Dr. Tom Catena
As we enter the “lean months” here in Nuba, food is becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. The price of sorghum and other food staples continues to rise, and rains are erratic. Many families have chosen to plant crops–still hopeful that rains will come and save us.
African Mission Healthcare’s generous partners have equipped Gidel to provide lifesaving measures for those who are coming to us each day, desperate for sustenance.
At the hospital and our clinics throughout Nuba, we are screening children for malnutrition, and providing supplemental food. Dozens of patients have been admitted to the nutrition ward for supportive care.
I am so grateful for your ongoing support. The gifts we have received from partners like you over the years continue to bear fruit, allowing us to sponsor medical training for health professionals.
These medical professionals are now using their skills and expertise to care for patients at Gidel Hospital and our community care clinics throughout Nuba.
Kunu Abass started working at Gidel in 2011 as a nurse’s aide, assisting in the male ward. Because of the financial support of our partners, we were able to send Kunu to Kajokeji Health Training Institute, where he underwent a 3-year training program in clinical medicine and public health.
He then returned to Gidel, where he completed his internship and became a registered clinical officer (physician assistant). Most of the time, Kunu serves at our community clinics, treating patients living in remote villages and providing on-the-job training to other providers.
I asked Kunu–who is a father of three–if this training has changed anything about his work and life. His answer: “I can now assess patients, prescribe drugs, and manage patients independently. This [training] has also shaped me as a person and helped improve my living standard.”
He went on, “I am very grateful to donors who have trained me and I hope they will also open more ways for the students in Nuba to expand services in the Nuba Mountains.”
The people in Nuba are committed and full of potential. The financial support of African Mission Healthcare partners has helped to train others like Kunu who were born here, received medical training elsewhere in Africa, and returned to Nuba to provide medical care to their people.
Thank you to our partners. Their gifts are helping us feed those who are hungry, as well as investing in the future of medical services in Nuba. I am deeply grateful for each one who gives.
Tom Catena, MD
Gidel, Mother of Mercy Hospital