Day 5

We made an early start at the hospital this morning, as Fridays are traditionally half-days in Gambia. Having had a really good week so far – we have a very good case study, whose mother and father have fully consented to participate in the project, and have both assured us that they are looking forward to us visiting their home just outside Banjul – we decided to stay in the classroom to discuss the final written report. We have a structure in place for the report as a whole, but felt we should focus closely on the main body of the report.

After a long discussion, we have broken the body of the report down to four sections: Pregnancy, Birth, Feeding, Treatment.

Encompassing all of these will also be a fifth section; Discussion. This will be a consideration of the cultural, local, regional, national and global factors that effect the four main sections. This will also include substantial consideration of the pre-birth factors that can lead to malnutrition, such as the education of the mother and father, and the mother’s health from birth.

We have organised ourselves in to two groups, and on Monday each group will approach two of the four main sections. We will then come together as one group to talk about the Discussion section in relation to Pregnancy, Birth, Feeding and Treatment.

All in all we feel the project is progressing extremely well so far. Next week we will be visiting various health organisations, clinics, governmental and non-governmental organisations and rural health centres throughout Gambia, which will give us a far better insight to the Discussion section of our report. It will also enable us to consider our case study, and thus malnutrition generally, within a far wider health context.

Days 3 & 4 Video Diary

Choosing the Case Study

Project Mission Statement

Yesterday we had a really productive morning session with the Gambian students. We decided it would be helpful for ourselves, and extremely beneficial for the project, if we composed a mission statement for the whole project. Together we came up with five key points that we all wanted to complete within the project time-frame. This way we would have a working structure in place, and a set of goals to work towards, which as we are only here for four weeks will enable us to set a daily itinerary specifically focused to completing these goals.

The Mission Statement is:

To explore the multidisciplinary factors which contribute to the pathway of a child with malnutrition

1. To develop and maintain a cohesive international multidisciplinary team.

2. To gain the trust and participation of the case

3. To understand the past and current medical history of the case, and the future expectations.

4. To explore the social, economic and cultural history of the case.

5. To understand the link between the global, regional, national and local influencing factors and their application with the case and the conceptual model of globalised health.

View the mission statement in the video above.

Day 1 Video Diary

Day 1

Yesterday was our first day at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital, and we finally met our Gambian colleagues who we will be co-running the project with. It was great to get underway with the project, and brilliant to exchange ideas and research with the Gambian students. It was also extremely productive as in just a few hours together we were able to organise a structure and methodology to work to for the next four weeks.

We arrived at the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital at 9am, and after meeting several hospital dignitaries we had an introductory session with the Gambian students and tutors, where we all introduced ourselves, our areas of study and our individual aims for the project. It was particularly pleasing to see that the Gambian group were as diverse as ourselves, with students from medicine, nursing, politics and international relations, as its inter-disciplinary nature is exactly what makes this project so innovative.

We then had a tour of the hospital, before moving to one of the hospitals many teaching rooms to discuss the project in detail.

Arranging ourselves into three groups, with equal number of Gambian and Swansea students in each, we discussed the three core elements of the project: The case-study, the project methodology, and the various project outputs. Choosing the case study is going to be one of the most culturally sensitive parts of the whole project, and one that until today, discussing the matter with the Gambian students, we didn’t know how exactly to approach. Their knowledge of hospital protocol, however, and in particular their familiarity with the cultural sensitivities of Gambian families, was invaluable in this discussion.

Working collaboratively for the first time with the Gambian students has really set the tone for the whole project, as we were all able to combine our respective experiences of health and cultural practices in our own countries to form the overall direction and structure for out time together in Gambia.

It is this sense of cultural partnership that was paramount at the inception of the Swansea-Gambia Link, and it’s fantastic to finally be a part of it in a practical and tangible manner.

Read the Blog in Welsh here

Arrival

Team Gambia touched down on Gambian soil on Friday, and are now nicely settled in at our accommodation for the next four weeks, Dana Lodge. Cold showers have quickly become a luxury in the 32 degree heat, and the lodge’s two mango trees are providing us with fresh mangos for every breakfast!

