Death of Conjoined Twins Generates Debate in Cameroon

MBENGWI, CAMEROON – The Samba family lives inside an unfinished house made of sun-dried bricks in Nyen, a village in Cameroon’s Northwest region. For the past nine months, the slippery path that leads to the house never discouraged visitors. From strangers to government officials, people came from all over Cameroon to see a rare sight: the family’s conjoined twins.

Last week, the 9-month-old female twins, Bi and Tengu, died.

The set of thoracopagus conjoined twins were born to Evaristus Samba, 26, and Glory Njweng, 23, in October 2011 at Presbyterian Hospital Acha Tugi in the Northwest region. The twins were joined at the upper chest from their clavicles to their sternums, each with their own separate heads, arms and legs. They shared one heart.

“I was the most confused man on Earth when I was told my wife has given birth to Siamese twins,” says Samba, a carpenter. “The whole village was as confused as I am.”

Samba says that nine days after their birth, the children were transported to the Hôpital Gynéco-Obstétrique de Yaoundé on the orders of the Ministry of Public Health. At the hospital, staff performed several examinations and scans and sent them for analysis to the King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, a medical institution in Saudi Arabia that had separated conjoined twins born in the Northwest region in 2007.

“I was hoping for a miracle,” Samba says. “But unfortunately, reports from Saudi Arabia said it was impossible to separate my children because they were sharing one heart. It was the most painful day of my life.”

Glory Njweng, the mother of the conjoined twins, says reactions from the community made her feel even worse.

“Many people say it is a mystical thing to give birth to such children,” Njweng says, crying. “Some say my family is accursed. Some say we were bewitched. Some say the children are witches. Some say my husband was involved in a cult.”

Others blamed Njweng.

“Some even say I have once laughed at somebody’s handicap[ped] child – that is why such children came to me,” Njweng says. “People said all sorts of things. I felt so depressed when I heard all these.”

The twins died at 9:30 p.m. on July 4. Less than two hours later, they were buried. According to local tradition, children considered “abnormal” must be buried as quickly as possible.

The family also burned all possessions related to the babies. According to local customs, this will help erase memories of “funny” children.

The death of this regionally famous set of conjoined twins last week generated discussion about the perception and treatment of such cases in Cameroon. The government of Cameroon and local nongovernmental organizations offer assistance to families of children born with rare medical conditions. Some local leaders also call such children a gift, but other community members say they are a curse whose memories should be erased after their deaths.

The birth of conjoined twins is a rare occurrence in Cameroon, says Dr. Sama Julius, regional chief of service for the expanded program on immunization at the Northwest Regional Delegation of Public Health. The two popular cases were in the Northwest region – Babanki in 2007 and in Nyen with the Sambas.

The government offers medical assistance to families of children with rare medical conditions. Samba says that the Ministry of Public Health, the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Family and the Ministry of Social Affairs gave the family financial and psycho-social assistance.

“These ministries gave me a huge amount of money to help me renovate my house, improve on my carpentry workshop and also improve on my wife’s hair dressing saloon,” Samba says. “I can’t thank them enough for this wonderful gesture.”

Judy Abong, delegate for the Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Family in the Northwest region, says her minister directed her to conduct a study of the Samba family’s environment.

“I went to Nyen about seven times just to survey the house,” she says. “And my delegation sent a report to the minister on how the socio-economic situation of the family could be improved for the betterment of the twins and their family.”

Samba says he is grateful for the moral, religious and financial support he and his family received, especially in the Nyen village and Mbengwi subdivision.

But local community members espouse diverging opinions on conjoined twins.

The Rev. Samuel Kilo of Nyen Presbyterian Church says the children were a gift from God.

“I believe those children were sent to Earth by God Almighty himself for a purpose,” Kilo says. “Those children have accomplished their mission on Earth. God uses all ways to change the stories of his people. Everything happens for a reason.”

Odilia Forminyen, a member of the Mbengwi Council, also says that the children were a divine gift.

“We can’t question the power of the divine creator,” Forminyen says. “He creates humans for a purpose, and so did he create Bi and Tengu.”

But others disagree. Thomas Ngweh, a member of the Roman Catholic Church in Mbengwi, says that the twins were more of a curse than a blessing.

“The Bible talks about visiting the iniquities of our forefathers and carrying it to the fourth and fifth generations, if I am not mistaken,” Ngweh says. “Those children have come as a result of some sins of the past by ancestors of that generation.”

Soh Jacob, Samba’s uncle, says that only God knows why he sent those children to the family. But, as local custom dictates, he doesn’t think their memory should remain.

“Everything that concerns these children must be burnt to ashes in order to erase memories of such children,” Jacob says. “This is to make sure that these children are gone for good.”