Early Life
Born at the catholic hospital in Shisong Kumbo on February 3, 1938 Cornelius Patrick Ngamteh (C.P.N.) Vewessee will begin his journey through life. He was the 7th of ten children to his father late Pa Peter Vewessee, popularly known as “Pa Catechist” and his mother Cecilia Movuh Vewessee. Pa Peter Vewessee was a hard working man who raised his children with discipline and strict moral values.
Growing up the son of a Catechist and living just a few yards from the St. Patrick Catholic Church in Babanki Tungo, dad would spend most of his early life serving at the church in different capacities: house help, gardener and his all time favorite, altar boy. To serve as an altar boy in his days, you needed to be proficient in basic Latin which covered the mass liturgy, benediction and various hymns. The altar boys were regarded as an “exclusive” group which most of the young boys aspired to join. As a result, it would serve as the gateway to their Christian faith.
Dad attended St. Patrick Primary School in Babanki and after completing his primary education in 1955 his father informed him he couldn’t attend secondary school. With a Catechist stipend of 15 Shillings per month, his father could only afford to send one child at a time to secondary school. Rather than being discouraged, dad decided this was the perfect opportunity for him to leave home and seek out his own destiny. He decided to move to then Southern Cameroon, to join his older brother who was working as a driver for the Cameroon Development Corporation (C.D.C)