Bearing in mind that death is the most certain aspect of human life, some elite of Fako Division, South West region of Cameroon, have expressed concern towards the improvement of the standard of the Regional Hospital in Limbe, RHL, for it to cater for the wellbeing of not only patients, but also to give honour and respect to those who have gone to the world beyond.

The elite, under the banner of Fako Elite Development Organisation, FEDO, on Wednesday, August 6, donated two gospel stands and a reading stand at the Chapel of the hospital mortuary, to be usedin giving a befitting honour to the departed, during funeral services held at the chapel.

During the handing-over ceremony of the equipment, a brief service drawn from Mathew 6:19-20, was conducted at the Chapel, led by Rev Ngale Monjimbo, who stressed on the fact that the value of the stands is not just for those who have died, but its importance lies in the fact that souls have to be won during the funeral services, as he prayed that God puts a burden of charity in the minds of FEDO members, so that they will always do good and impact society positively.

Talking on the reason behind the donation, the president of FEDO, Shalman Mokumu, emphasised that it is necessary for the hospital to be well equipped because “Most of us must pass through this hospital; if not as mourners then in another capacity-thus the remains of the departed should be handled with care, dignity and respect until their final resting place”.

In response to FEDO’s gesture, the Director of RHL, Kuwoh Pius, said he was extremely grateful for FEDO’s timely intervention and promised they will make judicious use of the equipment “We cannot think of life without thinking of death”, he said, though he mentioned that the hospital still has a distance to go before it meets up with the image of the city where it is.

According to one of the elite, Hon Gladys Etombi “One of the things we noticed was lacking in the chapel was a carrier. We noticed that now more than ever before, many corpses are removed at the same time and some are laid on the ground because there are not enough stands, thuswe decided to make two stands so that at any given time, two corpses can be laid”.

Quizzed on why they focused on death instead of contributing to save lives, the Hon MP said “It looks weird that we thought of death, but we also think that we must think about death and our departure because it is certain, we shall all leave this world at a certain time. We thought as members of FEDO that life is sure, death is even surer, and we all will die. All of us loss loved ones and the least we could do is to make sure that they go away honourably.”

In answering the Hospital Director’s requests of the many needs of the hospital, Hon Etombi said she is already working on a couple of things to see how the hospital can be upgraded and called on all and sundry to make their contributions in its maintenance “I want to say that nothing is too small and the hospital is a place that we all visit, so people who can do something to help should not hesitate in doing so, we should all try to do our little donations, for we discover that the hospital is a place that gives back hope and laughter to many”.