COVID-19 and nursing education for girls

Worldwide, over a billion people will never see a health worker during their lifetime (WHO, 2017).  Today, more than 60% of the African population live in rural areas far from healthcare workers (Amzat & Razum, 2018). People living in remote places in Africa face considerable challenges receiving basic health care.Delivery of primary healthcare to rural remote villages is unsustainable due to lack of infrastructure, healthcare workers and transportation. About 7.2 million Cameroonians live more than an hour's walk from the nearest health facility, and many live greater than 21 kilometers (13 miles) from one. The combined effects of difficulties traveling to the nearest health facility, lack of trained healthcare workers and poverty means that many die needlessly from preventable/treatable Infectious diseases.  Complications during childbirth destroy lives, families, and communities. Decentralized delivery of medical education and resources are the only way to bring about sustainable healthcare in remote rural communities.

Cameroon is located in Sub-Saharan Africa, a region that carries about one third of the world’s disease burden (Njinji, 2012). More than 25 million people live in Cameroon, although it is the 24th largest country by land mass, it is one of the least densely populated countries in the world (World Population Review, 2019).  “Out of the entire population, 24% live in poverty, and 55% of those in poverty live in rural communities. The reasons for the gap between rural and urban poverty are a lack of infrastructure and an education system that fails to develop alongside shifting labor needs” (Borgen, 2018). impediments to healthcare access are further exacerbated when coupled with internally displaced during periods of civil unrest, and the influx of refugees from neighboring countries due to armed conflict. in recent years, information communications technology (ICT) in Cameroon has made greater achievements than in other countries in Central and West Africa (Achidi, 2019).  It is expected that during 2020, the entire country will have enhanced Wi-Fi, reliability, speed, and network coverage to support increasing demand (Achidi, 2019).  As the national ICT capacities grow, even remote villages will be Wi-Fi connected.

 There is a desire for more accessible nursing education in Cameroon (Maboh, 2016).  Without an organization such as Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning, the only choice available to rural nursing students is to move into the city in order to attend school. We believe that ensuring the affordability of a nursing education for rural students is the first step towards closing the healthcare gap in Cameroon for good. Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning will deliver comprehensive, high quality nursing education by training nurses where they live - in remote communities. These new nurses will be embedded within remote communities where the need is greatest. This network of nurses will provide primary healthcare to serve people, hospitals, and their neighbor in rural communities, will understand their communities better and be better equipped than those from outside the area.

Long-term impacts - STUDENT: Pathway to be paid professional nurse COMMUNITY: Improves primary healthcare outcomes through maternal/infant health, prevention, & disease treatment ECONOMIC: Paid professionals contribute to the personal & local economy in rural communities POVERTY: Improved community health, improves community economic capacity GLOBAL HEALTH: Primary care & leadership is poised strategically to address emergent & re-emergent infectious diseases in remote areas

Embedding New Nurses in the Communities They Serve

After graduation from Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning, these new nurses will provide primary healthcare to serve people, hospitals, and their neighbor in rural communities.  These nurses will understand their communities better and be better equipped than those from outside the area who come in sporadically during outreach initiatives.  Mobile Health Partners, the medical outreach branch of Humanitarians Without Borders, has been providing intermittent care for many years, but cannot realistically grow to address the needs of remote communities.  
By linking new rural nurses with the improved version of Mobile Health Partners, now known as Rural Primary Health Partners, there are no longer any geographic limits to the expansion of healthcare. Rural Primary Health Partners embeds healthcare professionals within the communities they serve.  This infrastructure strategically places healthcare providers at the right time and place to address a multiplicity of health issues, including current, emerging and re-emerging infections, thus reducing the alarming  rate of morbidity and mortality in pregnant women and children under  the age of five years old.

21st century education calls for new ways of developing the knowledge and skills necessary for students to become successful healthcare workers.  Our approach blends traditional and web-based environments.Technology and internet connectivity allow us to deliver educational content and engage students no matter where they live, so long as there is accessible Wi-Fi or a network. After graduation from Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning, these new nurses will be self-employed community health workers to provide primary healthcare to serve people, hospitals, and their neighbor in rural communities. Paid professionals contribute to the personal & local economy in rural communities.

what makes our solution innovative is that we are bringing a solution that will embed our trainees, target  population, employment, and economy, thus making rural communities to be inclusive and sustainable, it will go a long way to improve prevention and decrease  of alarming morbidity and mortality rate due to infectious diseases.  

Student-Centered Blended Learning Platforms

Blended learning takes the best of traditional nursing education and expands the possible ways educators connect students with new knowledge by combining online educational content and interaction with face-to-face place-based classroom methods.  Creating opportunities for students, faculty, mentors, and preceptors to connect in person will be necessary at a variety of locations including, but not limited to, clinics and hospitals, at the local and regional level.  

