Dr Emil Mondoa: Bringing Wellness to Millions, Beginning with the Cameroon Community

An Interview with Dr. Emil Mondoa, author of Sugars that Heal, on the introduction of Mannatech to the Cameroonian community in the Washington Metropolitan area.

Hello Emil. We have not talked in a good while. We created Jimbi Media together, and then you went totally silent for a while. You had to have been up to something. What have you been up to?

I know. We have succeeded in the most important way with Jimbi Media. Together we triggered blogging in our community. Since then, you have become our premier blogger and one of the top ones in Africa, with speaking engagements and everything. I am proud. Our other goal of publishing paper books will have to wait until we find a collaborator with the right skill set.

You and I both have something in common. We do not put our hearts into something unless it is meaningful. We are not afraid of huge tasks. For the past year in particular, I have been working on a plan to introduce Mannatech in a big way to our community, which seriously needs what Mannatech has to offer for our wellness as well as our finances.

So what exactly is Mannatech and what has it got to offer to our community?

I have been taking stock of the health and wellness challenges in our community in the USA over the last decade, and I have come to the conclusion that many of these challenges have a nutritional basis. Mannatech develops innovative, high quality nutritional supplements. They also have some very special and unique nutritional supplements on which they hold worldwide patents. In my opinion, they are the best nutritional solution in the market, and I used nutritional supplements all my life.

With my own resources, I test-marketed the nutritional supplements to people in the DC area, who experienced unprecedented benefits in their level of wellness, and it is already triggering a wellness revolution in the area. The nutritional elements that we are bringing address some serious nutritional needs in our community that cannot be easily solved otherwise.

My vision is to bring wellness to a million people using these products, and I want people in my own community to be at the center of that effort. It brings the potential for a significant second income and even a career for those who engage with us seriously.  

So this is very important to our community...

Yes! We test marketed the nutritional supplements in the Washington DC area to about over 50 people, and more than 90 percent of them experienced significant wellness benefits. Our associates, feel younger and have a spring in the step. They have all experienced increased energy, clarity of mind and no longer drag in the morning. All of these problems arose from micronutrient deficiency, which cannot be adequately addressed by most modern diets. this is why we want to take this one step forward with the Mannatech launch.

So this is why you are bringing Sam Caster, the founder of Mannatech, to headline the launching in the Cameroon community...

Exactly! With so many nutritional supplement choices out there, many people struggle to find the right ones for themselves and their families. In a world that seems to be moving back to the “natural is better” mindset, Mannatech has pioneered Real Food Technology solutions. Mr.Caster will show how Real Food Technology solutions provide consumers with standardized levels of natural and plant sourced nutrients at nutritionally effective levels.

Other speakers at the event will include Stephen Boyd, M.D., PhD, Mannatech’s Senior Medical Director;
Joseph Green-Bishop, Mannatech’s Director of Government & Congressional affairs; and myself.

When and where will the launch be taking place?

On October 9 from 10AM at the Silver Spring Hilton on 8727 Colesville Road, Silver Spring in Maryland. I shall be sending you the flyer to attach to your story.

Is this only for the community in the Silver Spring area?

It is really a global launch and awareness building for our community. People in many countries can participate fully and seamlessly. I am talking about places like South Africa, USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Denmark, Germany, Austria, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea and Japan. Unfortunately you cannot participate directly from anywhere else, but as we grow, more countries will come on board. What that means in effect is that somebody in South Africa could engage a person in the USA or any of the named countries quite easily.

We also welcome your friends from any community to the launch. It is just special to have an event of this calibre intended primarily for our community.

So there are sugars or carbohydrates that are good for health and wellness. Does this have anything to do with the book that you wrote a few years ago, "Sugars That Heal"? Is the book still available?

Yes, Dibussi. Sugars that Heal is still in print, thanks to Ballantine Books, my publisher. You can still get in any bookstore in the US and most countries in the English speaking world and anywhere that you can buy on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. For those techies out there, you can get it on your nook or Kindle or iBook for those who use iPads. There is a German and even a Korean translation if you are into that.

Yes, some some sugars are very important for the functioning of the immune system, the brain and general wellness. I am not talking about the stuff that goes into your coffee.

My book does not talk directly about Mannatech’s branded products, so it should not be tied to those products, but it makes a very compelling case for the value of the special sugars.

Jacob Nguni and the Makom Choir of Silver Spring will be at the Launch. What is up with that?

Yes. Jacob and his family are friends of ours. He is a fellow Soban and very supportive of what we are doing for the community. He is also our best and greatest guitarist, and uses Mannatech supplements as well. By the way, he is potentially a powerful blogger too, so watch your tail (laughs). Great musician, great supplements, great team.

