KENYA: Global Health Organization Geared Towards Strengthening Collaboration with Catholic Sisters
Sr. Jecinter Antoinette Okoth, FSSA
A global health organization known as Medicines for Humanity (MFH) which is currently geared towards increasing partnership with Religious Sisters for improved health care services, is inviting more Sisters especially in Africa to benefit from opportunities they offer on capacity building.
The not-for-profit organization whose primary goal is to reduce child mortality in impoverished communities and around the world, has been partnering with Catholic Sisters globally for more than two decades.
Sharing with AMECEA Online at a virtual session about the organization, the chief Executive Officer (CEO) and President of the Medicines for Humanity Ms. Margaret Brawley underscored that their aim of working together with the Religious Sisters is because of their “commitment to serving the vulnerable communities, often in remote, isolated areas.”
“They are incredible catalysts of change, often doing a lot with very little,” Ms. Brawley who has over 20 years of experience in the field of international health said during the session Monday, April 4, 2022.
She added that “Medicines for Humanity is therefore ready to support Sisters to continue their inspiring work of serving vulnerable women and children around the world and for them to gain the know-how and build skills to better achieve their missions.”
She noted further that MFH whose board members include the former Chairman of Zambia Conference of Catholic Bishops (ZCCB), Bishop George Cosmas Lungu, work in areas of high child mortality including four countries within the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences in Eastern Africa (AMECEA) region: Kenya, Malawi, Sudan and Zambia.
According to Ms. Brawley, MFH envisions a world in which no child dies from preventable causes or lack of basic health services. At the same time, the organization serves “to save the lives of children under five and their mothers by strengthening health care systems, building the capacity of local partners and providers, and empowering communities to tackle the underlying causes of health problems.”
Giving highlights about a virtual learning platform designed specifically for Catholic Sisters and their staff for education purposes on various courses on capacity building and for Sisters to learn from each other, Ms. Govinda Bilges the Coordinator of the program dubbed as Learning for Humanity (L4H), disclosed that the platform aims to “train vital frontline workers to improve their skills, knowledge, and capacity.”
“The topics we train the sisters on include management, leadership, advocacy, public health programming and evaluation, and the provision of maternal and child health services,” Ms. Bilges narrated during the Monday meeting adding that L4H is the first education platform with resources, tools, and training programs.
She assured the Religious nuns that the platform is “interactive, user-friendly, and self-paced hence the Sisters can access material at their free time.”
