KINGSTON, R.I., Aug. 9, 2017 — College of Health Sciences Dean Gary Liguori and other representatives of the URI community welcomed members of Cameroon royalty to campus last week. The King of Bazou, His Majesty Vincent Tchoua Kemajou, and Queen Martha Tchoua Nassali of the African nation’s western region were at URI with representatives of the Boston-based nonprofit World Coming Together to Make a Difference (WOCOTOMADI), whose mission is helping people with limited access to health care improve their lives.

Dean Liguori has met with the group from Cameroon before as they work to provide education, early detection and awareness of hypertension and stroke in Cameroon. Stroke is a serious problem across the nation and a leading cause of death in the royal family’s region of the country.

“Our College and other members of the Academic Health Collaborative can contribute to these efforts by working side by side with the leaders of WOCOTOMADI,” Liguori said. “Very preliminarily, we are considering sending a small team to Cameroon in the fall to see the situation firsthand and determine how URI’s expertise can best help the people there.”

In addition to the king and queen, the travel party included WOCOTOMADI’s leader in Cameroon, Roni Clair Konda, and from URI, Nancy Stricklin, assistant to the provost for global strategies and academic partnerships; Laura Beauvais, vice provost for faculty affairs; and Paul Bueno de Mesquita, professor of psychology and director of the Center for Peace and Nonviolence Studies.