Amber McKenna

Editor in chief

Thanks to costumes and cookies, communities in Cameroon will receive help with healthcare this January.
Fifteen students and three professors from the Linfield Good-Samaritan School of Nursing in Portland will embark on a course to Cameroon, a country located in Western Africa, this January Term. Once there, they will work on health promotion outreach in rural and urban areas.
To raise funds for the trip, the students, adopting the name “Team Cameroon,” held events including a bake sale and a silent auction that was held Oct. 30. The sale was held
earlier this month in the photo gallery of Peterson Hall on the Portland Campus and raised approximately $975, Michelle Funes, senior nursing student said.
The silent auction and costume party at Northwest Portland’s Someday Lounge was a success. Auction items were donated from local businesses and included items such as Trail Blazer tickets, art and gift certificates.
The proceeds from the auction and the $5 cover charge for the costume party, along with donations from family members and last year’s senior class, will all go toward buying mosquito nets, paying medical bills and purchasing health supplies for Cameroonian people.
“I want to help with prevention education for malaria and HIV,” Funes said. “It’s my passion.”
In Cameroon, the class will work with the Cameroonian Association for Women, Environment and Health, which was started in 1999 by Ruth Musunu Titi-Manyaka, class of ’69. The non-governmental organization serves the needs of women, children and orphans, many of who are affected by AIDS.
The students will distribute malaria medication and mosquito nets, educate people about HIV prevention and work with hospitals to get healthy people dischargd.
“Cameroon is one of the most corrupt countries in the world,” senior nursing student Katie White said. “People can’t leave the hospital until they pay their debt. It’s unethical.”
David Groff, associate vice president for academic affairs and director of the Portland Campus, traveled with nursing students to Cameroon in January 2007. He said the International Programs Office seems to be offering more January Term courses focused on service learning, which he said he is fond of.
“I’m interested in global health and global disease prevention,” White said. “It’s good for me as a nurse to improve my skills, and that’s what it’s all about: helping people on a basic level.”
Team Cameroon will soon place donation barrels on the McMinnville campus to collect school and first aid supplies. The group will also give a presentation 3 – 4 p.m. Dec. 5 at the McMinnville Campus.