Fuh Calistus Gentry, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Mines, Industries and Technological Development has again come to the assistance of some 68 students who were drawn from 22 colleges in Donga Mantung last November 05, 2012. The scholarship which was part a activities marking the 30th anniversary of President Paul Biya’s accession to power was aimed at raising the human resource base of Donga Mantung division. In programming the scholarship to fall on the eve of the 30th anniversary of President Paul Biya was intended to be a booster to President Biya’s educational policy which aims at making sure all Cameroonian children have access to quality education.
The scholarship award ceremony which took place in Nkambe and involved schools in all of Donga Mantung aimed at rewarding performance among students. In each of the selected schools, three students wee selected and given 30.000 FCFA each. This amounted to over 2.4 million minus organizational charges and transportation. Amongst the 68 awardees were two traditional rulers themselves students in Ako and Kungi. In handing over the scholarships, Dr. Fuh Calistus Gentry said he was making such sacrifices because he wanted his kin and kith to receive quality education.
In offering the scholarship Dr. Fuh Calistus was actually giving back to society and encouraging performance. This year’s scholarship event had as theme: “Success in Meritocracy”. Dr. Calistus used the opportunity to express his happiness on the fact that sons and daughters of Donga Mantung were taking public exams. He said next year’s scholarships would target those in professional schools. He encouraged Donga Mantung sons and daughters to go for science and technology.
The key revelation of the event and the bone behind Dr. Fuh Calistus’s philanthropy was Mrs. Sally Gentry, wife of Dr. Fuh Calistus. Mme Sally who was so excited about the reception and honour offered them by the Donga Mantung community said she was totally behind her husband’s initiative. She said her husband would be remembered not for the number of cars or houses he own but rather on the number of lives he would have changed. She revealed that her husband had the passion to change lives.
On his part the SDO for Donga Mantung, Ngone Ndode Mesape Bernard lauded Dr. Fuh Calistus’s efforts and said it was a pride for his administration in Donga Mantung to have such a philanthropist. He said the more you educate people, the less crime there would be in society. By supporting the education of children, the SDO said Dr. Calistus was helping in curbing the crime wave. He urged the 68 beneficiaries to study hard so as to encourage the donor to continue to give.
It should be recalled that the idea of a Dr. Calistus’ Scholarship Fund started some years ago when GSS Misaje was created and he realized that the principal was always having problems with students and parents in Misaje no thanks to their difficulties in paying school fees. Given that an average household in Misaje live on less than 500 FCFA a day and education was always likely to be sacrificed at the altar of choices. To preempt such a situation, Dr. Fuh Calistus decided to bankroll school fees in that school. Proof positive that the scholarship scheme worked is that fact that enrolment moved from 30 students in GSS Misaje to over 1500 today. From the start, the scholarship fund was limited to Ako/Misaje constituency but Dr. Fuh Calistus judged it this year to extend it to all the sub divisions that make up Donga Mantung.
Since the start of the scholarship fund over 20 million FCFA has been doled out to deserving students in these local communities. According to Dr. Fuh Calistus Gentry, a person’s strength depends on the size of his army; reason why he is supporting education.
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