Thanks to our volunteers for Fall Semester 2010

We had an enthusiastic crew of volunteers from September to December 2010. Deirdre Evans taught Mental Health Nursing, the course she has developed, also supervised students’ practice in the National Institute for Mental Health. Val Hedstrom taught Nursing Administration while her husband Rick Dowdall assisted with various program tasks, including a careful review of our recent funding proposal. Rabiya Merani developed our volunteer survey, taught English and assisted with the never-ending marking of assignments. Stephanie Lee taught introduction to nursing and medical-surgical nursing, and also supervised students at United Hospital. Sally Sando taught maternal-child nursing and supervised students at the Centre for Woman and Child Health. Judi Morton and Alex Berland assisted by reorganizing library and nursing lab and connecting with hospitals to develop new learning opportunities. Thanks to everyone for your companionship and hard work.

Necessity breeds invention

Many skills require hands-on practice; but what to do when the necessary equipment is not available?  Volunteer instructor Stephanie Lee RN taught medical-surgical nursing at IUBAT College of Nursing in fall semester 2010. She crafted her own tracheotomy tube from cardboard so that students could learn the principles and practice nursing care of this vital device. Probably not suitable for real-life use – but an ingenious work-around for basic instruction. By the way – we are grateful for donations of out-dated or unsterile but useable hospital supplies.

 

Big thanks to our generous donors

A major sponsor of the IUBAT College of Nursing is Hartley&Marks Group. This Vancouver-based company publishes regular books as well as Paperblanks, a collection of beautiful notebooks. We are very grateful for the financial and moral support of the employees of Hartley&Marks Group. Their donations over the past three years helped sustain our guest-house for visiting faculty who come to Bangladesh. All charitable donations to the Mid-Main Bangladesh Health Project are eligible for Canadian tax-deductible receipts.

 

IUBAT BSN students' study findings in the news

The Financial Express, one of Dhaka’s leading English-language newspapers has reported the 2010 study by John Richards, Afifa Shahrin and Karen Lund with data collected by IUBAT BSN students. "Benchmarking the Nutritional Status of Women in the Tongi-Ashulia Road Slums" analyzes one aspect of the life of these marginalized people, many of them rural migrants. Working with our Canadian partner SFU and other schools of public health, the IUBAT College of Nursing will continue to study other aspects of health in this community. The story in the Financial Express is available online http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/more.php?news_id=122266&date=2011-01-08.

 

 

Administration workshop

On November 25th a full day workshop was held for five advanced nursing students from IUBAT as well as a group of nurses from the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease and Research (ICDDR,B) and United Hospital that have been attending the IUBAT Nursing Administration course this semester. Alex Berland led the class in which four case studies were presented. The students worked in teams and had to immerse themselves in their roles as managers and staff nurses and solve problems of staff relations, budget and time management as well as an ethical dilemma. Several junior level students assisted them by joining the teams and introducing further scripted problems for the new managers to solve.

Val Hedstrom taught the Nursing Administration course throughout the fall term and said, "It was fun to watch the students. They really took their roles seriously. The students were transformed into managers and wrestled with these situations using knowledge acquired over the last three months of classes and placements in hospitals. It was a great learning experience for all involved and a wonderful opportunity for the students and nurses to work together in a relaxed atmosphere."

Exploring the role of private univerisities in higher education

In its 46th anniversary issue of November 12th, 2010, "Holiday"
newspaper published an article acknowledging the "Role of private
universities in higher education." The article was written by Prof.
Dr. M. Alimullah Miyan, Vice-Chancellor of IUBAT - International
University of Business Agriculture and Technology, as well as
Secretary General of the Association of Private Universities of
Bangladesh.

The article focuses on the significant contribution of non-government universities (NGUs) to the higher education system of Bangladesh. The role of NGUs is completely multidimensional. With their commitment to ensure the relevance of higher education in Bangladesh, they have also created new educational programs, expanded the realm of opportunities for students and graduates, and managed to build political consensus and community engagement in higher education.

The ideas of reversing Bangladesh's "brain drain" through the development of knowledge and culture, creating a generation of employment, as well as relieving the government's financial burden of education are also explored in this article. The entire article is available online at http://www.weeklyholiday.net/2010/121110/anniv10/15.html.

Eid Extravaganza!

On Thursday, November 18^th, two of our volunteers, Deidre Evans and Sally Sando, organized an Eid party for the boys and girls at the Families for Children orphanage in Sector 6, Uttara, Dhaka. Deidre and Sally had been planning this party for weeks – arranging food, activities, and Eid gifts for all the children. This was one of the few parties the kids have ever had, and it was a huge success. Some of the boys and girls put together dance performances to entertain the crowd, which were lots of fun and must have taken lots of time and effort to organize. The room was filled with excitement and laughter, and the amount of positive energy was incredible! Overall, the children's endless smiles and 'thank you's really made our volunteers' hard work worth the while. Hopefully we will find ourselves another cause for celebration in the near future!