Bamenda, Cameroon
Mount Zion Clinic
Dr. Paul Atem was convicted to become a missionary at a young age. His passion was to be a missionary to his own people.
Atem is the director of the Mount Zion Clinic in Bamenda, Cameroon. The clinic, opened in 1992, offers outpatient consultation, inpatient admissions, lab services and a maternity ward. The Luke Society began supporting the clinic on a trial basis prior to adopting a more formal membership in 2004.
In addition to the clinic, Dr. Atem has been called to provide medical services to underserved villages in the regions of Tingoh and Okwala. Okwala can only be accessed by traversing the Tingoh River by canoe.
His ministry serves health education needs through the promotion of water filters, latrines and education on HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
About the ministry:
Name: Mount Zion Clinic
Location: Bamenda, Cameroon
Director: Dr. Paul Atem
Partnership: 2003-present
Staff: 12
Our mission:
“Our mission is to meet the needs of our target populations in health care and evangelism. Our goal is to bring about holistic health care by caring for the total man: body, soul and spirit.”
Why I love being a director:
“Being a ministry director has helped me to find meaning in the purpose of my calling in serving as a Christian medical doctor. I have found fulfillment in providing tender, loving care to people in the rural villages of Tingoh and Okwala and in the city of Bamenda.”
About Cameroon:
Population: 28.5 million
Size: 457,440 sq. km, or slightly larger than California
Capital: Yaoundé
Borders: Nigeria to the west; Chad and Central African Republic to the east; Democratic Republic of Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to the south; Atlantic Ocean to the southwest.
Religious groups: Catholic, 38.3%; Protestant, 25.5%; Muslim, 24.4% Other Christian, 6.9%.
Primary language: French and English
Literacy (age 15+): 77.1%
Physician density: 0.09 doctors per 1,000 people.
Population below international poverty line: 37.5%
Life expectancy: 62.8 years
Infant mortality rate: 50.1 deaths per 1,000 live births.
Major exports: Crude oil and petroleum, lumber, cocoa beans, aluminum, coffee, cotton.
Climate: Varies with terrain from tropical along the coast to hot in the north.
Terrain: Coastal plain in the southwest; dissected plateau in the center; mountains in the west; plains in the north.