Wednesday, December 4, 2013

This holiday period The Welbodi Partnership will be joined by top choirs to help save mothers and children in Sierra Leone


Three amazing choirs have agreed to sing carols at shopping centres around central London in December to raise money for our lifesaving work. 

We will be at:
Cardinal Place in Victoria - Tuesday 10th, 1pm – 2pm and Wednesday 11th, 4.30pm – 6pm 
The O2 Centre in Hampstead - Wednesday 18th, 6pm – 8pm 
Whiteley's in Bayswater - TBC

Our wonderful choirs are The ACM Gospel Choir, The Heath Street Choir and the Camden United Choir. We are so grateful for their amazingly generous support. We are all really excited and can’t wait to get into the Christmas spirit! 

If you can’t make it but would like to make a donation this Christmas you can do this here or sign up to Give as you Live to donate whilst you shop online without spending a penny extra

Happy holidays from The Welbodi Partnership. 




Wednesday, November 27, 2013

News from the X-ray Department by Abdul Sakpa: X-ray Technician




My past experience I have gathered is from the Emergency Surgical Centre where I was trained and worked as an X-Ray Technician with a manual X-Ray Machine, by which we normally used a cassette to expose X-Ray film and go to the dark room for film processing, Therefore we will have to spend some time in preparing the result for the Doctor to make a quick decision on the Patient.

With the new Digital X-Ray Machine which is a modern technology, it produces good Quality images and makes work easier for the technician, it also produces fast results which can facilitate the Doctors to make a decision on patient.

By working in this new X-Ray department I see myself into another level, as I am exposed to new technology I believe it will extend my experience by working with this Digital X-Ray Machine rather than using an X-Ray Cassette or going to the darkroom for film processing.             
It is very beneficial to have an X-Ray Department in the Hospital rather than going somewhere else. From my understanding, patient used to go for X-Ray examination at the Connaught Hospital, which was a disadvantage on the part of (O.D.C.H), in this process by which Patient were used to going a long distance, that might cause a patient to die on their way. But by having the X-Ray department in the Hospital Patient and Relative are benefiting greatly from this facility.
I hope to see the Hospital extend a helping hand to those Hospitals that do not have the X-Ray facility, to also consider adult patients, because this has been the only facility around the community, to also provide printer in other to produce hard copy result for patients. Considering the nature of the job, staff encouragement should be the top most priority.  

  

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

News from the annual Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association Meeting

From the 13th-15th of November the Sierra Leone Medical and Dental Association held their 39th Annual Congress and Scientific Meeting. This years theme was: “Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Sierra Leone: A Critical Look at the Health Workforce”. Welbodi’s Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Lako, attended the event, allowing her to network with other doctors in the country as well as listen to the various scientific sessions to hear about some of the research being done in Sierra Leone at this time. During the opening ceremony the Minister of Health highlighted the fact that there are very few specialists in the public sector; for example there are only two Sierra Leonean paediatricians in government service. The Minister said that much work lies ahead to address the problems in the health sector and the next phase in the journey has just begun. She stated: “we now have an opportunity to adequately address the human resource crisis by actively pursuing accreditation and continuing to support students overseas”. Currently 8 Sierra Leonean doctors are pursuing their postgraduate training in paediatrics in West, East and South Africa. Hopefully by the end of 2014 some of them will be ready to return back to Sierra Leone to support training in country. The need for in-country postgraduate training was highlighted once again, which is something Welbodi has been focusing on over the years. Hopefully with support from the Ministry of Health, tertiary hospital staff and NGOs, in-country postgraduate training will become a reality in 2014.


Tuesday, November 12, 2013

DEADLINE EXTENDED for Project Design and Grant Writing Internship





The Welbodi Partnership are recruiting a Project Design and Grant Writing Intern. We are looking for someone to lead on our large grants program, which provides essential income for our current projects and new initiatives. This position would be suitable for someone with professional writing or grant writing experience and an interest in international development or global health.

If you are interested or know someone who might be, download the full job description below.

Download full job spec


Friday, November 8, 2013

Meet the Team - Rachael




Name:
Rachael Benson

Role:
Social Media and Fundraising Intern

What were you doing before you came to work for the Welbodi Partnership?
Before coming here I was studying for my undergraduate degree in Social Anthropology. Since graduating, I have carried out a number of volunteering roles, one of which being in an international development organisation.     

What motivated you to come and work here?
During my time at university I became interested in global health, and became keen to gain experience in an international charity. I was particularly interested in interning with the Welbodi Partnership because I like its approach of working closely with people and existing institutions in Sierra Leone. Getting involved in the social media and fundraising side is something I’m very excited about, and I’m looking forward to getting stuck in! 

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Charity is doctor's healthy obsession - Old Joe Magazine

Matthew Clark has been interviewed by Old Joe, the University of Birmingham's Alumni magazine. He discusses founding the Welbodi Partnership, and the problems he had to face and the achievements of the charity so far.




