After a busy week consisting of successful meetings, we had a day at World Hope to catch up on paperwork and update our materials. Amelie, Addy, and Nicole spent the morning preparing interview questions for the video we plan to make in collaboration with SHAFS. The rest of the team worked on polishing materials needed […]
Day 12: A Momentous Occasion
With our eggs in a row, we set out to fully prepare for our meeting with the CMO. In order to get some momentum, we began drafting a document that outlines the roles and responsibilities of SicklED versus the roles and responsibilities of our implementing partner. If the meeting goes well and the CMO is […]
Day 11: SicklED Crashes a Workshop
After our expeditions to Freetown and Kono, we had two crucial meetings that had the potential to shape the rest of fieldwork. Unbeknownst to us, there was to be a large medical conference right here in Makeni, featuring some of the most prominent figures in noncommunicable disease work for all of Sierra Leone. With some […]
Day 10: An Inspiring Trip to Kono
Bright and early, the team met up at 7 am, grabbed some hard boiled eggs, and hit the road. Today we traveled to Kono to catch up with SCCAN, an advocacy group that has developed a screening and counseling program. We also visted to Koidu Hospital which is run by Partners in Health. With big rolling […]
Day 9: Into the Capital
With an extremely early start to the morning, four of us made our grand journey to Freetown. With two main meetings in place, one with the largest Sickle Cell advocacy group in Sierra Leone and the other with a representative of one of the most financed programs for healthcare, we were set to have one […]
Days 7-8: Preparation for Freetown
The past few days we have been delving into articles, asking questions, and focusing our efforts on developing an end to end system that unifies advocacy groups, academic institutions, and health care clinics. As we have mentioned in previous blogs, our 5 point strategy focuses on policy, development of a continuing educational course for nurses […]
Day 6: A day of new connections
During the EBK meeting from the day before, we learned about Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance (CHAMPS) and Focus1000 and their overall potential as partners. Today, we had a meeting scheduled with one of CHAMPS’s most valuable players as we continue to discuss the strategy we had from the day before. In the morning, […]
Days 4-5: The 5-Point Plan
We had originally planned to meet with our contact from EKB, a local university. According to SHAFS, she was the medical advisor fortheir advocacy efforts and maintained certain connections to the Ministry of Health. However, with it nearing the end of the school year here in Sierra Leone, she was very busy grading and working […]
Days 4-5: The 5-Point Plan
We had originally planned to meet with our contact from EKB, a local university. According to SHAFS, she was the medical advisor for their advocacy efforts and maintained certain connections to the Ministry of Health. However, with it nearing the end of the school year here in Sierra Leone, she was very busy grading and […]
Day 3: Holy Spirit Offers Support
We started our day at World Hope this morning and awaited a meeting with the Holy Spirit Hospital. With some last minute preparations and thought, we gathered our belongings and piled into the car. This would be our first meeting with a hospital in Sierra Leone. We arrived at the hospital, where we were greeted […]