Alison, tell us about your day job, site you’re based and department that you work in.
I am a Specialist Dietitian, based at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital Dietetic Department. My focus is acute mental health, including Psychology of Old Age, mental health rehabilitation and brain injury rehabilitation. I work part time, which allows me time to engage in other interests, including global health.
Tell us what area of global health you are involved in, partnership country, organisation/affiliation.
I am a trustee of a recently set up small charity in Arua, Uganda, called Cheka Child. “Cheka” is a Swahili word that means ‘laughter’. The website address is: www.chekachild.com
Cheka Child’s Vision is: “to transform the lives of vulnerable children and to give them a hope for the future so that these children can be a blessing to their communities.”
Their Mission is: “to holistically address the spiritual, physical, emotional and educational needs to vulnerable children. We will accomplish this by providing mentorship, education, spiritual guidance and life skill development.”
Recent and ongoing projects include: –
- Providing school packages and soap during lockdown
- A goat livelihood project for widows
- Clean water projects
- Community food relief due to COVID
- Local income-generating projects
- Child sponsorship (currently 30 children being supported to attend school)
- Tuition programme due to schools being closed
- Education for young women and provision of sanitary products/teaching them to make their own
Alison, have you been to your partnership country? Tell us about the country. Or do you organise GH work from afar?
I visited Uganda briefly in 2017, but I work from the UK to support the charity. Here is some country information: –
- Uganda’s Human Capital Index (HCI) is low; a child born in Uganda today is expected to be 38% as productive when she grows up, as she could be if she enjoyed complete education and full health.
- A child in Uganda completes seven years of education by age 18, compared to 8.1 for their regional counterparts. However, actual years of learning are 4.5, with the 2.5 years considered ‘wasted’ due to poor quality of education. For instance, only 6% of children in Uganda can read a paragraph at the end of the fourth grade.
- Under nutrition is high and stunting affects one-third of all children in Uganda aged five years and below. At 3%, Uganda’s annual population growth rate is among the highest in the world, despite a reduction in fertility rates. Uganda’s population of 35 million is expected to reach 100 million by 2050, while the annual urban growth rate of 5.2% is among the highest in the world and is expected to grow from 6.4 million (2014) to 22 million by 2040.
How did you first get involved in GH work?
As mentioned, I visited Arua in 2017, primarily to support and encourage friends working there with an organisation called Pioneers.
Whilst there I had the privilege of helping to run a fireless oven workshop teaching women in a local village how to make insulated bags that allow cooking to be done with minimal fuel.
I also participated in nutritional education sessions. Subsequently a new charity (Cheka Child) was set up to include local people from Arua and enable them to be in control of the work being done.
I became a trustee of Cheka Child in 2020. The Charity is registered in both Scotland and Uganda.
What 3 skills do you consider important in carrying out global health work?
Compassion, adaptability, and team work.
What 3 items do you always pack on trips and why?
A mobile phone with a good camera! It is great to be able to take and send photos to stay connected with family and friends at home, as well as recording the sights and experiences along the way.
A Bible – my faith is important to me.
Bug spray! I really do not like mosquitos!
What benefits do you feel you have gained from being involved in GH work?
What benefits do you feel you have gained from being involved in GH work?I have a greater understanding of the challenges other people face. Understanding these challenges helps shape the way I respond to their needs.
I am encouraged and inspired by the resilience and commitment of the team as they work for the people of Arua. Having visited Arua for myself informs my approach to the team’s needs.
I have had a wonderful experience that has resulted in significant personal growth.
I feel better equipped to speak with peers about GH issues.
What benefits do you feel NHS patients and colleagues have gained from your involvement in GH work?
I have experienced personal growth that I believe filters into my professional practice. I have greater confidence in my own abilities.
I can promote my profession in new ways because of the work I do with the Charity.
Alison, tell us a memory from your Global Health work or expedition that will stay with you forever.
At the fireless oven workshop, the women of the village were so surprised and delighted to find perfectly cooked rice in the bag we had left under a chair for half an hour! It was genuinely exciting to see them come up with so many ways they could make use of this simple solution.
Finally, what advice would you give an NHS colleague who was thinking of becoming involved in GH work?
I would say, “Go for it!” You have so much to offer and even more to discover!
