Julius Atashili

I am very shocked and saddened to find out out that Dr Atashili has died.

I met Dr Atashili in 2013 when he collaborated with me on research into clinical trial capacity building in Cameroon.  He was a really lovely and kind-hearted person and very dedicated, and I shall remember my time with him in Buea very fondly.  He was also an excellent researcher and teacher and was very talented.  In fact, many of his students told me what a great inspiration and source of support he was.

His death is a tragic loss, not just for his family and friends, but also for the global health research community, and particularly Cameroon.

Dr Samuel Franzen,
University of Oxford, Nuffield Department of Medicine (2010-2014)

Dear Grand frere, writing these words of condolence is an epitom of the fact that I have come trems with reality that you are no more. It took me almost forever to accept the news of your departure. Even after your burial it still seemed like I was watching one African movie. I have made three consecutive stops at the faculty just to see if by any chance there was a mix-up. I did not find you. I drove past you house in Bonduma and spied around thinking it could be a death prang you were playing yet you were not there. Reading all these condolences from your students, colleagues and people who know you well provides very strong evidence that you are no more. God alone knows why he has chosen to call you this early.
Thank you for your contribution to my life and to the entire student body of the University of Buea. Your presence at the UB added so much value to university education in Cameroon. Meeting you for the first time as a student, it was a dream come true to have had you as a one of my lecturers. Eventhough your stay was brief, I am convinced you set the standards both within the university environment and in the minds of the students you mentored. You will forever live in our memories.
Rest in peace Dr JA
 

I waited all this while because i still couldnt imagine you are actually gone. i actually cant forget some of the few encounters i had with you as my lecturer since my first year in the Faculty of Health Sciences. just a year ago when i invited you to attend our symposium organised by the UBNUSANS, u reminded me of the fact that you will be there but your certain we gonna start late. you smiled as you said it and told me we Cameroonians and you are certain we wont respect time. in a short while you passed around at exactly the time destined for the symposium and yet we had not started just as you said. from there you gave me zeal to always remain punctual in all i do. that in so many ways helped me in the other meetings ive had and with my activities so far. i cant forget when i came to hand over your own certificate of participation for the symposium and what i recieved from you that i will never forget is the SMILE ON YOUR FACE AS YOU RECIEVED IT. your words were " wow! so i have a certificate, you know its always thought that we no longer need certificates of participation whereas we do, thank you" . cant also forget the encouters i had with you while you thought me research methods last year. 
if there is one thing i could have the opportunity to tell you now, all i will say is THANKS for what youve done in my life and those you were close to.
i just cant stop the tears from flowing down my cheeks but i believe God has a plan for everything.
MAY YOUR SOUL REST IN PEACE.
 

My condolences, as feelings of pain and bitterness become unbearable. It is my desire to convey a comforting thought based on the Holy Scriptures

Where do I start Sir? Is it with a government that does not take care of nor promotes its very best or with a broken world badly in need of a cure? Whatever it is, the truth is we did not deserve your likeness. I remembered how I got to know you, it was in 2011 when you were introduced to the pioneers, I then researched your name in the internet and was dumbfounded by the accomplishments I discovered. I then wrote to you asking you to propose to me a research topic. You proposed two and told me the second was going to be difficult, being someone who naturally likes difficult things, I went in for the second. This you immediately appreciated and our journey of frequent internet exchanges between Cameroon and California kicked-off until you finally returned after completing your PhD studies. We continued working as you were assigned to supervise our Bokwoango community group of which I was the group leader. Our group report made sense to late Prof. Ndumbe because of your counsels. You pushed me, advised me and even went right to paying my registration for review of my MD thesis abstract by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene which finally published my abstract and invited me to present my work. You carried me in your car and listened as many pastors called me but made no comment. You started sending students to me to learn some aspects of Microsoft data processing and who had some questions on research methods you knew I could handle. When I came back from South Africa, you were proud to introduce me to your colleagues and gave me some books to carry behind you as you once did for late prof. Ndumbe. When I once visited you and bought you a pallet of American cola, you were reluctant to receive and told me you should be the one giving to me not the other way round. When I was finally posted to my present community you told me you were sure the community will be happy I came, this too became true as I was promoted in a year. Yes you were a mentor to me. Whenever I asked you about what to pursue for Specialisation, you told me all was good but whatever I chose I should aim at becoming the best in it. You also told me you were not motivated by money. I remember the car you drove, which will frequently have breakdowns but you will not buy a new one. I am better off because you lived sir. I wrote to you in January this year, wishing you a happy and prosperous new year, updating you of my progress and requesting for a recommendation letter. You immediately asked me to carve out one and send, unfortunately as I was getting close to having something of your taste I wrote you and specifically asking you about your health but no reply until now. When I finally learned of your unconscious state from one of your students, we tried getting to the minister of health to fly you out for better treatment to no avail, we mobilized a group of prayerful friends across the country to intercede for you thinking you will come back still to no avail. Some questions still run through my mind; where are you spending eternity now? What did I give you for all you did for me? When I shall part from this land of the living we will meet again? Was this my wish for a prosperous new year 2015 for you? Well I have learned the lessons you taught me; that I can be the best in my chosen endeavor, that I should be strong and courageous, that it is more blessed to give than to receive, that he who wants to be the greatest amongst us must be a servant and that the question about where I will spend eternity must be answered while on earth before I die. My heart goes to your mother and siblings; they gave you to us, what we couldn’t give you we will give them. Adieu my mentor!!!

