Satish Thakar and Ray Emslie have recently returned from Addis Ababa where they have been volunteering for the Amalthea Trust in the TVET Training The Trainers programme, under the aegis of CINOP Global. This is the second time we have worked on this project and on this occasion Satish covered all things to do with X Ray machines, whilst Ray covered several items of medical equipment, from Dialysis machines to slit lamps and laboratory microscopes (to name a few!). Both of them really enjoyed their time in Addis Ababa and below is a short extract from Ray's report to give you an idea of how his second went:
"The students have settled down and the program has been adjusted a bit. A few more practical sessions have been introduced which has provoked great interest and much discussion. Interesting questions also arose. One lesson on dental units aroused little interest at first, although a visit to the dental department at Alert hospital made the whole subject real and did generate some real interest (although some of that may be due to a nearby patient having several teeth removed!).
Points raised in the classroom were now relevant and several students come forward to ask pertinent questions. Good news! The day at Alert was not all positive, though. A request had been made the previous week for the students to see an operating microscope, a request repeated before the visit by telephone.
On arrival we were told this would not be possible. With the aid of a student (for translation) I said this was not what we had agreed and that the students had made the trip mostly for this experience. By 2:30 in the afternoon we were handling and discussing an OR microscope! Great."
CINOP Global and the Amalthea Trust are very grateful indeed to Satish and Ray for their continuing efforts on behalf of the Amalthea Trust and our clients.