Liberian nursing school struggles to recover
Nursing students study outdoors at the United Methodist-related Winifred
J. Harley School of Nursing in Ganta, Liberia. UMNS photos by Sue
Porter.
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A UMNS Report
By Linda Bloom
April 2, 2007
Students receive classroom instruction as the nursing school struggles to recover from the effects of Liberia’s civil war.
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For many years, United Methodist-trained nurses staffed Liberia’s clinics, hospitals and even the Ministry of Health.
But the long-running civil war in that West African nation destroyed the nursing school’s facilities and crippled its program.
Now returned to its original location in Ganta, the school is
struggling to recover, along with the rest of Liberia, according to
Cherian Thomas, an executive with the United Methodist Board of Global
Ministries.
"It is a priority for us to strengthen that school of nursing," he
said. "The number of nurses in Liberia is so small. Investing in nursing
education is one of the best things our church can do."
United Methodist missionary Sue Porter, a full-time instructor at the
school, says it is a pivotal time for the 56-year-old institution.
"Right now, the Winifred J. Harley School of Nursing is going through
some difficult challenges, but it has a wonderful history that makes
those involved want to see it back to its former grandeur and
reputation," she said.
A legacy of mission work
The school, begun in 1951 with students who had an eighth-grade
education, is named after Winifred Harley, who with her husband, George,
served as Methodist missionaries for 35 years at the denomination’s
Ganta mission. They built the hospital, church, school and several other
facilities.
In 1963, the school was recognized by the Liberian Nursing School
Accrediting Board and graduated its first class of diploma-certified
nurses. In 2001, the Winifred J. Harley College of Health Science was
incorporated into United Methodist University as its second college. The
college now offers a three-year associate of arts degree in nursing.
The prolonged civil war led the school of nursing to move in 2001 to
Monrovia, Liberia’s capital. But by the end of 2009, United Methodist
University is expected to relocate to Ganta from its current location at
the College of West Africa in Monrovia.
That relocation process began when the nursing school opened its
current academic year at its original home in Ganta. Located in Nimba
County, the town is 167 miles northeast of Monrovia, on the border of
Guinea and near the border of Cote d’Ivoire.
Many of the faculty, however, did not want to move back to the
"bush," Porter reported. Currently, she and the acting dean are the only
full-time instructors, although a third instructor was expected to
arrive this spring to become the clinical supervisor. The United
Methodist Church in Norway has provided a grant to allow the acting dean
to obtain a master’s degree in nursing.
"Our other faculty are some of the doctors and nurses of the Ganta
United Methodist Hospital who are graciously teaching in addition to
their already heavy workloads," she added.
Another problem is that too many students were admitted while the
nursing program was based in Monrovia. Although maximum capacity is 80
students, 100 have been registered. "We are trying to accommodate as
many students as we can, but the classes are too large, dormitories are
overcrowded and it is a challenge to find them clinical sites where they
can practice the theory," she explained.
Rebuilding after wars
Porter, whose previous missionary assignment was in Central Asia, has
had experience with reconstruction after long periods of war, which
usually means relying on aid from the international community.
"The poor are very much on the periphery of everything with a large
disparity between the rich and the poor," she said. "Some people have
cell phones and other electronics, but then there are extended families
jammed together in burned or bombed-out houses."
"Right now, the Winifred J. Harley School
of Nursing is going through some difficult challenges, but it has a
wonderful history that makes those involved want to see it back to its
former grandeur and reputation."
–Sue Porter
In rural areas with no electricity or water systems, life is even
more difficult. Liberian houses are made of mud bricks or palm leafs
with tin or palm leaf roofs. To generate income, people do subsistence
farming or manual labor or operate simple shops.
At the nursing school, Porter’s goal is to place more Liberian nurses
on the full-time faculty. But she’s also interested in nurses from
other countries volunteering to teach for a few weeks or even a
semester.
Other immediate needs include materials, especially anatomy models
for the demonstration lab; office supplies including filing cabinets;
and renovation of the student dorms.
Although Operation Classroom has provided a well-stocked library, the
ideal setup would be to have 25 copies of each book so students can
"rent" a book for a particular class, according to Porter.
Donations for the nursing school can be made to the Hospital Revitalization Program No. 982168, an Advance project.
Checks, payable to the local church, should include the Advance code
number on the check and can be dropped in church offering plates. Checks
payable to Advance GCFA also can be mailed directly to Advance GCFA,
P.O. Box 9068, GPO, New York, NY 10087-9068.
Credit card donations can be made by calling (888) 252-6174 or online at http://new.gbgm-umc.org/about/advance, the Advance Web site.
*Bloom is a United Methodist News Service news writer based in New York.
News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Resources
The Advance
UMCOR: Ganta
Operation Classroom |