Chantal Biya Foundation : Special Mass Marks Christmas Celebration

2020. Traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony at the Chantal Biya Foundation (CBY) in Yaounde was not like usual due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Special about the celebrations at the First Lady of Cameroon’s Foundation that bears her name: the Chantal Biya Foundation was the Christmas mass at the esplanade of the structure on Christmas eve. The mass revealed the biblical significance of Christmas, which goes beyond the sharing of gifts’ and merrymaking. The mass was officiated at by Father Alain Christian Bussard Mimfefuge from the Mfoundi-assi Parish at the Nlongkak neighbourhood in Yaounde. 
The administrative and medical staff as well as kids of the Children First Centre, an orphanage created by the First Lady in 2002, gathered at the esplanade of the Foundation at 8:00 pm on December 24, 2020 to celebrate the Holy birthday of Jesus Christ in prayers and praise. Representing the First Lady at the service, which was also aimed at calling on God’s guidance in the running of the affairs of the hospital, was the Secretary General of the Foundation, Habissou Bidoung Mkpatt.
The officiating Priest, Father Alain Christian Bussard Mimfefuge read from the biblical book of Isaiah. He recalled that the birth of Jesus Christ brings joy and hope for all Christians. As an epitome of hope and joy, the Chantal Biya Foundation has always been a source of joy and hope especially to the most vulnerable and sick people in society. Although the Covid-19 pandemic did not permit the First Lady to be physically present at the mass, her spirit and good heart were felt by the over 260 sick children of the Mother and Child Centre of the Foundation and some 150 vulnerable children around ...