Some 2,500 refugees in the capital city, Yaounde on February 2, 2013 received material and financial assistance from a Cameroonian-based non-profit Christian humanitarian organisation, Hope Services Ministry International, HOSMI.

The gifts donated on the occasion of the commemoration of Hope Services Refugee Day  consisted of 100 bags of rice, 27 cartons of soap, wheelchairs, crutches, didactic material, hygienic packs, some kitchen equipment, assorted dresses and shoes, as well as finances. Partners of the organisation in giving hope to the refugees included Bread and Water for Africa, Hope Service Clinic and Maternity, Catholic Relief Services, as well as some people of good will.

The President of Hope Services Ministry International, Esther Ndichafah used the occasion to urge the refugees, “to share the little God has provided in love and harmony.” She justified the gesture of the organisation and its partners by quoting from the Book of Exodus 22:21 in the Bible that instructs that strangers be treated with love and care. The Director of Bread and Water for Africa, Bethlehem Tessema, on his part, exhorted the refugees to be good examples and develop the spirit of sharing.

In response, the President of the Refugees Association in Yaounde, Madjiamra Samuel pleaded on the refugees to receive the gifts God had given them with love and to demonstrate love and peace to Cameroon, “the country which welcomed them with open hearts during their moments of distress.”

The Hopes Services Ministry International created in 1994 and a partner to the Essos-Yaounde-based Hope Services Clinic and Maternity, does not only care for refugees and the homeless, the President said. It has a special scheme which ensures that prisoners, widows, orphans, the needy and the physically challenged have reason to smile.