Arriving on a Friday has been great as we’ve been able to find our feet and explore the surrounding areas this weekend, before getting started on the project on Monday. Yesterday we visited Bakau Market to pick up some fresh fruit, before heading to a local crocodile park. After a guided tour of the museum, we were led to the crocodile pen where we were assured all the crocodiles were so well fed they could happily be touched and stroked! Sure enough, after some initial trepidation, the team, one after another, approached a particularly lethargic looking croc who nonchalantly ignored them as they stroked his back, patted his sides and posed for photos.

The day then took a further eccentric turn as we had the rare pleasure of seeing the presidential procession on our way home. President Jammeh has been touring the country and our guide Bob informed us this was at best a once-yearly event, so not bad for our first full day in Gambia!

Today the team are relaxing a little in order to prepare our presentations for meeting the Gambian students tomorrow, who will make up the other half of the project. It’s exciting to finally be at this point, to be meeting the students that we’ve been liaising with so much but as yet haven’t met.

We have a guided tour of the hospital planned for the morning, and will finish by visiting the nutrition ward. It is here that the project will really begin to take form, and where the hard work can begin.

Read the Blog in Welsh here

Team Gambia at Gatwick, shortly before departure.

Meet the Team

Wales for Africa Annual health conference 2010

(Left to Right) Tomos Watkin, Debbie James, Katherine Devonald, Charlotte Dix (International Office), Lella Nouri, Sr. Rachel Wilson (ABMU Health Board), Lucy Hammond, Dr. David Abankwa (ABMU Health Board), Steve Allen (School of Medicine)

On the 8th July, representatives from Swansea-Gambia Link 2010 continued theire pre-departure research by attending the Wales for Africa Annual health conference at SWALEC Stadium, Cardiff.
The conference involved talks from Welsh Assembly Member John Griffiths on the importance of sustaining the Wales for Africa health links despite the economic downturn, as well as films and interviews with partners across Africa identifying the need and success of such links. Team Gambia (above) were involved in a number of workshops related to the Millennium Development Goals such as Maternal Health (MDG5), End Poverty and Hunger (MDG1), Child Health (MDG 4) and Education (MDG2). This was a great opportunity to meet and obtain valuable input from health workers, government officials, NGO's and other students, and to share ideas and perspectives on how to meet the MDG targets.

Read the Blog in Welsh here

Pre-departure Research

Having decided to look specifically at malnutrition as a point of research for the project, Swansea University students have been working on pre-departure research looking into cases of malnutrition in Wales. As the departure date draws near, the team have been finalising their UK malnutrition findings and preparing presentations for the Gambia University students. The presentations outline the UK focus of the project and the kind of research they hope to carry out with the help of their Gambian partners over the four week project.
The preparation began with a series of discussions in which the students from the Schools of Medicine, Human and Health Sciences and Arts and Humanities researched and shared respectively on their areas of expertise, and presented the findings that they believe are suitable for the Swansea-Gambia Health Link pilot project this year. Since then the team have held further meetings, presenting their research on malnutrition, dietary illnesses and varying medical treatments and prevention approaches to malnutrition in both Wales and Gambia.
Upon arrival in The Gambia, the Gambian students will assist in allocating a malnutrition case study within the Royal Victoria Teaching Hospital. This will enable interesting and innovative correlations to be made between the Gambia and Wales, regarding malnutrition and interrelated illnesses.

3 weeks to go!

With less than 3 weeks to go Team Gambia is getting increasingly excited about getting started on the project in hand.

Tomorrow the team are heading to Cardiff to attend the annual Wales for Africa Health Links conference (http://www.wales.nhs.uk/sites3/events.cfm?orgid=834&id=3978) which is based around the Millennium Development goals making it extremely relevant to our project. The Team is also looking forward to having an opportunity to talk to other Health Links projects and finding out some methods of best practise.