Our Crowdfunding Groups
Dear Donors,
We all finally made it home after a very long trip. I want to wrap up this program with the words of student: Sophie Leon
"This trip will forever impact my life. I was able to help teach choking and blood pressure control in the community and work along side some of the most amazing nurses in clinics in Bolgatanga. We students were able to explore Ghana and experience a different way of life. This trip has taught me more than words can express. I have learned so much about life and myself on this trip and I hope to continue to share my talents with others. I have learned about the importance of cherishing relationships with friends, family, and people you meet out on the streets. I have learned to truly appreciate everything I have been blessed with in my life and to continue to give thanks for everything and everyone in my life. I have learned about the disparities in health care across the world and hope to continue to do work in areas that don't have the resources that we do. I have met some amazing people- both in my classmates and teachings and in the community of Bolgatanga. I have been able to meet some of the sweetest children that will forever touch my heart. I feel so blessed to have been given this opportunity and hope to return to Africa one day. I want to thank everyone that has supported me in this journey-I could not have done it without you."
I am posting Sofia's pictures and as her faculty for this adventure and learning experience I want to say I am proud of all of the students and their commitment to their chosen field of study: nursing.
Thank you so much for your donations and helping make this possible for these students. Please see more photos at Facebook: EMSON Ghana Study Abroad
Carol Agana, MNSc, RNP, APRN, BC
We’re having so much fun following along with these students during their time in Ghana! They’ve been busy working in clinics, touring hospitals, making home visits, hosting health fairs and leading health education projects. Here are some of the highlights we’ve seen from them so far:
We hope you enjoy these photos – be sure to visit the group’s Facebook page to see more. Thanks again for all your support!
June 10th was our first day in clinic and we did not have a teaching project. Excitement on this very hot day was three students not only observed but participated in an emergency c-section. Twins: the nurse left the room with the healthy one and left our students to suction the infant not crying. All went well. So hot we were all drenched by the end of the day. Be sure to check more photos on Facebook: EMSON Ghana Study Abroad.
Students have been in class for 6 days learning about the US health care system, contagious diseases, tropical diseases, cultural influence on health, reviewing physical assessment, first aid, African herbal remedies, and information on the area of Bolgatanga. Today was the last day and Packing Day where students pack up their supplies for their individual projects. I have absolutely no experience at taking videos, I'll work on it. The ceramic coal pots are made in Accra, Ghana and we have arranged for shipping them to the north of Ghana. They should be there when we arrive. What is not pictured are the hundreds of reading glasses donated by Lyn Edington, RN of the University Health Center, the hemoglobin analyzers that were donated by EKF Laboratories in Germany (the instrument is not approved in US), hygiene products donated by Vivian Hill at the School of Nursing, and so many more items donated by faculty at school, friends and families. We also had 50 little girl dresses sewn and donated by Mary Nell Dodd in Springdale.
Thank you so much for making this happen. I am excited to help these students on their journey of discovery and I am a Family Nurse Practitioner with 40 years of experience and will keep them well. Don't forget to follow along on the student Facebook page: EMSON Ghana Study Abroad. You will have to ask the group to join to view the photos.
Carol Agana, Faculty
We are all so excited about our upcoming teaching projects in a poor area of northern Ghana. Your thoughtful gift has made it possible for us to make 300 wound care kits, purchase 100 flashlights for children to use to read by, provide 100 infants with a new mosquito net, help keep 300 school girls in school with hygiene products, give out 200 toothbrushes & toothpaste in a book bag, and hand out oral rehydration packets and an oral syringe to 200 new mothers. We will also be able to purchase 130 coal pots that we will take to several villages with our message about the harmful effects of smoke from old coal pots. Students will provide the teaching that goes along with each topic and our plans also include doing blood pressure screening in the market, testing vision of older adults and providing them with reading glasses, teaching how to save someone from choking to anyone in the clinic waiting room, and teaching about local sources of iron and protein to prevent anemia.
We would not be able to impact so many lives without your generosity. Our group will be leaving on June 7, 2019 and you will be able to follow along on our Facebook page: EMSON Ghana Study Abroad. We will bring it up to date on June 7.
The short video below is of a student last year teaching about sickle cell disease and the photo is outside the science room.
We've entered the final stretch of our 30-day campaign, and we continue to be amazed by your support! With your help our nursing honor students have their additional teaching project planned. We will be going to Bolgatanga Senior High Girl's School and teach the students about health and hygiene, self esteem and sex education. We will be purchasing hygiene products and presenting them to 250 girls in a cosmetic bag after the program. We hope they will have fewer missed school days because they had no hygiene products.
Also with your help we are now able to offer wound care education to more than 200 villagers instead of just 100. Since there are few antibiotics available in Bolgatanga and even fewer people have money to purchase them, it is important that wounds do not get infected. This program focuses on the importance of cleaning and how to clean and cover a wound. Supplies are given to each participant . A baggie contains soap, gauze, tape, bandaids, and neosporin. Additionally, each nursing student will be carrying a kit in their backpack to all events because people just show up bleeding like the woman in this picture. Apana came to the Respiratory Illness education program with her foot bleeding. She didn't know it was bleeding because she could not feel it due to a stroke. We plan to make a home visit to her this year and take her some shoes.
