Chongwe Education Week Closes

7 April 2014

Its been a tough, full-on week of practical, simulation and seminar based education in Chongwe District Hospital and Shiyala Village Education Centre. Our team of Cerys Richards (Locum Consultant Anaesthetist), Sanjay Chawathe (Consultant Obs and Gynae), Paul Crompton (Stories and Telemedicine), Sue Hunt (Community Arts), Maggie Cullinane ((Textiles and Women’s skills), Jon Stevens (Solar and Electrical Engineering) and Gwilym Jones (Undergraduate Electrical Engineering) have worked extremely hard, achieving a huge amount for Chongwe and Mothers of Africa.

By Friday the arts, textiles and women’s and children groups had been brought to a conclusion and appropriate skills were left within the village to continue the project. Paul and Sue were able to hang their hospital exhibition in the commencement of Zambia’s Art in Hospital scheme.

Medically, Thursday was full-on with theatre emergencies and teaching, and then on Friday we repeated the skills simulations to great effect. Pleased to say that clinical staff performed much much better than at the beginning of the week: a good result.

The engineering team completed their upgrade in the village, assessed the school and then thankfully had time to transfer their attentions to the hospital. This was particularly important as Cerys, Job Mwanza and I carried out an assessment for a ‘higher care’ unit next to operating theatres. This would need reliable energy back up, so its great that Jon and Gwilym took a look at the set up. The team was tireless, working up until the last minute on Saturday lunchtime. Now we’re all safely home, its safe to say we’re happy, healthy, but exhausted.

Chongwe has the same population as Cardiff but only one operating theatre, four wards and four doctors. Please support this Mothers of Africa project: why not come to the Summer Ball on 12th July, have fun and fundraise.

Judith