HISTORY OF A VOCATION
Born on December 31, 1952 in South Cameroon, in the village of Ayaz, the founder of the NGO “Les Centres d’accueil de l’espoir” CAES Reverend sister Marie Thérèse Brigit Mewoulou still better known under the name ‘Mama soeur’ completed her secondary studies at the “Lycée Technique Commercial de Yaoundé”. She obtained a Diploma in quantitative Management Techniques.
From her early age, religion and Scouting were her major activities. It was during all these activities that she discovered the most disadvantaged districts living in misery, poverty and suffering.
With the advent of AIDS, everyone was primarily focused on prevention, support for patients and medicines while neglecting the impact of this disease on children, especially in the poor neighborhoods.
Assuming the functions of Director of a College located 90 km from Yaoundé, “Mama soeur”, found that several children were unable to pay their school fees because one of their parents was either very sick or deceased. For her, it was unfair that these children should be sent out of the academic establishment because their parents could no longer pay their tuition fees.
On weekends, ‘Mama soeur’ went to families in order to know the reasons explaining such attitudes towards their children. During these visits, she met very impaired people. This sad situation inspired her to look after them, to take them to the hospital so they can get treatment. It was the first time that ‘Mama soeur’ came in contact with the word ‘AIDS’ and its fatal consequences.
She realized that a large number of orphans she came across suffered this fate. Many people around her spoke of “slow poison”, while it was AIDS, a new disease. This disease and its consequences were ignored by much of the population. She discovered the hidden face of AIDS, as well as the social and economic consequences on the populations especially the poor among whom the idea of dealing with the disease was absent.