Free to Smile Foundation board member, oral and maxillofacial surgeon, Dr. Tim Bartholomew works at Ngaoundere Protestant Hospital, a nonprofit mission hospital in Ngaoundere, Cameroon in West Africa. It serves the entire northern Cameroon region, as well as drawing from the neighboring countries of Chad and Central African Republic.
Free to Smile Foundation “Cameroon Project” aides Dr. Bartholomew’s efforts and enhances the cleft lip and palate training in Cameroon, Africa. Dr. Bartholomew performs maxillofacial surgery, including tumor, trauma, infections, reconstructive and congenital defects of the face.
He and his wife,who is a family-practice doctor who specializes in obstetrics, have dedicated their lives to helping others. “We feel that God has led us to do this sort of work,” says Dr. Bartholomew. “We want to practice what we believe. Life is too short to spend it acquiring a bunch of stuff, just to leave it all behind when it’s over. Plus, it’s exciting over here!” It is an honor to work with Free to Smile and contribute my skills to those who need it most.
Why Cameroon?
Once one of the most prosperous countries in Africa, Cameroon is now one of Africa’s poorest nations. The drop in commodity prices for its principal exports – oil, cocoa, coffee and cotton – in the mid-1980s, combined with an overvalued currency and economic mismanagement, led to a long recession. Real per capita gross domestic product (GDP) fell by more than 60% from 1986 to 1994. Cameroon’s estimated 250 ethnic groups form five large regional-cultural groups. The Free to Smile Foundation is honored to contribute back to Cameroon.
