Longford student assists Uganda humanitarian efforts

This July, four nursing students and two staff from St Angela’s College will visit Uganda to embark on a number of humanitarian community engagement activities there.

This international programme will give General Nursing and Intellectual Disability Nursing students a unique opportunity and a chance to work on projects that will improve the lives of many who have been neglected by their government and in some cases society and their own families.

Projects will include carrying out general health and vision assessments, administration of essential medication and providing eyeglasses as required. The team will also be delivering nutrition and health workshops to health care workers as well as identifying the needs for an inclusive school based in Entebbe.

In collaboration with Carlow University (Pittsburgh), St. Angela’s will join US students and faculty for a busy 14-day programme that will see them visit many rural sites where communities live with limited means to basic needs.

In addition, St. Angela’s have now established a partnership with Bright Kids Uganda (NGO), and founding director, Dr Victoria Nalongo Namusisi. As well as being an influential community leader, Victoria has recently received the African Humanitarian Award 2023.

Uganda programme co-ordinator, Seán Kelly, explains ‘working on the ground and directly with those who often struggle to survive will be something our students haven’t experienced before but we’re confident they will take from it, a perspective and sense of gratitude for what we take for granted here at home, and this will stay with them as they move forward in their nursing careers’. ‘It’s really important that we’re not simply going there to “fix things” and then leave again - what we want to see is the start of new practices and ideas that Ugandan’s will be empowered with to continue long after we’re gone and having a trusted community leader like Victoria makes this possible’.

In Ugandan society, giving birth to a child with a disability is considered a curse and a burden so children are often abandoned, sometimes just left on the street. Thanks to Bright Kids Uganda, there is now a haven where they can be cared for. Also included in the itinerary is a visit to the site of a new health clinic which has come about thanks to the drilling of a new clean water well in the area that St. Angela’s contributed to back in 2017.

Head of School of Nursing, Health Sciences and Disability Studies, Dr Edel McSharry, will also be joining the team. ‘Community engagement of any kind is at the heart of what we do and to be able to experience this on a global scale will enhance our students and indeed my own learning. This project will help us to begin to understand the life and health challenges these community’s face which can only improve our cultural sensitivity and communication for our future practice’. Dr McSharry continues ‘as nurses, we can bring our professional knowledge but perhaps more importantly in these settings, our practical and valuable health promoting skills’. 

Nursing students Emily Kelly (Sligo), Sorcha Higgins (Longford), Erin Russell (Mayo) and Éabha Heffron (Clare), together with Seán and Edel, have been gathering donations and fundraising for the various projects there and know that any amount goes a long way over there.

If you would like to make a donation of any size, you can do so a number of ways and you’ll find more details at www.stangelas.ie/uganda2023