Middlesex lecturer’s volunteering project goes from strength to strength
Middlesex lecturer’s volunteering project goes from strength to strength
06/08/2019
Kelly Ncube expands life-saving volunteering programme in Ghana
In the summer of 2018, Middlesex lecturer Kelly Ncube spent her vacation teaching Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support to the Kasoa community at the Abbeam Health Clinic in Ghana. The volunteer project was so well received that staff and student nurses requested that the programme be expanded.
Fast forward to summer 2019, and Kelly is returning to Ghana joined by a group of Middlesex academics. The team includes: Midwifery Lecturers Maurina Baron and Alvaro Baeza Nunez, who will be facilitating sessions on midwifery emergencies such as preeclampsia, and Sheila Sobrany, an Adult Nursing Lecturer, who will be teaching A&E assessment skills, anatomy and physiology to primary and secondary school children. Kelly will continue to lead on Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support. A health visitor, Barbara Kombe, from a London NHS Trust will also join the team.
Kelly said: “The continuity of this project is really important and my Middlesex colleagues are passionate about joining me in Ghana to pass on our skills. But we’re also deeply aware of how much we can learn from the Kasoa community. We will return to the UK with a more global outlook which will certainly benefit the students we teach and the patients we treat."
Kelly is hoping that in future, students will also join the academic team and volunteer during their summers. She added, “I strongly believe lecturers should be given the opportunity to volunteer overseas to understand different cultures, religious views, food and customs. This will be a unique experience for my colleagues. It will be exciting and develop their knowledge and sensitivity of other cultures and create international networks.
Kelly and her colleagues will be participating in health promotion programmes such as around countering high blood pressure and heart attacks, and on post-natal care at the 24 hour Abbeam Health Clinic. Due to the lack of Automated External Defibrillators, her focus was on basic life support which she demonstrated using baby and adult training manikins donated by Middlesex to Abbeam University in 2016. Cardiovascular disease is a growing health problem in Ghana affecting some 20% of people aged between 30 and 70, meaning that the volunteering work undertaken by Kelly has never been more important.
Students or staff interested in volunteer work in the Kasoa community, Ghana, can contact Evelyn Danso at esannan2018@gmail.com
Middlesex lecturer’s volunteering project goes from strength to strength
In the summer of 2018, Middlesex lecturer Kelly Ncube spent her vacation teaching Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support to the Kasoa community at the Abbeam Health Clinic in Ghana. The volunteer project was so well received that staff and student nurses requested that the programme be expanded.
Fast forward to summer 2019, and Kelly is returning to Ghana joined by a group of Middlesex academics. The team includes: Midwifery Lecturers Maurina Baron and Alvaro Baeza Nunez, who will be facilitating sessions on midwifery emergencies such as preeclampsia, and Sheila Sobrany, an Adult Nursing Lecturer, who will be teaching A&E assessment skills, anatomy and physiology to primary and secondary school children. Kelly will continue to lead on Adult and Paediatric Basic Life Support. A health visitor, Barbara Kombe, from a London NHS Trust will also join the team.
Kelly said: “The continuity of this project is really important and my Middlesex colleagues are passionate about joining me in Ghana to pass on our skills. But we’re also deeply aware of how much we can learn from the Kasoa community. We will return to the UK with a more global outlook which will certainly benefit the students we teach and the patients we treat."
Kelly is hoping that in future, students will also join the academic team and volunteer during their summers. She added, “I strongly believe lecturers should be given the opportunity to volunteer overseas to understand different cultures, religious views, food and customs. This will be a unique experience for my colleagues. It will be exciting and develop their knowledge and sensitivity of other cultures and create international networks.
Kelly and her colleagues will be participating in health promotion programmes such as around countering high blood pressure and heart attacks, and on post-natal care at the 24 hour Abbeam Health Clinic. Due to the lack of Automated External Defibrillators, her focus was on basic life support which she demonstrated using baby and adult training manikins donated by Middlesex to Abbeam University in 2016. Cardiovascular disease is a growing health problem in Ghana affecting some 20% of people aged between 30 and 70, meaning that the volunteering work undertaken by Kelly has never been more important.
Students or staff interested in volunteer work in the Kasoa community, Ghana, can contact Evelyn Danso at esannan2018@gmail.com