Nursing Students for Global Citizens

We are a group of ten student nurses from the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV). We travelled in May 2019 to Makeni, Sierra Leone as part of the nursing elective “Introduction to Global Health”.
 
Nursing is integral to ensuring access to quality health care for the world’s population and we strongly believe that having a global perspective and experience will give us the opportunity to address challenges both global and domestic as qualified nurses. This is one of the main reasons that motivated us to participate in the study tour.
 
Sierra Leone is located on the west coast of Africa and is one of the ten poorest countries in the world.  Sierra Leone was ravaged from 1991 to 2002 by civil war. 50,000 people died and over two million displaced. Many civilians lost their limbs from the decade long civil war. In addition, the Ebola epidemic in 2014 not only brought devastating health effects but also had a pronounced socio-economic impact in Sierra Leone. Despite being a nation gripped by grief, the people in Sierra Leone remain resilient in hope for a brighter future.
 
As a group we are working towards making meaningful contributions to the community in Makeni. 

We are fund raising towards the following projects:
 
1.     The single-leg Amputee football team in Makeni: The team is the heart and soul of the amputee community. The players are ambassadors of the less-abled. Their visibility promotes social acceptance. Project managed by the charity E-NABLE. 

2.     The St Joseph’s School of the Hearing Impaired: This is a wonderful school that does great things for all the deaf children who attend. 

3.     The Albinism Royal Foundation: MAD project- Making a difference to the lives of the albinism community. 

4.     Solon Foundation: The Solon Foundation aims to advance education and promote improved health in some of the most marginalized communities in Sierra Leone. 

We also have some students participating in the "Street Child Sierra Leone Marathon"!
Luke Sanderson and Julia Chalmers will be running the 10K while Jason Gaba will be running the full marathon (way to go Jason!!!) For more information on the marathon, visit https://www.sierraleonemarathon.com 

If you have any additional questions or would like some more information about the non-profit organizations please email [email redacted]

Sincerely,

UFV Student Nurses for Global Citizens