Sisters of Providence in Cameroon

On August 25, 1970, four Sisters of Providence arrived in Yaoundé, Cameroon. Their group included two experienced teachers, Sisters Fleurette Lasalle and Jacqueline Lapalme, and two well-trained nurses, Sisters Henriette Arseneau and Juliana Larouche. They were sent by the Mother Cécile Fournier, General Superior, who had promised Montréal Archbishop Paul-Émile Léger to respond to the “call of Africa” that Pope Paul VI had just issued to support the mission of the Catholic Church in that continent.

Over the following years, the four sisters had to learn Ewondo, the native language and adapt to the weather and a new lifestyle while working hard for the needs of the community. It was not an easy task, but their faith in Providence helped them take charge of the dispensary and the school while teaching catechism in the village of Étam Kuma where they were established.

During the following decade, the sisters opened a Health Care Center in Koudandeng, in the diocese of Obala. In 1991, a novitiate was established first in Otélé and then in Fébé in 1994.

Fruit of over forty years of hard work in the country are the four Cameroonian sisters in our Congregation: Sisters Sandrine Aimée Tsélikémé, Marie-Éméline Ezami, Marie-Thérèse Gnamazo, and Hélène Mamert Nga Amogo. Sister Mamert is a current member of the Congregational Leadership Team. Her mother was a Providence Associate herself.  It was at school during the catechesis, at the age of twelve, that Sister Mamert first heard about the life of Blessed Émilie Gamelin. When she and her classmates in the little village of Koudandeng were asked who wanted to follow in Émilie’s footsteps, Sister Mamert raised her hand without suspecting the happy continuation that her story and the history of the Sisters of Providence in Cameroon would have.

The sisters carried on the Providence Charism until 2015, when they had to leave the country. However, the Providence Associates of Cameroon have continued to flourish and work for the good of the Mission to this day.

Today we can say: Providence of God, we thank you for all!