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2C 0#0 SPORTSAI^e CJatlotte Thursday, September 7, 2006 Start of regular season brings a sense of reality Continued from page 1C Jenkins, running back DeShaun Foster, receiver Steve Smith and safety Colin Branch have been answered- Smith is listed as ques tionable for Sunday with a sore hamstring, but he’ll likely play Jenkins’ health is very important becaiise his presence in the middle gives the Panthers the best defensive line in football- Carolina’s offense wasn't very proMc dur- JOHNSON C. SMITH ing the preseason, but that’s to be expected. Very few teams tip their hand in games that don’t count. Even practices are more intense. “I’m not going to kid myseif,” Fox said. “These guys know the difference between the preseason and regular season, and they do turn it up. Like I said before, if you are fortu nate enough to get to the playoffs, it’s a new toiunament and it ratchets up a little bit more for that. This is for real now.” Bulls focus on Bowie backs Continued from page 1C going to (have to) win as a team against him because he seems to be carrying the offense. If our defense does our job, then well shut down their whole offense, not just him. We’ll get-into their heads and well win the game.” Bowie, the preseason favorite to win the CIAA East, needed a field goal with 2 sec onds left last year to beat Smith 12-9- The BtHIs are rid ing a wave of momentum with a fast start and can make a statement with a win against Bowie. “We feel like we’ve got a lit tle bit of confidence, but we know we’re not all the way up the momtain yet,” McNeill said. ‘We know we have a lot of work to do to get there and a lot of work to even say we’re the caliber of football team Bowie is now, Williams and the BuUs are looking forward to the chal lenge - and meeting Redman. We’re excited,” he said. “HopefuUy itH be an all-out game for four quarters. Itll be a great challenge ” Hospital founded by NBA star to open remedy neglect in Congo By Beth Duff-Brown THE ASsbcfAFED PRESS KINSHASA, Congo - Two hospitals, each named for a beloved mother. One mired in the past, the other determined to make good on the future by overcoming a public health system devastated by decades of dictatorship and ne^ect. The 2,000-bed Mama Yemo, named for the mother of Mobutu Sese Seko, the late strong man of what was called Zaire during his 32- year rule, is the largest hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The public facil ity - once the pride of Central Afiica - is so beat en down that patients must bring their own medicine and are held hostage until they pay off their bills. ‘Tf s heU here; everyone is just looking for a way out,” said Dr. Mbwebwe Kabamba, chief of emergency surgery at what was renamed Kinsliasa General Hospital after Mobutu fell in 1997. Aaross town, Dikembe Mutombo, once a child of Kinshasa and today a miiltimillionaire NBA basketball star, is helping fund a state-of-the- art facility - this one named for his mother, Biamba Marie. Marie died at 64 when civil unrest prevented ha- fix)m getting to a hospital. It was 1997, rebels were unseating Mobutu, and the city of 8 mUlion people had erupted in violence. “Tb do something of this caliber in the name of your beloved mom, it will mean a lot - not just to me but to the people of Congo,” Mutombo recently told The Associated Press by telephone. He said he intends to inaugurate the 300-bed hospital in his native Kinshasa on Saturday He had been forced to postpone his visit due to violence that took 31 lives in the capital last week after rival factions loyal to President Joseph Kabila and Jean-Pierre Bemba were angered that neither won the first multiparty elections in four decades and must face a runoff “My mom played a big role, giving us aH the tools to make us great human beings,” Mutombo, a center with the Houston Rockets pro basketbaUteam, said of his nine brothers and sisters. “She did what moms are supposed to do: raise a child with a good understanding of life.” Masosila Honorine, 28, is also a mother try ing to do ri^t by her children. She and her husband, a civil servant with the Finance Ministry fled to the western capital finm east ern Congo, Worst hit by civil war fium 1996 to 2002. The fighting is ofl&dially over, but linger ing violence, hunger and disease have claimed some 4 million lives since Mobutu’s downfall. Her husband died three months ago at Mama Yemo after undergoing fibroid surgery Unable to pay off the remainder of ha- bill - 19,200 Congolese fimics, or about $40 - she is locked inside the hospital gates. The average Congolese earns about $100 a year. Honorine sleeps on a rattan mat with her two girls, 12 and 5. They eat at the mercy of the