Autobiography of an African Surgeon
In those days, when I accompanied my father to fish and hunt at night, he told me so many inspirational stories. He gave me words of wisdom. I recalled one of the things he used to say: “If you do good, good will follow you. And in the time of your need, God will send his angels to you.” All through my childhood, and most of my early adulthood, I had sought these angels. I had imagined how they looked – winged creatures in white robes. As I matured, I soon realised that my angels wore no white robes. And they had no wings. They were the wonderful people whom God had used for my good cause.
Joe Kenogbon
Every child growing up in a tiny African village has a dream. With unparalleled determination, strength, and more than a little help from the angels along his path, Joseph Kenogbon made his come true …
They slaughter a goat to celebrate when Joseph is born. Finally, a son after two daughters. Such pride. And once his mother has recovered from the gruelling labour, not a nurse in sight, the nearest hospital two hours away, the whole village gathers to dance and sing. But expectations are low for the boy, growing up in Shabomi, a Nigerian village where one-in-three newborns die before their first birthday, and those who survive face the challenges of scarcity and disease. Life will be hard. He will sleep on a mat on the floor, eat with his hands, walk barefoot, and he isn’t expected to advance beyond a primary education. News of his birth doesn’t even reach his father for days, as he is breaking his back hundreds of miles away, logging in the jungle.
But Joseph is no ordinary boy. From a young age, he excels academically, and after pulling a fishbone from his sister’s throat with a pair of taylor’s scissors and experiencing first-hand the highs and lows of the healthcare system in Nigeria, he decides that he will become a doctor. The men of Shabomi are fishermen and loggers; not doctors, but Joe is determined. He won’t just be a doctor; he will be the best, and he is taught early to put his faith in the Lord. If he is good, generous and kind, angels will give him all the helps he needs.
This proves to be true as he undertakes a journey that will take him from the civil-war ravaged villages of Nigeria, through an education system where bullying is rife and competition is fierce; through six long years of medical school, fighting for his position every day and literally running for his life amidst political demonstrations, as the city is set on fire and activists are gunned down.
But he makes it. Against the odds, he becomes a doctor, and the glory is with God, whose angels have always appeared to show him doors where once there were only walls, in the form of random encounters, warnings of danger, unbelievable synchronicities and more than once, life-saving interventions. He needs these interventions all the more as he begins his career in medicine, battling the superstitions of a country that blames curses for their ills and puts their faith in crooked healers, and as he navigates the corrupt world of Nigerian medicine and the macabre doctors interested only in profit, one of whom tries to have Joseph killed for ‘stealing’ his patients. But Joseph’s motivation is to cure unconditionally, which is why he is so in demand and able to build a lucrative private practice that will fund further surgical studies in the UK, taking him closer to his dream of being the best – being a renowned surgical consultant.
His UK years prove just as challenging, and God’s help is just as crucial as he faces jealous co-workers, terrifying consultants, crippling bureaucracy, patients determined to sue him and racism – patients, but more damagingly from the institutions that refuse to employ him because of his colour, forcing him to take positions below his experience and qualifications. His training takes him all over the UK over many years, where he meets his wife and settles with their children, bringing love to his life but also financial pressure, forcing him to compromise his dreams more than once. But even his compromises bring him closer to his dream, although the goalposts keep moving and it often looks impossible.
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From humble beginnings, he excelled, worked hard, learned difficult lessons and always put his faith in God. In return, the path was shown to him, by God, a loving family and the angels that appeared to deliver him in times of need, allowing him to realise all his dreams, and for that he is truly grateful.
Copyright 2021
Author Joe Kenogbon
Publisher Olympia Publishers London
ISBN-10: 1788309758
Available at Amazon and major bookshops