Our team has one last opportunity to share with you. This Wednesday and Thursday, the U of A is encouraging people to give back to their favorite campus causes during All In for Arkansas, and we are one of the participating groups! Gifts made to our project during the university's giving day will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $500. Please share our FundRAZOR page with your friends and family and don't miss out on this party with a purpose. We have just 3 days left!
The video below is of the basket weavers of Zaare village singing a welcome song and thank you after nursing students presented their respiratory illness program and handed out coal pots to the participants.
Wow! Thank you so much for helping us surpass our $5,000 goal! We are so thankful for the support we have received from our friends, family and community. Your gifts will have a lifelong impact on our team of nursing students and the people we will benefit from the education in Bolgatanga.
With 9 days left in our campaign, we have a chance to make an even bigger difference. Our team has decided to stretch our goal to $6,000. Reaching this goal will give us the resources we need to prepare another teaching project for our time in Ghana!
Four honor students in our group will be working with high school girls to teach them about hygiene, self-confidence and sex education. With your help, we can send each of these young ladies home with their own hygiene products! $1,000 will allow us to provide these personal gift bags to 200 girls.
This exciting opportunity only exists because of your generosity. We really can’t thank you enough! Please continue to help us spread the word and watch this page for more updates.
Thank you to all of the donors who support our Study Abroad teaching projects. Impactful life experiences could not happen without you. This is not a story about a teaching project, but it is something that happened to Nicole while working in a clinic in Bolgatanga last year.
Nicole wanted to see a live birth while in Bolgatanga because she is interested in Women's Health nursing. She scouted out both clinics to see which clinic might have a delivery that she could be part of. It was not until the second week that she was able to connect with a woman who had come to Afrikids who was in labor. The woman spoke very good English. Nicole stayed with this lady during her labor and talked to her for hours learning about the woman and her family. Nicole was also using the opportunity to talk to the woman about protecting the baby with a mosquito net when she took the baby home, about hydration for the infant, breast feeding, and immunizations. She also talked to the woman about nutritious foods and generally how to stay well. Yes, they were becoming great friends.
After several hours it was finally time for the baby to be delivered and Nicole helped with the delivery and took the baby immediately after it was born. She did her physical assessment on the new baby girl, wrapped it and didn't want to let go of her. Once back in the maternity ward Nicole asked the mother what she was going to name her baby girl and the mother replied, "my new baby is named Nicole."
Our team has an exciting update to share with you. Thanks to the U of A’s Chi Omega sorority, we have the opportunity to earn additional funds for our teaching projects! Several of the nursing students who will be traveling to Ghana belong to this sorority chapter, and they have raised $710 in challenge dollars.
We will unlock this $710 gift by reaching 40 total donations on our FundRAZOR page. All contributions made during the U of A’s Spring Break will get us closer to this participation milestone and our $5,000 goal.
There are 28 donors on our page so far, which means we’re only 12 gifts away! Please consider helping us accomplish this exciting challenge.
Thank you so much for all of your generous donations over the past ten days. We are so grateful to have your support and encouragement! Enjoy some more pictures from last year's trip to Bolgatanga.
We appreciate all of the donations and thank you so much. We hope you can share our site with family and friends so we can make our goal. The students from last years trip were able to make so many first aid kits from the donations that Mishann Luedders was able to teach wound care to several groups and Bethany Selin was able to take some on home visits.
A simple electrolyte solution can save a child with dehydration from dysentery and other diarrheal diseases. We will teach mothers when and how to use a syringe with solution to restore an infant's health. Your gift will help us buy the oral syringes and packets of solution.
Dental health is a worthy goal! Nursing students will lead a workshop on the importance of oral health with a demo on correct brushing techniques. Your help will allow us to distribute a toothbrush and toothpaste to each participant.
Villagers die every year from simple wound infections that are easily treatable with the correct supplies. Treating a wound after an injury is the first line of defense against infection! We will present high school age students with "Wound Care 101," arming them with knowledge on infections and treatments. Your generous donation will provide these students with wound care kits.
Malaria can be prevented through education and a simple net! We will be working with village mothers to educate them on the prevention of illnesses in the most vulnerable population: infants and children. Help us fight this disease by providing a bed net today!
Ineffective charcoal stoves result in prolonged exposure to high levels of toxic cooking smoke. This leaves the women in Ghana stricken with illnesses like emphysema, lung cancer and bronchitis, which quickly leads to death. We will provide the education, and your support will provide the ceramic coal pots that reduce cooking time and smoke production while saving trees. Last year we were able to teach 100 families and provide each of them with a new coal pot!
"Be the change you want to see in the world." Nobody said it better than Ghandi, and University of Arkansas nursing students are putting these words into action! Your support of $120 will provide a "bundle" with all the levels of care listed above. Your help will make a huge difference for a family in Ghana!
This is the third year that University of Arkansas nursing students will be traveling to Ghana to educate and serve. Honor your favorite nurse or nursing student with a gift in their name, and we will send a card of thanks to let them know of your passion for their dedication!
