Ngaoubela
Encyclopedia
Ngaoubela village in the Cameroonian province of Adamawa Region of Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

, 15 km west from Tibati
Tibati
Tibati is a town and commune in Djérem, Cameroon. The town and region are reigned by a local monarch, the Lamido.The most notable economic activity in the region is the fishery industry. The fish comes from the lake Mbakaou, a large dammed lake next to Tibati...

 and 3 km from the "Axe lourde", i.e. Tibati
Tibati
Tibati is a town and commune in Djérem, Cameroon. The town and region are reigned by a local monarch, the Lamido.The most notable economic activity in the region is the fishery industry. The fish comes from the lake Mbakaou, a large dammed lake next to Tibati...

 to Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré
Ngaoundéré or N'Gaoundéré is the capital of the Adamawa Region of Cameroon. It had a population of 152,698 . It lies at the northern end of the railway to Yaoundé and is also home to an airport. The current city was founded in approximately 1835 by the Fulani leader Ardo Njobdi, although the...

. The village has more than 1000 inhabitants, some estimates surpass 1500. For its history it is inhabited by a range of ethnicities, among many others there are mainly Gbaya
Gbaya
Gbaya may refer to:*Gbaya people*Gbaya languages...

, Mboum, Fulbe and the Haussa
Hausa people
The Hausa are one of the largest ethnic groups in West Africa. They are a Sahelian people chiefly located in northern Nigeria and southeastern Niger, but having significant numbers living in regions of Cameroon, Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Chad and Sudan...

.

Hospital

The hospital in Ngaoubela (Hôpital Protestant Ngaoubela) forms part of the Cameroonian Lutheran Evangelic Church (Eglise Evangelique Lutherienne du Cameroun, EELC). It comprises 150 beds in total, and it is equipped with two operating rooms, an ultrasonic device, an x-ray aparatus, a laboratory, running water and emergency power supply. Thus it is the best equipped hospital in the entire disctrict Djérem
Djérem
Djérem is a department of Adamawa Province in Cameroon.The department covers an area of 13,283 km² and as of 2001 had a total population of 89,382.The capital of the department lies at Tibati.-Subdivisions:...

. Cameroon lacks a functioning social welfare system, people have to pay for health services. In this extremely poor region of Cameroon this results in financial issues both among patients as for the hospital itself. It mostly relies upon donations from organizations abroad. It is supported by the American Lutheran Church, the Austrian association "Entwicklungspartnerschaft für Kamerun", but also Care and other organizations sporadically aid to ensure the functioning of the most basic health services. The Catholic community of Frastanz
Frastanz
Frastanz is a market town in the Feldkirch district, in Vorarlberg, Austria. It used to be known for its production of tobacco.-Geography:Frastanz is located on the western border of Austria, at 510 meters above sea level. It is 32.25 square km in area. 61.2% of the area is wooded.-History:In...

 enables and supports young Austrian men to do social services. The Austrian medical practitioner Elisabeth Neier has lived and worked in Ngaoubla since 1986.

History

The hospital was founded in 1947 by Norwegian missionaries - originally to be used as a station for treatment of Leprosy
Leprosy
Leprosy or Hansen's disease is a chronic disease caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Named after physician Gerhard Armauer Hansen, leprosy is primarily a granulomatous disease of the peripheral nerves and mucosa of the upper respiratory tract; skin lesions...

. The Lamido
Lamido
Lamido is the Anglicisation of a term from the Fula language or Fulfulde, used to refer to a ruler. In the language it is properly laamiiɗo , derived from the verbal root "laam-" meaning "to rule or to lead", and hence may be translated more specifically as "leader"...

 from Tibati
Tibati
Tibati is a town and commune in Djérem, Cameroon. The town and region are reigned by a local monarch, the Lamido.The most notable economic activity in the region is the fishery industry. The fish comes from the lake Mbakaou, a large dammed lake next to Tibati...

 at that time offered the land, in order to have the patients treated far from his city, to minimize the contagion risk to healthy people.
After a time, the focus shifted towards operating as a regular hospital, since the hospital became technically and medically well-equipped as it has always enjoyed foreign support from religious organizations. This resulted in achieving the status of "district-hospital" (hôpital de district) in 2003, something uncommon among private hospitals in Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...

.
Since 2000, the Chinese have become active in this region. So, about 2007, a new well was built, supplying the village with high quality water from approximately 60 metres below the surface.

Religion

The village is split between the Muslims and Christian Protestant communities. While the Christian community dominates the village in numbers, both are estimated to be equal in the surrounding district. There is one church in Ngaoubela and one small Mosque.
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