“Good evening team, I would to express my sincere gratitude to all of you. Your dedication and commitment to the program will always be cherished. We learned a lot in the past 2 days. The knowledge and skills you have impacted in each and every one of us will go a long way in the reduction of neonatal deaths here at Murambinda . May the Mighty Lord bless you and your families. I wish you a safe travel.” Matron

45 healthcare staff have been trained on the Neonatal Care Course and 12-15 people were identified as having instructor potential. We were incredibly well looked after in Murambinda and none of us wanted to leave! All team members are now safely back in our respective countries (Uganda, UK and Cameroon) and hoping to be part of the instructor training faculty who returns to Zimbabwe later this year or early in 2027.

We’ve had another good day today – very keen learners including some senior nurses and midwives from the hospital and nurse tutors from the on site nursing training school. We were shown around the hospital afterwards and were delighted to see the space being set up as a neonatal unit in the maternity department. And, of course, the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) facility with a very happy new mother and baby snuggled up under a blanket together.

We always invite people to come early on Day 2 of the Neonatal Care Course to practice their bag-valve-mask skills. We weren’t necessarily expecting all of them! They are a very keen group.

Course number 2 starts tomorrow here in Murambinda, Zimbabwe.

It is an appropriate day to say that nurses from 4 different countries are together teaching and learning on a Neonatal Care Course in Zimbabwe run by NICHE International.

In many countries, nurses with extended skills are critical in caring for newborn babies.   They are sometimes working in places where there are no doctors with specialist skills, so their ability to manage vulnerable neonates is invaluable.  They also help to train colleagues to improve the standards of care in neonatal units.

Elizabeth, who comes from Uganda, is one of the NICHE trainers currently in the Queen of Peace Mission Hospital, Murambinda running Neonatal Care Courses. 

At home in Uganda, Elizabeth is head of paediatric nursing at the Bwindi Community Hospital in South -West Uganda.

The Kampala International University Surgical Society photographed Elizabeth with a sick baby when they visited Bwindi,  and have published the photo to mark International Nurse’s day.

“Joining the NICHE Team to Zimbabwe this time was one of the most exciting moments in my life. Knowing how much the knowledge from NCC has saved lives of our babies in Cameroon gives me the zeal to be part of the team to teach NCC in New communities. My desire is that all Sub Saharan African (SSA) countries should receive this basic knowledge of NCC before 2030 so that we in SSA countries can be able to meet the Sustainable Development Goal of reducing the neonatal mortality to 12/1000 live births.”

Elizabeth and Grace are particularly good at their “ice breakers”, little activities to break up a run of lectures and keep people awake. Here is this morning’s:

Men have to sit down if the word begins with “M” and women have to sit down if it begins with “F” (for female). Amazing how difficult it is to remember if one is a man or a woman!

Day 1 was a great success overall. The learners were very well engaged and seemed to enjoy the day. There was much discussion in the workshops about how to best support mothers and babies here in Murambinda.

We’re ready for the off. We are expecting 24 learners – nurses, midwives and doctors – on the course starting tomorrow and 24 more for course 2. It’s a privilege to be here and we are looking forward to sharing our skills this week.

We’ve spent the day today going through the whole course and making sure we have all the equipment in order. We are being very well looked after at the hospital’s guesthouse. After dinner this evening, Grace was going over her lectures and Alison – what is Alison doing?

A multi national faculty from Cameroon, UK and Uganda has arrived at Murambinda Queen of Peace Mission Hospital ready to teach two Neonatal Care Courses and identify 12 suitable people to train as instructors later in the year.

Queen of Peace Murambinda Mission Hospital (QPMMH) was founded and established in 1968 by the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary (LCM), under the auspices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harare. The hospital operates under the Ministry of Health and Child Care as a state-aided church-related institution. It is the acting government district hospital for Buhera District, and has 125 beds and around 86 staff.