Royal Oak woman brings hope, supplies to Cameroon village

It started with a priest, a birthday party and a garage full of school supplies. Now, her efforts to support the village of Kan in Cameroon have grown into what Sue Simmers describes as “a passion, then an addiction, and finally a drug.” If it is a drug, it is one that has cured many ills in Kan. Kan is a village of about 3,000 people in Cameroon, located more than 6,000 miles from Sue Simmers’ Royal Oak home, on Africa’s west coast, bordered by Chad, Nigeria, Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. Kan also is the hometown of the Rev. Janvier Wopoule. Cameroon’s cardinal, Tumi, said he believed Wopoule to be exceptional and found a donor to send him to Detroit’s Sacred Heart seminary in the late ’90s. While in Michigan, Wopoule was ordained, earned a Master of Social Work, and inspired St. Regis parish members — where he was associate pastor — to raise funds to replace the roof of the Kan church, blown off in a windstorm. “Everybody just loved what he was doing,” Simmers said. The church roof effort led to education sponsorship for Kan youths, then to founding Wellspring of Hope, a nonprofit that strives “to make a positive difference in the lives of underprivileged children in Cameroon, Africa, and beyond through education, financial support and spiritual partnership.” Simmers, 49, became involved when her daughter, Ari, and a friend asked to throw a joint birthday party and invite their entire grade. “They didn’t need 60 presents,” Simmers said, suggesting a fundraiser. Wopoule had just announced he would return home. The girls, who were quite attached to him, suggested a fundraiser for Kan. The 2005 birthday party netted $1,200 and a garage full of school supplies. Wellspring has raised approximately $500,000 and is sending its third 40-foot supply container to Kan. “You can’t just send money to Africa. It doesn’t work,” said Simmers, who enthusiastically credits friends Susie and Steve Glasgow and Virginia Moyer for helping wrangle medical supplies including six hospital beds, 55,000 school lunches, and a car into the shipping container. Simmers has visited Kan 11 times, taking her children, niece and nephew, two Wellspring board members and a local priest. “It’s a beautiful country. They have every natural resource. They have everything,” said Simmers, who would like to move there eventually. “I love the people there. They are brilliant people. They are hard workers.” Next month she goes to help unload the container and open the clinic. In the wake of the first trip, which replaced a planned China vacation, the Simmers decided to downsize from their 7,000-square-foot home to a more modest Royal Oak house. “Are we truly happy?” Simmers recalled asking herself. Now, Simmers said, she wakes up every morning thinking of what else she can do for Kan. So far, Wellspring built a school accommodating 150 students — the former school held 38 — raised more than $25,000 annually for education sponsorship, dug a fresh water well and built and supplied Kan’s first hospital. To earn their trip, the children were challenged to do fundraising. They have raised money for a maize farm in Kan and sent 900 mosquito nets to villagers. “Fifty percent of deaths in Kan are from malaria, which is both preventable and treatable,” Simmers said. Simmers’ ultimate goal is teaching community health. She is perfecting a version of the necklace that Mother Teresa used to teach natural birth control to Indian women, and plans to teach Kan residents to make the necklaces to sell. Wellspring also works with an organization that buys, relocates and educates Cameroon’s child brides. Simmers also is exploring the potential of Cameroon’s native plants. She plans to farm Moringa and Jatropha. Both are sources of bio-fuel and have healing properties, useful as antiseptics. And Moringa can be powdered into a food additive that supplies malnutrition-alleviating proteins and amino acids. FYI On Christmas Day, Sue Simmers of Royal Oak will see her dream of a clinic in the village of Kan, Cameroon, come true as she makes her 12th visit there. A founding member of the Wellspring of Hope Foundation (www.wellspringofhope.net), Simmers has spent five years fundraising and researching. Her efforts paid off as the clinic is scheduled to open in January.