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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Finding new use for old books


The Rev. Mike Brose, left, and Dr. Helen Schmidt cart medical books Tuesday that Schmidt bought from Deaconess Medical Center to send to Cameroon.
 (Colin Mulvany / The Spokesman-Review)

Dr. Helen Marie Schmidt has been back in Spokane Valley for more than a year, but her heart is still in Cameroon.

The retired surgeon was accompanying her aunt to an appointment at Deaconess Medical Center last week when she passed by the hospital library’s book sale. Intrigued – “I could hardly keep going with her,” Schmidt said of her aunt – she returned the next day to look for medical books to help her keep current.

Her thoughts returned to Cameroon, Schmidt said, “and I realized how important all of (the books) would be for the training program in Cameroon and so I asked how much it would cost to buy all of them.”

So on Tuesday, with the help of her pastor, she carted out 507 books – almost the entire collection, minus some management titles.

While medical students can pay as much as $1,000 a semester for books, Schmidt purchased the 25 boxes of assorted tomes for $782 – almost the cost of the new four-volume neurosurgery set the Deaconess library just purchased, librarian Arleen Libertini noted.

Most of the books for sale were published between 1995 and 2000, so they are considered outdated by American standards but will still be useful in a developing country like Cameroon, which is on Africa’s Gulf of Guinea.

Medical staff in Cameroon will be excited to unpack the boxes, Schmidt said. “It certainly will help out there.”

Since she was a student at Pines Junior High School, Schmidt knew she wanted to be a doctor and serve patients in Cameroon.

While growing up, her church in the Valley, which is no longer standing, kept her abreast of the charitable activities and needs in the West African nation. So for 34 years, starting as soon as she was certified as a surgeon, Schmidt worked in a hospital set up by the North American Baptist Conference.

“I feel very strongly this is God’s plan for my life,” said Schmidt, 68. “It’s been a very exciting lifestyle. I feel it’s a privilege to have served in Cameroon for that long.”

Every four years, Schmidt would return for a year to the United States to update herself on medical advances, visit family, tour churches and gather supplies and books to take back.

Schmidt was one of a handful of doctors at Banso Baptist Hospital, a 250-bed facility in the northwest province of Cameroon.

“You work hard, long hours,” Schmidt said, adding that she usually worked 12 hours a day. “It’s exciting because you know you’re helping people who would otherwise not get the help” because they cannot afford it.

“The people are very friendly and very appreciative for all we do,” she said.

The Cameroon Baptist Convention now runs the medical facilities, which include three hospitals, 22 health centers, 40 village health programs, a training school for nurses and midwives, and an HIV education, prevention and treatment program.

Patients’ fees keep the hospitals afloat and the American Baptist Convention continues to support the health programs by sending medical staff from the United States to work and train Cameroonians.

“One of the goals of the missionaries is to have local people in charge,” Schmidt said.

In addition to her professional contributions to Cameroon, Schmidt also sponsored students – ranging from elementary school level to those in higher education – with money out of her own pocket.

While looking for a Cameroonian to fill the position of director of the health board, Schmidt mentioned the opening to the first student she supported.

Pius Tih, who now holds a doctorate in public health, met Schmidt when he was about 15 and she had just arrived in Cameroon. He calls her “Mom” (his own mother was deceased) and his children call Schmidt their grandmother. She said she told him not to apply if it was solely to please her, but he ended up applying and getting the position. He does an excellent job, Schmidt said. “That is exactly where he belongs.”

Schmidt said her “kids in Africa” – the many students whom she has helped throughout the years – keep in touch via e-mail and she hopes to return to visit them. She has no children of her own. In the meantime, she is looking for paramedical work, such as working with elderly people in a home-care capacity.

People in Cameroon speak in hushed tones at mention of Schmidt, because of how much she is revered, said the Rev. Mike Brose of Crosswalk Community Church, of which Schmidt is a member. He visited Cameroon during Schmidt’s tenure: “Helen is a legend out there.”