How I Became a Nurse -Christina Mtonga

When I was less than 10 years old, I decided I wanted to become a nurse because the nurses had nice houses with electricity and good locations. I was raised by her father and stepmother since my parents separated long before I remember. I experienced many hardships because my stepmother did not care for me. On school holidays, I had to walk on foot all the way home and often went without basic things like sugar and soap. Despite the hardships, I always took position #1 in my class. I overcame the hardships and became a nurse. Now I am proud to provide surgical care to patients in partnership with AHA.

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The Frequent Challenges of Hosting a Surgical Camp

Global Health Fellow Angela published a recent blog discussing the many, many aspects of planning a surgical camp. As anyone who has traveled, planned a large event, or works in the medical field can imagine, rural surgical camps rarely go exactly to plan. That’s why we’re so thankful to have Angela and our partners from Kab and KCH who are committed to patient care and flexible in the face of obstacles.

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How to plan a surgical camp

Ever wonder what goes into planning a three-day surgical camp at Kabudula Community Hospital? As Global Health Fellow Angela can tell you, it’s a lot of coordination, time, creativity, and logistics. Here’s an overview of what Angela does to plan a camp, and we’ll dive into some of the challenges she often comes up against in our next post.

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6 Stoma Reversals in 1 Day? No Problem!

The reasons for getting a stoma are serious: bowel cancer, bladder cancer, inflammatory bowel disease, or an obstruction to the bladder or bowel. A stoma is an opening in the abdomen that allows waste to be diverted out of the body, often into a bag. We are so proud to have facilitated the first of what we hope to be many days tackling KCH’s surgical backlog, this time focusing on stoma reversals. Here are the facts:

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