Nurses for the Nations in Africa, by Mary McMahon RN M.B.A., MS, BSN, President of Nurses for the Nations
Nurses for the Nations visited Liberia, West Africa in June of 2009, hosted by the FNIHS (Florence Nightingale Institute of Health Sciences). During our stay, we met with the Liberian Vice President of the country, Joseph Boaki, the Minister of Health, Dr. Walter Gwenigale and the Director of the Malaria Community Programme, David Wessih. In addition, N4N visited all of the local clinics and remote villages outside the Paynesville City limits.
| Pictured from left to right John Matthews, Nurses for the Nations Director of Finance and Logistical Operations, Robert McMahon, Vice President of Humanitarian Services, Mary McMahon RN, President of N4N, Liberian Vice President Joseph Boakai, Linda Altizer RN, Director of N4N Health Demonstration Programs and Nora Mangou, Administrator for the Florence Nightingale Institute of Health Sciences. Front Row,Reverend Ben Atachie, Daniel Wessih, Director of Ministry Health and Social Welfare Malaria Program, Sahr Nyuma RN, Pharmacology Trainer, FNIHS (Florence Nightingale Institute of Health Sciences) |
Vice-President Boakai assured Nurses for the Nations that our joint efforts with the government and Ministry of Health with N4N’s work to eradicate malaria would be supported in Liberia and offered his administrative office as a channel of communication if issues should arise. In addition, the Director of Malaria Control, Daniel Wessih, pledged his collaboration and joint efforts with N4N to eradicate malaria at the village level in concert with the country’s national plan to address the condition. In addition, N4N discussed with Vice President Boakai, Florence Nightingale’s program strength and its ability to bolster and support the role of nursing in Liberia.
In the Center Dr. Walter Gwenigale with Nurses for the Nations Team, Mary McMahon RN, Robert McMahon, John Matthews, Linda Altizer RN, Reverend Ben Attachie and Nora Mangou, Administrator from the The Florence Nightingale Institute, and Ministry of Health and Social Welfare Representative
Nurses for the Nations and Liberian Minister of Health Dr. Walter T. Gwenigale discussed important contacts in Liberia to help support N4N’s ongoing support of malaria initiatives in the country. In addition, Nurses for the Nations presented a letter from Dr. William F. Bina, Dean of the Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon Georgia to Dr. Gwenigale, Minister of Health and Tabeh L. Freeman MD, MPH FWACP, Dean and Associate Professor of the School of Medicine, University of Liberia to begin exploring opportunities and expanding mutual understanding between the Ministry of Health in Liberia and the Mercer School of Medicine in the United States.
Dr. David Baxter, Associate Professor of the Mercer University School of Medicine, Savannah Campus and Dr. Ramon V. Meguiar, Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer of Memorial University Medical Center, Savannah, Georgia, not only support the work of Nurses for the Nations, but join as visionaries with the Dean of the Mercer School of Medicine to begin discussions on mutual goals in Liberia as we all seek to improve the health conditions of our citizens.
N4N was also able to bring needed medical supplies and equipment. Liberian nurses need support through government incentives to rebuild their nursing workforce. Salaries for nurses are very low and students cannot afford to attend nursing educational programs or further their schooling to advance their nursing careers. Local programs are in arrears because most families cannot afford tuition (approximately one US dollar per day). In addition, nurses who work in the surrounding clinics to assist the needs of the sick, work without payment. Sixty percent of the people living in Liberia are unemployed.
We are deeply grateful to our benefactors, especially the Julia Bass Teschke Charitable Trust who made possible Phase I of Nurses for the Nations Grant Project to establish Malaria free-zones in Liberia, West Africa. As a result of this gift, we were able to cement the ground work both at the government and village level to begin planning for Phase II of our project. During Julia’s life, she was passionately involved with mission work in Africa. Through her generosity of heart and spirit, she is still touching African lives today.
Tags: malaria
Loading...
