Day 3—the last of our day-long intensives in Kampala—was another good one. NHTH volunteer Jane, pictured below in the middle of demonstrating how to accurately take a blood pressure, summarized the Kampala teaching days like this:
"The students are so receptive and appreciative. It’s difficult to see the gaps in education and experience that these healthcare providers are working with. But they all expressed that they feel so much better after the class, which is really gratifying. This has been challenging for us, the NHTH Team—the teaching days are intense—but it really worked out well and we learned something new every day to make it better."
Jane also celebrated a birthday recently and our Ugandan friends celebrated her and our teaching days with beautiful and delicious cakes!
This last day of training ended with an unexpected student: one of the hotel staff! Julius is the staff member who oversaw and supported the NHTH conference space for the three days of teaching.
Anita says, "He had heard every lecture three times over; he’s watched everybody do CPR the whole time and so as we were packing up, I asked him if he wanted practice on the manikin himself! I told him that I thought we should go through the official skills checklist we did with the students and then give him an official certificate because he’s attended every single day. He said, 'Really?!' and I said 'Of course!'
"So we got on the floor with the three manikins—adult, child, and infant. As we were going through the skills practice with the child manikin, he told me how much he appreciated me teaching this because he has a chronically ill son. His little boy, Matthew, is six years old and has sickle cell anemia. He’s been in the hospital many, many times for Sickle Cell Crisis, which is extremely painful. Julius shared that he had lost two of his own brothers to sickle cell and that taking care of his son has made him a better father and deepened his faith; he said, 'I visit people in the hospitals and I see how blessed I am.' I am so humbled by this man I can barely write about it."
What a meaningful way to close these three intense, wonderful days of teaching.
As this email goes out (Friday, April 4th), the NHTH team is heading to Bombo to teach another CPR skills class and they'll also be visiting two hospitals.
Friday, April 4: Daytrip to Bombo for teaching and visits to two hospitals
Saturday, April 5: Meetings with local ministries and partners in Kampala
Sunday, April 6: Debrief and planning meeting with Ugandan partners; farewell dinner
We'll have an update on yesterday's visits to Kampala University School of Nursing, Mityana School of Nursing and Midwifery, and Humble Vessel Clinic soon!
Click here to read the rest of original newsletter and see the photos!