After graduation, these new nurses will provide primary healthcare to serve people, hospitals, and their neighbor in rural communities.  These nurses will understand their communities better and be better equipped than those from outside the area who come in sporadically during outreach initiatives. ,Rural Primary Health Partners,  the medical outreach branch of Humanitarians Without Borders, has been providing intermittent care for many years, but cannot realistically grow to address the needs of remote communities.  By linking new rural nurses with Rural Primary Health Partners, there are no longer any geographic limits to the expansion of healthcare. Rural Primary Health Partners embeds healthcare professionals within the communities they serve.This infrastructure strategically places healthcare providers at the right time and place to address a 0multiplicity of health issues including COVID-19

Technology and internet connectivity allow us to deliver educational content and engage students no matter where they live, so long as there is accessible Wi-Fi or a network with reliable speed and coverage.  Students are provided with laptops and cell phones - the new tools for connecting students and faculty with course materials and providing opportunities for meaningful interaction.  Utilizing the wealth of resources available through the web, faculty engage students beyond the limitations of traditional lecture-style formats.  As information communication technology (ICT) expands, the locations where students can connect will increase to encompass even more remote areas.

In recent years, information communications technology (ICT) in Cameroon has made greater achievements than in other countries in Central and West Africa (Achidi, 2019).  It is 

expected that during 2020, the entire country will have enhanced Wi-Fi, reliability, speed, and network coverage to support increasing demand (Achidi, 2019).  As the national ICT capacities grow, even remote villages will be Wi-Fi connected.

Delivery of primary healthcare to rural, developing communities is unsustainable due to lack of infrastructure, especially transportation.  St. Leonard Health & Research Foundation has developed medical education, delivery, and research programs centralized in Limbe, Cameroon to address coverage gaps.  Recognizing that the decentralized delivery of medical education and resources are the only way to bring about sustainable healthcare in remote communities, St. Leonard is on the brink of establishing an online professional nursing education delivery platform.  This is the planned Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning that will take advantage of our ongoing experience Neyang Health Academy in Limbe, Cameroon, while broadening it to suit a distributed audience.  Neyang Health Academy and Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning train healthcare professionals who, after completing their education, provide services to their local communities.  The impact of this initiative will make lasting change and save lives it  is therefore necessary to create a sustainable primary healthcare delivery system in which trained healthcare providers are embedded within remote communities where the need is greatest.  In order to improve healthcare access and move away from the temporary, one-off interventions and project-based approaches of the past, Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning seeks to provide permanent improvement to healthcare infrastructure. 

Indeed our solution of training more women and young  girls in remote  communities to bring primary  health care closer to the  underserved, less  privileged people especially women  and children will go a long  way to empowered more women and young girls, bring economy growth, making community to be more inclusive and sustainable, reduce diseases burden and poverty.

We are currently serving forty one thousands (41 0000) women and vulnerable young girls from rural  zones Cameroon of four (04) Regions and local communities in 

Cameroon in one year this number can double to 82 000 people if giving necessary working facilities it can increase.  In five  years we can reach a maximum of close  to 2 million people and even more if we receive funding to improve our actions  and reach more underserved  difficult to reach communities in Cameroon and Africa.

Our ultimate  goal is to expand this project in other African countries after Cameroon. we plan to achieve our goal through

Partnerships & Collaboration

Network of Community Health Professionals

Drawing on international best practices and the lessons learned with Humanitarians Without Borders’ remote community outreach in Cameroon, the Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning will educate a network of community health workers.  These new professionals can then be deployed through Rural Primary Health Partners as paid healthcare providers to remote communities in Cameroon, and eventually scaling throughout Africa.

Paid, Professional Nursing Educators

In order for Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning to be sustainable and deliver high quality nursing education, the faculty of nurse educators, including clinical nurse educators, must be paid professionals (Aeta, et al., 2011).

Governments and Ministries of Health

Partnerships with governments and Ministries of Health offer the ability to integrate the public sector health infrastructure to support sustainable continuation and expansion of Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning and Rural Primary Health Partners.  We will provide assistance based on lessons learned to governments, beginning in Cameroon and expanding into Central and Western Africa, where education programs will be implemented to bring Distance Learning and Rural Primary Health Partners to nationwide and regional scales.

National and Global Partnerships

Recognizing the importance of partnerships, collaboration, and collective impact to bring about transformative change, we will advocate on both the national and global stage for investment in solutions to the broader health and development needs of underserved, poor, remote communities in Africa.

St. Leonard is a transparent organization dedicated to continuously learning; drawing on experience, evidence, and best practices; constantly assessing, re-evaluating, and strategically improving processes and approaches to most effectively serve vulnerable populations; implementing the most efficacious initiatives promoting well-being and autonomy; and honoring human dignity and worth within their cultural context. 

Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning is uniquely positioned in Cameroon to combine its expertise in nursing education with robust and expanding access to information technology and communication networks. This union transforms both professional training and healthcare delivery for the nation’s rural population, as it is not limited by infrastructure and physical accessibility

To achieve our goal of expanding and reaching more people,  we are in great need of financial and technical  support to scale up this project at the national, regional and  international level to speak more volume, create more impacts and safe more lives in the next five years.

what we have:

 Due to a generous donation of the current building and property, St. Leonard has been providing a multiplicity of services, including a; 

Primary medical clinic, 
Biomedical research laboratory, and a 
Center of education/training for: 
Research specialists and assistants, 
Medical assistants, 
Phlebotomists. nurses.