Eulogy/Tribute to the Great Teacher (Dr Julius Atashili)

Greetings everyone! Please take a minute to look around at the people sitting beside you. Take just a second to acknowledge each other with a nod, a smile, and maybe even a handshake. Pay attention to the range of ages among the people you see. Chances are that at least one person seated near you was a student, parent of a student, classmate, schoolmate  or colleague of Dr Atshili and/or that you yourself was a student, classmate, schoolmate, parent of a student or colleague of his at one time. But whether those around you are his colleagues or former students, parents of students, or even his school or classmates, it’s a near 100% good bet that they all feel the same way about Dr Julius Atashili.

When we heard the news of his passing away, there were so many thoughts and memories that raced through our minds. We thought about the last time we saw him, the last lessons we had with him and the few special moments we had with him in the classrooms of the Faculty of Health Sciences (FHS) of the University of Buea (UB). One thing we couldn’t come to terms with was that Dr Atashili is truly gone, and this was because it was perhaps somewhat odd that we had not heard of his illness before his death. We were not and even up to now, prepared to say goodbye to him…

Sometimes you meet someone in your life that inadvertently showed genuine kindness, never realizing how much profound effect it would have in your heart. It touches your soul in a very special way. That’s the kind of impact Dr. Julius Atashili had imbued in our senses.

Although months have passed since we all sat in his class, that feeling we had when he greeted us back then has not faded a bit from our collective memories. Although we sometimes can’t recall what easy moments we had with Biostatistics, that warm and comforting environment Dr Atashili created in his classroom remains forever quite vivid in the parts of our brains that experience a teacher’s attention in class. There is no tapering off of our recollections when it comes to matters involving this particular lecturer . . . memories in his classroom, in his office, along the corridors of FHS, out of school environment and memories of a few social gatherings we organized. We students tend to hold on to the best memories of our school days and Dr Atashili - a“giant of academics and timeless icon” will forever be a big part of our memories.

During our training in Public Health, Dr Julius Atashili strived relentlessly to guide us toward a special understanding of the role of public health in the livelihood of communities and how much life could be contained in written words . . . and he worked very hard at teaching us how to make sure that our own written words were filled full of that life. He had a delivery that was both gentle and powerful at the same time. He had command of the classroom and had control of every student’s attention span. His ability to accomplish this was not due to the class being populated with perfectly reared and well behaved students, it was rooted in a style he had of making ever lesson incredibly interesting and profoundly important to each and every one of us. Many of us who may have slouched in Epidemiology or snoozed in Biostatistics seemed to acquire an unexpected second wind as soon as we crossed the threshold of his classroom. Those of us who yawned in Research methods and daydreamed in computer science sat up straight in Dr Atashili’s classroom . . . and we absorbed as much as we could from this disciplined lecturer who we all respected so very much . . . perhaps because he showed so much respect for each of us.