Salvation Army and a widows’ organization that feeds them on Sundays and Thursdays. ‘Myself, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Honorine, her chalky hps dry fiiam dehy dration. “From now on, everything is in the hands of God.” About half of Congo’s 58 million people are Christians in the country colonized by the Belgians, who built the hospital in 1926. Once a renowned tropical disease center, Mama Yemo became better known for horror stories after Congo gained independence in 1960- Dr. Kabamba has worked at the hospital for 23 years, yet only earns $70 a month. He per forms operations in upscale private clinics to feed his six cluldreai. He blasts both Kabila and Bemba for shru^ing off public health, and says he has little hope for the future, “These are people who came to power through their guns,” says Kabamba, reviewing an X-ray of a broken limb that cost the patient $10 up finnt. Straddling the Equator, Congo has a hot, humid climate that is ripe for disease. Life expectancy is 51 years, and one in five children dies before age 5. This is the land of Ebola out breaks, rabies, poho, sleeping sickness and cholera. Malaria and HIV/AIDS are endmiic. Public Health IVfinister Emile Bongeli insiste Congo is making strides. Yet he would not allow a foreign joTimalist to take photographs at Mama Yano, saying they are weary of out- • siders harping on their ramshackle facilities. “We don’t want to paint a negative picture of our coTintry” he said. ‘We can’t lie; we have serious problems, but we’re taking care of our problems. Help yourself and God will help you.” Bongeli said Kabila’s government intends to renovate the pediatric wing of Mama Yemo and notes that private hospitals, including one built by the Chinese, now dot the city. Dr. Kabamba comters that most Congolese cannot afford them. He praised the basketball star for his personal efforts to open Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, but said 300 beds is nothing in a city that is chronically ill. ‘Tt gives a message of peace and social progress, but this is not the solution,” Kabamba saicL ‘Tt’s a nice act, but it doesn’t have public impact.” Mutombo, having put $15 million of his own toward the $29 million teaching hospital, hopes his foundation will raise enough to build pediatric and physical therapy wards. Copper coils were imported to suck static out of the surgery floors; local mahogany rails line the walls- Dr. Joyce Hightower, a physician fi-om Cahfomia, is overseeing the hiring of the med ical staff and believes the first 60 beds will be open by October, Patients will pay on a sliding scale, she said, and the poorest can apply for a scheme that allows them to work for medical credit through a nongovernment agency “This hospital is ri^t in a commimity where 90 percent of the people are not working,” she said. “But jf you give people something for fi-ee, they don’t know the value of it.” On the Net: Dikembe Mutombo Foundation: wwwAmfjorg BASEBALL A-Rod continues hitting tear THE ASSOCIATED PRESS NEW YORK - Alex Rodriguez hit two more homers and drove in five runs, and DarreU Rasner pitched six impressive innings for his first major league win to lead the New York Yankees past the Minnesota Twins 10-1 on Simday Bobby Abreu dout^ed three times, and Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano added three hits apiece for the American League East-leading Yankees, who took two of three games fi-om Mnnesota in a possible playoff preview. New York leads Boston by a season-high nine games in the division. Rodriguez hit a solo shot off Matt Garza (1-4) in the fifth and a three-run drive off Pat Neshek in the seventh, reach ing 30 homers and 100 RBIs for the ninth straight season. Jimmie Foxx is the only play er with a longer streak, according to the Ekas Sports Bureau. He did it for 12 straight years fix)m 1929-40. CHARLOTTE CITY I S'leMit Livingstone College vs Bowie State University Saturday September 23,2006 Memorial Stadium - Charlotte, NC Game Time: 4:00 pm Youth Rally 1:30 pm - 3:30 pm Stay In School/Off Drugs/Peer Pressure/Academics One per Quarter Bobcat Tickets - Color TV Gas (50 Gal) - Panthers Tickets Gasoline donated by: Border Line Mini Mart; Hwy 321 North, Clover SC 803-222-9590 "To qualify for prizes, tickets must be purchased by September 11,2006** For More Information: 704-559-5959 or 803-684-9500 North Carolina South Carolina Sfrumu; ®)t Clarlote |o5it TELECOMMUNIBATIDNS SOUTHERN WOMEN'S SHOW September 21-24 • Charlotte Merchandise Mart Prizes Celebrities Home Accents CooHng Classes Health Screenings Over 400 Boutiques Great Shopping and FUN! Get wild and rowdy in the Kithen with Ruby Ann Boxcar. 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