Africa University dedicates health sciences building

Dec. 6, 2004    

By Andra Stevens*

A UMNS photo by Andra Stevens James Holsinger Jr. attended the dedication as guest of honor.

Ceremonies began with a worship service in the Kwang Lim Chapel, featuring the Rev. Randy Day, chief executive of the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries, as the guest preacher. Day’s sermon drew on current affairs reporting on Africa to set the tone for the day and focus attention on leadership as the key to Africa’s renewal.

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) supported construction of the building with a grant of $1 million from its American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program.

Speaking at the dedication ceremony, Christopher Dell, U. S. Ambassador to Zimbabwe, noted that, as evidenced by the many Americans present, USAID’s ongoing support for Africa University must be seen as an expression of the will and selflessness of the American people.

In his remarks, Dell challenged the students to remember “…that it is not just about what goes on in this pile of bricks and mortar. It’s not just about what your teachers teach you out of textbooks. There is another spirit at work here too and it’s the people of the United States—who not out of interest in anything for themselves except doing good, that have made possible this education and who are sharing with you this dream about the future, a better future for Africa.” 

 The $1.8 million Faculty of Health Sciences facility is the fourth building on the campus of the United Methodist-related university in Zimbabwe, to be constructed with funds from USAID. It houses a health sciences library collection and laboratories for teaching as well as research on HIV/AIDS and malaria. Seminar rooms, lecture theaters, offices and a cold room make up the rest of the building. 

A UMNS photo by Andra Stevens Bishop Nkulu Ntanda Ntambo (left) and Christopher Dell at the dedication of Africa University's Faculty of Health Sciences.

Holsinger, the former chancellor of the Chandler Medical Center at the University of Kentucky and now serving as Secretary for Health for the Commonwealth of Kentucky, attended the dedication as the guest of honor. He led the feasibility study team that recommended priorities and a plan for the health sciences faculty to the board of directors of Africa University in 2000.

In his address, Holsinger highlighted three key qualities of transformational leadership as he urged the students to view themselves as people of influence, able to demonstrate commitment and caring and to inspire and involve others in changing their organizations and nations.

He noted that the faculty’s reason for being was to develop health leadership for the continent. Placing a high priority of disciplines such as nursing, public health and environmental health, he said, enables the school to have a more immediate and positive impact on the people of Africa.

The faculty’s pioneer class is made up of 10 students. Three are from the Democratic Republic of Congo and the rest from Zimbabwe. The group began training in nursing and public health earlier this year.

Eight of the 10, mainly registered practicing nurses and midwives with at least two years of professional working experience, are undertaking a post-basic bachelor of science in nursing. All of these students have nursing and midwifery diplomas and are upgrading their professional knowledge and attempting to advance academically. The two remaining students are enrolled in the post-graduate diploma program in public health that was launched in September.

“The students that are currently enrolled are just marvelous,” said Norris, former associate professor of nursing at the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University, Atlanta and Dillard University, New Orleans. “They have caught the vision, they have caught the spirit and the philosophy that the team developed for the faculty and it will be their voices that will help increase enrollment and tell the story to others about the goals of Africa University’s Faculty of Health Sciences.”

That conviction was echoed in the statement of appreciation from one of the students, Kasombo Tshiani from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “Our hope and prayer is that Africa University and its Faculty of Health Sciences will make a big contribution by training medical and allied health personnel for many African countries who will be the cornerstone of building a dynamic health care delivery system and the key to solving health-related problems in Africa and in the rest of the world,” he said.

The new building is a major boost to pan-African efforts to train badly needed medical and allied health professionals. It is also helping to kick-start the teaching, research and outreach work of a very young but critical faculty at Africa University.

The faculty is already managing two important outreach projects that target young people with HIV/AIDS awareness training and supports orphans and vulnerable children. As it develops, the faculty plans to launch a bachelor’s degree in health sciences and to begin offering training in health informatics, biostatistics and social medicine.

The Faculty of Health Sciences is the sixth of seven faculties slated for development on Africa University’s master plan. The university already offers undergraduate and post-graduate programs in agriculture and natural resources, education, humanities and social sciences, management and administration, and theology.

Also offered are post-graduate diplomas and master’s degrees through the Institute of Peace, Leadership and Governance. USAID has already approved a grant of $1.8 million for a building for the Institute. Construction is expected to begin in January 2005.

Africa University is the only United Methodist-related university on the continent. It opened in 1992 and currently has a total enrolment of 1,283 students from 21 African countries. The university has been supported by United Methodist churches through an apportioned fund of US$10 million every four years since 1988 as well as designated gifts.

It has also received significant support for academic, capital, outreach and service projects from a number of organizations including the Kellogg and Rockefeller Foundations and the United Nations Development Program.

*Stevens is director of information and public affairs at Africa University.

News media contact: Kathy L. Gilbert, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Suggested Articles Africa University officials stress school’s independence Church officials see no evidence of land grabs in Zimbabwe Three-way partnership aims to improve health care in Africa University to use distance education in health department

Suggested Resources USAID allAfrica.com General Board of Higher Education Africa University