Alumnus of the Year Matthew Clark was still a student when he founded a charity that has raised more than £1 million to transform an African children's hospital.


When Matthew Clark (BSc Sport and Exercise Sciences, 2002) arrived at the Ola During Children's Hospital in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on an elective placement as part of his medical degree, he was unprepared for what he would find. The civil war had ended five years earlier but there was no running water, sporadic electricity and a lack of essential medical equipment.


In a country with the worst infant mortality rate in the world (one in four children dies before the age of five) it was vital something was done. Many of the facilities needed were in place but had not been completed during a post-war refurbishment.
Read the full article here.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Meet the team: Dickya



Dickya is a registered nurse from the Philippines with a Master's Degree in Clinical Supervision. As a Nurse Educator he oversees the capacity building activities for more than 150 nurses at the Children's Hospital.



In the year since I have been working at the hospital I can see that the nurses are more involved with the training. In the past it was a real struggle to get them to attend but now participation is much better. When I first started I was doing all the organising and preparing for the sessions by myself but since I launched the mentorship program in March the nurses are the ones in charge. There has been a shift, now I am just there to support them. It empowers the nurses because they own the training themselves. We no longer call it Welbodi training but instead it is the hospital training.

I have learnt a lot from working with the Welbodi Partnership. There are a lot of challenges in my job so I am constantly problem-solving and thinking of new strategies. I have learnt to be innovative and to think outside the box. For example, changing nurses’ attitudes has been difficult. Currently, they are still underpaid and undervalued in Sierra Leone and this affects their motivation. So as part of my role I have been looking at legislation and trying to make sure they receive a basic salary and health benefits. This is a new skill for me; I never knew anything about laws before! But if we can show the nurses that society values the work that they do hopefully it will improve their morale. I have also been working on establishing a reward system to recognise the hardest working staff. Financial incentives alone are not enough so I have been thinking of more creative solutions. Nurses received ministry-recognised certificates for completing training and those with perfect attendance were given new uniforms.

Monday, June 10, 2013

BMJ post about x-ray machines and emergency measures


Today marks three years of working for Welbodi Partnership and it’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by. The last time I blogged, I wrote about getting more involved clinically. Well, that spell ended rather quickly, and before I knew it I was back to managing various projects.
Managing projects might sound a little boring, but really it’s quite exciting especially when I can be involved with big stuff that will make a huge difference. The fact that the projects I am working on will eventually save the lives of children in Sierra Leone excites me and keeps me going.
I am especially proud of three of the projects I have been working on over the past year: the x-ray project, setting up the side laboratory near the Emergency Room, and the accreditation process through the West African College of Physicians. All of these projects are works in progress, but they will in due time transform the Children’s Hospital.
I’ll write more about each of these projects in separate posts but here are a few thoughts on why I love these projects:
Imagine a digital x-ray machine arriving at a hospital where x-rays haven’t been taken for over 9 years and in a country where digital imaging is still very rare.
Imagine that your child is unconscious and doctors are now able to do a rapid test for malaria in the side laboratory and start your child on antimalarial treatment promptly to save your child’s life.
Imagine three x-ray technicians excited about their employment at a government hospital and being some of the only technicians in the country to work with a digital x-ray machine.
Imagine a medical student graduating from medical school knowing that in-country postgraduate training will soon be a reality at the Children’s Hospital and they won’t need to go abroad for further training.
Imagine if you are the mom of a very sick child and instead of needing to trek across town with your sick baby for an x-ray, you can get an x-ray done on the same compound very close to the ward.
Imagine the excitement when each of these projects comes to completion! I’m thankful to be a part of the Welbodi Partnership team and that we are able to accomplish so much and improve the Children’s Hospital by working alongside hospital staff and our colleagues in the Ministry of Health.
Here’s to the next three years.
Sandra Lako is a doctor from the Netherlands who previously spent four and a half years in Sierra Leone setting up and managing a paediatric outpatient clinic with an organisation called Mercy Ships. After a year at home, she returned to Sierra Leone to volunteer as medical coordinator with the Welbodi Partnership, a UK based charity supporting the only government run children’s hospital in a country where one in five children do not reach the age of five.

Sunday, April 21, 2013

X-ray Project – Fundraising completed!


I am very pleased to provide you with an update on the x-ray project and happy to announce that we have reached our fundraising target! This is great news for Ola During Children’s Hospital and the children in Sierra Leone.

More good news is that the equipment is scheduled to arrive on the 18th of May and a clearing agent is already processing the paper work so that we get the equipment out of the port within days of its arrival. Meanwhile, the recruitment process for x-ray technicians is underway and a Canadian radiographer arrived last week to help set up the x-ray department and further train the technicians over the next 4 months. The radiography staff will undergo a radiation protection safety training in May 2013 and the Radiation Protection Board will come to inspect the x-ray department in June, which is when we hope to have the x-ray department up and running.

