Francesca and Mauro, doctors from Chiavari to Ngaoundal

It has now been a decade (and we hadn’t even realised it!) since we first became involved with Cameroon, Ngaoundal and the Sainte Jeanne Antide Thouret Hospital in Gala Gala… A bond that actually has deeper and more distant roots, beginning in 2010 with Francesca’s long period of missionary medical work in the Central African Republic, in the Diocese of Bouar, where the Sisters of Charity were deeply rooted: they offered maternal hospitality during a stopover on complicated journeys, they were a lively part of a missionary Church with which they shared intense moments in the Diocese, they were also trusting patients in need of medical care… Although war shattered many plans for that land, our bond with the Sisters of Charity led us, as newlyweds, to meet Sister Maria Grazia Delaidini in Italy shortly afterwards. She had recently been sent to Ngaoundal to oversee the construction of the new hospital in the heart of the savannah and become its director… Those blue eyes, so full of enthusiasm and expectation, are still there, in the dearest memories of our hearts, as she asked us hopefully: ‘So, how about coming to help us?’ And how could we disappoint such a request? And so, with the inauguration of the Gala Gala hospital in 2016, for which we also made our specialist qualifications available from a bureaucratic point of view, our faithful accompaniment of that reality began: alongside the Sisters, dedicating 2-3 months a year to Cameroon, we saw the hospital grow like a child taking its first tentative steps, until it became an adult, paying particular attention to Paediatrics and Radiology, our specific areas of expertise, but always attentive to the hospital as a whole. There would be endless stories to tell to narrate our rich experience and the many months spent in Ngaoundal… certainly, each mission was something different, allowing us to become increasingly immersed in the culture, relationships, social fabric and hospital environment. Work in Africa always begins with quiet and humble observation of the context, with an open mind and without prejudice towards other ways of thinking and looking at life. With this attitude, we worked alongside the hospital staff. We also learned to accept difficult situations, such as not taking for granted that a life-saving operation would be accepted by the family, or how to deal with the culture of witchcraft, which too often takes lives, especially those of children, that we could otherwise have treated.

In this journey of openness and acceptance, we were helped by the Sisters, who were fundamental companions on the road, and by the staff themselves, who shared their values, traditions and culture with us, while allowing themselves to be guided in taking better care of the sick. Ezechiel is the first name we remember in our medical work: a 5-year-old boy with a look too sad for a child, always tired, always anaemic… For him, during those first steps taken in the hospital, we initiated a constructive team effort that led from suspicions raised in Paediatrics about a diseased spleen to a diagnosis made using a rudimentary ultrasound machine, and finally to the surgery that saved that child’s life. Sister Maria Grazia insisted on meeting with us each time to joyfully accompany his growth…

Yes, Ezechiel was the first, back in 2016, but we hold a large and rich treasure chest of names and faces we met and treated at Gala Gala in our hearts, just as we warmly cherish all the progress we have witnessed, the challenges faced with the Sisters, the projects, the efforts, hopes, until we became aware of the high incidence of extrapulmonary tuberculosis, particularly in children, of which there was no awareness and which led to a challenging but constructive training programme, making it a well-known disease today, which is dealt with on a daily basis and has also led to a larger project, beyond our work as a couple, supported by the Catholic University. However, Ngaoundal also represents for us a family, the Sisters of Charity who carefully seek to fill in our empty place when we are not there and accompany us with equal care during our time in Ngaoundal. We feel at home with them and they eagerly await us again every time we return to Italy… Just as our place is now secure within the hospital team, so that every time we return, we pick up where we left off, as if nothing had changed, except for the joy of being together again, but also within the community of Ngaoundal, where now, when we are greeted on the street, for many we are ‘Papa’ and “Maman”, a title that is full of respect for them, electing us as parental figures for an entire village, revealing how much this is also a precious gift to our married life…

… And even now that neither Sister Maria Grazia nor Sister Marie Michelle, who were the pioneering soul of that project, are no longer with us, we can only continue to look at the Gala Gala Hospital with the gaze and perspective that they taught us, having now become, amid the many changes that have taken place over the years, the guardians of that memory of the origins. This journey, which we continue to travel with the love that is truly dedicated to a family, for as long as possible, is not ours alone: if it is true that we are the ones who board a plane flying over the desert and get our sandals dirty with red earth, we never set off alone; there is so much emotional and spiritual sharing, but also material sharing, with friends, neighbours, parishes, prayer groups or simple acquaintances, sometimes even strangers who have simply heard about our commitment, who participate in our journey every time: We put our hands to work every day for the sick in Gala Gala, but those hands would be rather empty if others did not fill them with their solidarity and allow us to support the Sisters financially in their projects and daily work for the people of Ngaoundal.

Among the many, Maria deserves a special mention at this time. She and her family have always generously supported us in every mission. A year and a half ago, she lost her son, Davide, who died at the age of 18 from a merciless and devastating illness that took him away in a few months. Yet this great pain, experienced within a great faith, has become a fruitful seed: in memory of Davide, with the contribution of the family, last year the well at the “Sant Agostina” Health Centre in Ngaoundal was repaired. Now it has running water, which is life and health. While in this summer period, Maria and her husband Matteo are preparing to welcome a new life that is blossoming, we wanted to continue to honour Davide’s memory in a strong bond of solidarity by organising, with the “Maratoneti del Tigullio” group of which Matteo is a member, a march through the historic centre of Chiavari, our city. This will not only be a sport activity and a celebration, but also a fundraising opportunity to collect donations to support Ngaoundal’s new maternity ward at the “Pietro Pecora” Health Centre, in an ideal gesture of support for life. Francesca Pezzolo and Mauro Moretti