigns.”

“I am so happy when I am doing this work, and I often think about my father when I am doing it … To make people laugh, to reduce the pain, that’s why I’m doing this.” ~ Georges Bwelle

 

Filed under: In LOVE with Humanity by Scaughdt