The Makom choir is cultural powerhouse with franchises in many churches in our homeland, and now next door in Silver Spring, Maryland. It launched on September 25, and most people in our community do not even know about the existence of this choir with the angelic white attire and its vast repertoire of original Duala songs that date back into the 1920s. We are expecting a lot of people at the launch, and we shall be supporting this great choir with a contribution.

I know there is a business angle to this, but before we go there, let me ask you something that has intrigued me. You are a medical doctor with an M.B.A from Wharton. Stereotypically, you should have a cushy corporate job with an insurance company or a pharmaceutical company. Why did you not go that route?

The short answer is that the corporate options did not make me happy. I am like you. I always want to do something significant with my life, and I was not exactly starving as a doctor, so I waited for this opportunity to ripen and for our community to be ready. We were not ready 10 years ago. Now we are very ready.

Tell me about the business aspect of this?

Our long term plan is to improve the wellness of a million people using Mannatech. We are looking for associates who are ready to work closely with us to achieve that dream. A lot of us came to this country, hoping to improve our lives and fulfill ourselves. We ended up destroying our health and using up all our time fulfilling the dreams of others. Mannatech is a powerful vessel to help us in our wellness and financially because it has a low cost of entry; it has a product that nearly everyone wants and needs, and that product line is protected by patents.

Dibussi, I wished you could come, but send people there if you are unable to make it. 

About Emil I Mondoa, MD, MBA
Dr Mondoa is a practicing pediatrician in the states of New Jersey and Delaware. He was educated in Sasse, University of Ibadan and University of Pennsylvania. He has long been enthusiastic about the benefits of Mannatech’s products for human health and wellness. He now introduces Mannatech products to the Cameroonian community, with the intention of elevating the wellness and financial resources of the community and reaching other communities. This should be considered a global launch, since Mannatech operates seamlessly in 16 countries around the world.

Click here to download the flyer about the Mannatech launch in Washington/Silver Spring (pdf format)

Comments

[malinga]

Wonderful ingenuity! I am a beneficiary of Mannatech nutritional supplements. Thanks for thinking of your community first. I shall be at the launching.

[TAGRO]

Congrats and best wishes in this venture.

[Nkeze Asonglefac Felix]

The Secretary General
United Nations
New York

Through the good offices of the
UN Delegation to Cameroon

Yaoundé, October 14th 2010

Subject: Update of the actual situation of our Electoral Process

Your Excellency,

With regards to the very serious and worrying state of our electoral process and the imminent risk of a major social deflagration this situation might cause if nothing is done, we herewith would like to update you on the current state of issues with respect to our initial letter addressed to you dated August 2010.

Considering the actions undertaken by ELECAM so far, the SDF notes that ELECAM has been going on with business in violation of Art. 42.4 of Law N° 2006/011 of the 29th of December 2006 that clearly stipulates that “ a decree of the President of the Republic shall duly ascertain that Elections Cameroon has been effectively put in place”. In the absence of this decree, which is the case; ELECAM is acting in pure illegality.

We therefore observed that the activities of ELECAM so far are null and void and called on ELECAM to stop entertaining electoral issues until its legality is attained by the signature of the said Presidential decree. We have also introduced a petition to the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court in that respect.

We have witnessed with satisfaction the general call for a Consensual Electoral Code that will harmonize the actual conflicting, confusing and complicated multiple laws and hope that a code will come into reality during the upcoming November session of the National Assembly. The SDF will table a Private Member bill again during this session and hopes that all concerned, including the members of the Board and Directorate of ELECAM will use their good offices to advocate this call into reality by supporting our Private Member Bill or presenting a bill from government.

In the absence of a credible Electoral Code and an Independent Electoral Commission, which we no longer expect from this government, we believe that acceptable elections can only be organized if the eleven points we have been proposing as minimum conditions are met. We herewith update you with the actual situation with regards to these minimum conditions.

1. A new electoral register is put in place

The SDF notes the call by most if not all of the stakeholders for the drawing-up of a new electoral register in lieu and place of the actual revision of the disparate Ministry of Territorial Administration’s register.

Taking note of the response of the Chairman of ELECAM as to the fact that the revision exercise is in line with the law, and notably the point that drawing-up a new register is ordained by decree, we recall here our position that the law actually calls for a new register to be drawn-up in that:

Art. 42.1 of Law N° 2006/011 of the 29th of December 2006 stipulates that “All previous provisions repugnant hereto are repealed and shall so remain.
Art. 22 of the same law stipulates that “The Director General shall be responsible for all election operations and referendums under the supervision and control of the Electoral Board, such as:
- Drawing-up, managing, updating and keeping the national voter’s register as well as election documents and materials;
- Drawing-up and publishing voters’ lists; etc…

It is therefore evident that once the legality of ELECAM is confirmed through the missing Presidential Decree, the drawing-up of a new electoral register must be an evident conclusion.