I continue to be very excited about this project because I know that a functioning x-ray department will have a positive impact on the care we can provide for the children in the hospital. I look forward to the day that we no longer have to send children across town to Connaught hospital for x-rays!

I would like to extend my appreciation to everyone who raised money for this project, as friends and family of Welbodi Partnership staff made over 150 contributions over the past 9 months. I would also like to thank the various Foundations that have made significant contributions to this project.

Tenki plenti.

Monday, April 1, 2013

Welcome to our newest team member: Dr Paul Gibson




We are excited to welcome our newest team member: Dr. Paul Gibson

Paul is a paediatrician from England who has come to work at the Ola During Children’s Hospital for a year through the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) Global Links programme. He qualified from Manchester Medical School, England, in 1981. He studied and worked in the UK (Manchester, Liverpool, London, Northern Ireland, Lancaster and Cumbria), India, South Africa and Papua New Guinea. He is taking a sabbatical from paediatrics and child health in Lancaster and Cumbria from March 2013.

Paul will work alongside the paediatric consultants at the hospital to provide clinical services on the wards as well as support and supervise the Sierra Leonean house officers during their six-month rotation. Paul will also help pioneer the postgraduate training programme for doctors at the hospital.
Welcome to the team Paul!

Would you like to get involved? Contact info@welbodipartnership.org

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Two Vacancies with Welbodi


The Welbodi Partnership is looking for people to join our team in Freetown to work at the Ola During Children's Hospital. We are advertising for two positions: a volunteer project coordinator and a project manager. If you are interested, please click on the links below for further details including the job description and application procedure. 

Vacancy: Project Manager

Will you help us improve healthcare for the children in Sierra Leone?

If you know of someone else who might be interested, please forward this message to them.

Best wishes for 2013 on behalf of the Welbodi Partnership team

Vacancy: Project Manager

The Welbodi Partnership has a position available for a Project Manager in Freetown, Sierra Leone

Please distribute this notice widely to those who might be interested in this great opportunity to help us improve child healthcare in Sierra Leone.

Position Available – Project Manager
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Assignment Length: 12 months, from 13th May
Salary & Benefits: Commensurate with experience
Reports to: Welbodi Partnership Directors
Application Deadline: 1st February 2013

The Welbodi Partnership seeks a Project Manager for a Comic Relief-funded project to improve healthcare services for children in Sierra Leone, based at the national children’s hospital, the Ola During Children’s Hospital (ODCH) in Freetown.

The Welbodi Partnership works with the Government of Sierra Leone, the ODCH management and other stakeholders to fund, implement and evaluate locally-conceived projects through the Sierra Leone Institute of Child Health (SLICH).

The Welbodi Partnership welcomes applicants of all nationalities, but actively encourages applications from qualified Sierra Leoneans at home or in the Diaspora, as well as individuals from other African countries.


PLEASE NOTE: The Welbodi Partnership will not accept CVs and Cover Letters for this position. Please fill and email our Application Form. Otherwise your application will not be considered.

Interested candidates should please complete and send the Welbodi PartnershipApplication Form to Dr Tom Pearson, email: jobs@welbodipartnership.org

Vacancy: Volunteer Project Coordinator


The Welbodi Partnership has a position available for a Volunteer project coordinator in Freetown,  Sierra Leone

Please distribute this notice widely to those who might be interested in this great opportunity to help us improve child healthcare in Sierra Leone.

Position Available – Volunteer project coordinator
Location: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Assignment Length: 12 months, from 13th May 2013 or earlier
Salary: volunteer post
Benefits: Shared accommodation in Freetown, roundtrip flight, insurance, transport to and from place of work
Reports to: Welbodi Partnership Directors
Application Deadline: 1st February 2013

The Welbodi Partnership seeks a Project Coordinator to join the Welbodi Partnership team in improving healthcare services for children in Sierra Leone, based at the national children’s hospital, the Ola During Children’s Hospital (ODCH) in Freetown.

The Welbodi Partnership works with the Government of Sierra Leone, the ODCH management and other stakeholders to fund, implement and evaluate locally-conceived projects through the Sierra Leone Institute of Child Health (SLICH).

The Welbodi Partnership welcomes applicants of all nationalities, but actively encourages applications from qualified Sierra Leoneans at home or in the Diaspora, as well as individuals from other African countries.


PLEASE NOTE: The Welbodi Partnership will not accept CVs and Cover Letters for this position. Please fill and email our Application Form. Otherwise your application will not be considered.

Interested candidates should please complete and send the Welbodi PartnershipApplication Form to Dr Tom Pearson, email: jobs@welbodipartnership.org

Happy New Year

The Welbodi Partnership would like to wish all of its supporters, the staff at the Children's Hospital and the Ministry of Health and Sanitation in Sierra Leone a very Happy New Year.

We are thankful for everything that we have been able to achieve at the Ola During Children's Hospital in 2012 and we look forward to the opportunities and successes that 2013 will bring. We could not do this work without you. Thank you. With your help we will continue to improve healthcare for the children in Sierra Leone.