New Model, New Needs:
As St. Leonard moves from an entirely centralized model to encompass a new decentralized model, new issues emerge along with new needs.  Its initial phase is perhaps the most critical; without meeting these needs, Neyang Health Academy Distance Learning may not be able to become reality.  

Phase I:  Developing the course and obtaining the necessary technology and supports.

Administrative Supports
CEO
Faculty/staff for school
Administration/Accounting/Finance
Information Communication Technology Support person (or agency)

Phase II:  Enhancing health and safety at headquarters.

Facility improvement
As Neyang Health Academy at St. Leonard’s is the epicenter for all organizational undertakings, including onboarding new students and clinical competency evaluations, ensuring the campus’ facilities are adequate to support current and future expansion is critical
Water
Bore-hole/well to supply enough clean water for patients, faculty/administrators and students
NOTE:  St. Leonard is committed to donating part of the property for community access to water from a well/pump

Phase IV: Enhancing research capacities for infectious diseases and increasing global 
                 partnerships and capacity.

Drawing on academic resources
Increased International collaboration, partnerships and collective impact

we have 11 full time workers, 15 part time and 31 volunteers that assist us either online or physically.

We are well positioned  to deliver this solution because we are familiar with  the geographic area, we have good collaboration with the local population which have been participating in our actions, so we have a good understanding  of their culture, believes, and limitations.

Who We Are and How We Started

Dr. Kouemou Sinda Leontine, founded St. Leonard in 2010 to address the growing concerns for the health and wellbeing of patients she encountered as a new healthcare provider in Limbe, Cameroon.  The health needs in Cameroon were so great and the situation seemed to be worsening rather than improving. Dr. Sinda noticed a corresponding increase in the poverty resulting in declining health.  As Njinji points out, “a healthy population is obviously more productive and vice versa” (2012).  

Based on the premise that healthcare is a human right, St. Leonard began the Outpatient Medical Clinic to provide primary healthcare locally, in Limbe, Cameroon.    

As the number of outreach activities to remote communities became more frequent and the scope of the need became more apparent, Humanitarians Without Borders was created to be the remote community outreach branch of St. Leonard.  Humanitarians Without Borders has been a beacon of solace and hope for many rural communities and those displaced during civil conflict, and isolated refugees from neighboring countries by providing medical care and community development initiatives targeting education access, building youth capacity, and promoting gender equality. 

I work with other health rereorganization related partner organizations such  as the Agatha Foundation, Global Medicare Foundation they  are mainly involved  in sensitization on Sexuality transmissible  infections, HIV/AIDS and hepatitis B/C.

We also partner with Human Is Right organization to advocate  for civil rights of underserved, less privileged rural and internationally displaced children and people.

We are working in a win - win situation.

We are a social enterprise, not for profit organization based in sub Saharan Africa precisely in Cameroon. We have been providing sporadic primary  health care with our mobile  health partners  team to remote, underserved, difficult to reach villages which have  been over  crowded with internally displaced people due  to ongoing conflicts in Cameroon. with  the present context of COVID-19 in these resource  limiting settings where there is lack of skilled health workers and where there is an alarming  rate of mother  and child morbidity  and mortality  due to infectious diseases, during pregnancy, delivery, post partum, and age between 0-5 years old. with these social pictures we deemed it necessary to bring a sustainable solution for primary health care to all no matter how far or difficult it is to reach in their community, through the training of more women and young  girls  living in these villages to become nurses and birth attendants through digital e-learning we can have a sustainable inclusive, empowered community with increase in economy where everyone wins.

We are relying most on donations, grants, and fundraising to fund our project since we will provide the training for free, but we will charge registration fees to all trainees for maintainance, payment of bills and volunteers allowances.

we are applying to Solve in order to be associated financially  and materially  to implement our project to cover more people who are desperately  in need. Indeed we believe Solve can health us overcome poverty and gender inequality  through the implementation  of this project.

my partnership goal is to facilitate my skills, knowledge  and understanding, create more visibility  and credibility.

while looking at Solve vision and mission it will be of great help if my organization can partner with them in other for us to grow in potential and credibility.

Because we are also involved with internally displaced in Cameroon due to ongoing crisis, as well as in some refugees camps in Cameroon and South Tchad the Andan Prize will go a long way not only to expand of scope of actions and reach but will include the refugees voices to be heard and for their health problems to be tackled and bring solutions to their existing health related issues, especially HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis.

Women in remote underserved difficult to reach rural communities in Cameroon are voiceless their needs are huge and resources to solve them are extremely limited so Women Prize will greatly help improve our solution through the empowerment of more women and girls in remote communities in Cameroon.

our goal is to train millions of girls as community health workers in Cameroon and  Africa, as such we need financial assistance for our project to be implemented in Cameroon  and gradually in other African  countries.The GM Prize on Learning for Girls and Women will indeed advance our solution.