Everyone has thought, at one time or another, that Dr Atashili loved Biostatistics and Research more than anything else in life. But, we were wrong. What he really loved more than anything else in the world is sitting all around you right now. What he treasured most in life was his family, friends, colleagues and his students. Above all, he valued the relationships he had with each and every person that was a part of his life, especially those with positive impacts. We remember him saying many times in different instances “it is good to know people”. More than anything else, he loved being a lecturer and a researcher for his beloved country Cameroon where, he reached out to those who were able and willing to tolerate his strict but productive procedures. This he effected with superb and extra ordinary skills as he supervised students/researchers across varied disciplines within and without UB.

What other outcome was even possible? Dr Atashili was an exceptional teacher! Every mind was important to him and he felt it worth his time to search for just the right keys to open that mind. And when he found those keys, he used them effectively to make learning exciting and pleasurable for each of us.

But . . . what put Dr Atashili’s head and shoulders above the rest was not anything he learned while he earned his teaching credentials. What put him in a league of his own was an unmatched level of kindness, a truly loving spirit, and the heart of an angel. This gentleman could instill a measure of confidence in those who had absolutely no confidence. This teaching angel could calm a struggling student with unscripted encouragement from a very natural ability that was rarely seen in others. He never hesitated to call a student he found had problems with studies to his office for counseling, so long as the student showed interest in his studies. We truly believe that he was capable of moving a person’s perception of themselves further along a positive path in just one school year, than most of us can do in a decade. This was not a skill he was trained in. This was indeed just an artful display of his genetically coded talent, rooted in a heart of pure gold. We all saw something very special in him, because he made us all feel he saw something very special in each of us.

Now look around one more time. Look a little further out from your seat this time. Take note of a few more people around you. There are many very thankful people around you. Some are thankful to have had Dr Atashili as a teacher. Some are thankful to have had him as a colleague or a part of their family. Many are thankful to have had him as a friend or an acquaintance. He reached out with unparalleled kindness and consideration to everyone he came across who was hard working and honest, just like he did with us MPH students. Dr Atashili epitomized the richness of humanity and he enveloped every situation with such class, such charm, and a character of immeasurable superiority.

But . . . no matter how skillful a teacher he was . . . no matter how patient and how kind he was with us as students . . . no matter how much energy he put into making us the best readers, researchers and writers we could possibly be . . . and no matter how much he loved this public health that he so tirelessly and expertly taught to so many of us . . . Dr Julius Atashili touched some of our hearts in very special ways that we can never, ever accurately or fully explain with the mere tools of these earthly written words . . .  only a heavenly based language is capable of conveying that message . . .

Adieu Dr Julius Atashili …….till we meet again…

MPH ex-students, FHS, UB.

A funeral video (approx 1 hour) of Dr JA (laying in state/activities in his house in Buea and the funeral proper in Bamenda) can be obtained at a minimum price from Mr Tony Epie of the IT Centre, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea. Email: akolle.epie@ubuea.cm; phone: 675228687/661169960

My heart is heavy ,filled with so many unanswered questions and memories of you.Our first class with you was so tensed and from that day i knew this is not a course to joke with,"the lecturer is so strict"i said to myself.You made statisics  so easy and i always looked forward to your CAs and exams with a lot of enthusiasm and anxiety especially in my second year.I remember one day we got information that we should give suggestions for our best teacher and everyone said Dr Atashili..what a huge loss!!!who would teach us research methods in the second semester?? Your stay with us was ephemeral but very illustrious.i am blessed to have been taught by you and whatever knowledge you instilled in me would not go in vain,that is a promise.may your gentle soul rest in the lord's bossom.

At 38 you quit the stage telling us your own part of the drama is over. What a blow. So so soon petit Mouser  as we fondly call you back in the days of secondary school . Your passing onto Glory  is a big loss not only to the medical department but the entire nation.

Find peace wherever you are and rest in the Bossom of the Lord

Sir, At the time whey I badly needed you God needed you more something I stil find it difficult to believe. Through you I learned that One's head is not ment to carry wood but to reason; through you I learned that every question has an answer, just that some of the answers have not yet been found but thy exist. Sir through you I wanted to learn more, but....... I still can not believe it. Sir know that us left people behind.