2. The full respect of the provisions of Art. 8 & Art.13 of the law on ELECAM governing the independence and neutrality of the members of the Council and Directorate of ELECAM

The SDF notes that the lack of neutrality and credibility of the members of the board and directorate of ELECAM has been unanimously decried and the Chairman of the Board of ELECAM, recognizing this lack of neutrality at the time of their appointment, has asked Cameroonians to judge them on the basis of the work they will deliver.

The SDF reiterates its firm condemnation of this flagrant violation of Art. 8 and Art. 13 of Law N° 2006/011 of the 29th of December 2006 by the Presidential Decrees of the 30th and 31st December 2008 appointing members into the Board and Directorate of ELECAM and also reiterates that in the absence of the resignation of the concerned, the said Presidential Decrees must be annulled.

The SDF further condemns ELECAM’s call for the creation of an anti-constitutional jurisprudence whereby laws can be violated on the basis of purported outcomes that would eventually be in line with the spirit of the violated law.

3. The immediate appointment of a new Board and Directorate members into ELECAM as well as the application of the same provisions to the regional, divisional, sub-divisional and local representations.

The violation of the law is not only at the level of the Board and Directorate but goes down to all of the structures they put in place. Nowhere was there a term of reference or even a public announcement for the recruitment of the members of these structures. It was done in complete opacity and when these structures are not manned by known CPDM agents, they simply share the same offices.

4. The inclusion of biometric data on voter registers and the voter cards

There is no law that provides for the type of information that has to be carried on the voter’s register and voter’s cards. In view of the enormous difficulties and fraud that has been witnessed and constantly evidenced in past elections, we believe that a minimum amount of biometric data must be included in the voter data. We have suggested that ELECAM’s computer system be linked to the National Identification Database which has all information on Cameroonians, including pictures. Since the precondition to be registered is the presentation of the National Identity Card, its number could immediately fetch all the required data from that database and the register can immediately e updated with the available data and a voter’s cards can be printed with the available picture and fingerprint.

5. The exclusion of the Ministry of Territorial Administration from all ELECAM functions

The fundamental reason why we have gone from an elections observatory to Elections Cameroon is because the Ministry of Territorial Administration was unable to deliver a clean election. Bringing them back into the system is a plot in advance to have the upper hand of the administration control the electoral process.

6. The inclusion of participating political parties at all decision-making levels and in all commissions charged with the organization and conduct of elections

We believe that it is important for the stakeholders to be part of the decision making process and also believe that this participation should not be limited to the simple presence of the stakeholders but the stakeholders should have access to such resources as are necessary for the full accomplishment of ELECAM’s mission.

7. The utilization of the single ballot paper

The SDF notes with encouragements that ELECAM and the SDF have the same opinion as to the effectiveness and simplicity of the single ballot paper and therefore we remaini in expectation of its immediate adoption as the unique means of ballot for all future elections and call on ELECAM to introduce this with no further delay.

8. The institution of a two round presidential election

The SDF will introduce this as a Private Member Bill to the National Assembly in its November Session for a modification of the constitution to that effect. We hope that the CPDM regime will ask its parliamentarians to support that bill which is a precondition to emerge out of a Presidential Election with a President truly elected by the majority.

9. The endowment of ELECAM with Effective Financial Autonomy.

The Chairman of ELECAM has made several remarks pertaining to their budget limitations and therefore the SDF reiterates its stand to the point that only an effective financial autonomy can guarantee the required efficiency and neutrality of an electoral body and calls for provisions to be made to correct any shortcomings.

10. Clear protocols should be put in place to ban the participation of public officials and civil servants in campaigning

ELECAM must put in place clear and known protocols and sanctions must be known in advance as well to curb the rampant use of state resources during election in campaigning and the implementation of fraud for the CPDM.

11. The effective participation in elections of the Cameroonian Diaspora

It is estimated that about 20% of Cameroonians live abroad and this Diaspora contributes to a significant amount of the nation’s wellbeing. We insist that this Diaspora must be allowed to participate in the electoral process for any national election.

We sincerely hope that progress will be made and in the absence of any dialogue between the hierarchy of the party in power and the leading party of the opposition, although we have made several official calls for such dialogue to take place, we are bound to refer ourselves to you and draw your esteemed attention to use your good offices to help avert a major social deflagration in Cameroon. Progress towards clean elections in Cameroon today must be a major priority and urgency. Cameroon will not survive any new unacceptable elections.

With all due respect, please accept our renewed availability for this noble cause and our very best regards.

Ni John FRU NDI
National Chairman