Nun shines as beacon of hope for orphans in Cameroon's capital

By Aurore Bonny

DOUALA, Cameroon (AA) - Balbine Lemana, a Christian nun who runs a small orphanage in Medong, a neighborhood in Cameroon's capital Yaounde, is busy preparing meals for destitute children.

As soon as lunch is ready, she goes to stand at the front door to greet the children as they arrive one by one, saying "hello mom" or "good afternoon mom," and taking their seats for food.

"They all call me 'mom' of their own volition. It's a really happy day for me," said the nun, who never married because of the religious position she chose based on her Christian faith.

"I devote all of my time to orphans. On Mother's Day, they always wish me (well) and pray a lot for me," she told Anadolu Agency at her St. Rita of Cascia's orphanage.

Lemana founded the orphanage 10 years ago due to her long-time desire to help the less fortunate, as well as her sympathy for the children who used to come knocking on the doors of the middle school where she once worked as an accountant. Many of the children used to come in and ask for fee waivers because their parents could not afford to pay for school. However, she was unable to provide them with free education.

"That's what hurts me," she explained, adding that she then decided to build an orphanage where, besides being fed, underprivileged children could also have other needs, like education, met.

Becoming a nun, she feels, does not preclude being a mother. She believes that it is necessary to be able to show affection to children who are not biologically hers.

"You don't have the gift of motherhood if you can't communicate the maternal message to your children. Being with these children brings a smile to my eyes. I offer them what I didn't get, and I adore these children," she said.

Her biggest challenge is tracing the families of some of them in order to obtain birth certificates.

She had 80 children at the beginning of the school year and is now down to 65 because some of them have been reunited with their families. Nonetheless, she continues to visit them in order to guarantee that their education is not interrupted.

Lemana also had to offer her name to certain children in order to obtain birth certificates for them, which the schools requires.

She also faces challenges in caring for several children who have multiple health conditions.

"They have a lot of affection for me, and I have a lot of compassion for them. Every day, I pray that they grow up happy and in the greatest possible situations," she said.

Managing many things at the orphanage, according to Lemana, is difficult because you have to play two roles, that of the father and that of the mother.

- Drive to help children

Clement Kokouvi Edoh Dessi, a volunteer teacher, and his twin brother also play important roles in the operation of Wisdom House, an orphanage in the village in Gati-Soun, located 70 kilometers (about 43 miles) from Lome, Togo's capital, in West Africa.

Mother's week, which ends on Saturday, is an occasion for Dessi to acknowledge and appreciate the tremendous effort of women who care for several children in distant regions.

"These children have both fathers and mothers in us. African women in these areas work in difficult and dangerous jobs to support children, which is unbelievable," he said, explaining that he understands their difficulties and that this mother's week is a "significant holiday dedicated to them."

In 2012, his family founded the orphanage that now houses 21 children and receives 29 more who come every day for meals. Dessi's father died when he was seven, and he recalls his mother's tireless efforts to care for not just him and his brother, but also other children who were not her own.

"We often felt like orphans, which motivated us to help other children in similar situations. We're also looking for poor elderly people living on the streets who have no one to care for them," he said.

He and his family are able to feed and send these children to school thanks to difficult-to-obtain sponsorships.

They hope to establish a private school for them.

Kalngui Victoire, who operates the God With Us orphanage in Douala, Cameroon's economic capital, told Anadolu Agency that she has always desired to support orphans.

"Being a mother of many orphans gives me great pride," said Victoire, who also has a baby girl of her own.

"It's not easy on a daily basis taking care of all these children," she said, "but God helps us a lot in this noble task."

She added that she started the orphanage in 2016 and that it now caters for seven boys and eight girls, as well as her own daughter.

Even if this type of bond between an adoptive mother and an orphaned child risks becoming more functional than emotional, with solidarity and empathy replacing the genuine devotion of a biological mother, Ivorian sociologist Spencer Kouakou believes these women deserve gold medals.

"They integrate two responsibilities in the family structure and should be commended for doing their best to maintain a certain emotional level despite limited resources. They contribute to their social security despite the emotional limitations," he explained.