Trailblazers

Nurses International:

Trailblazers for Nursing Education & Advocacy

By Alina Thomas

Nurses International is making great strides in international nursing relief and striving to bridge the gap that often leads to health care disparities. Developing regions, such as the African Republic of Burundi, have limited capacity and means to educational development.

The need for nursing educators worldwide is continuously growing, and Nurses International is transforming the way nursing educators deliver curriculum around the world. By creating nursing curriculum and educational tools for nursing programs in the developing world, they are training more nursing professionals to set forth and provide skilled assistance and spiritual inspiration to the ill, such as with their pilot project in Burundi.

Technician viewing slides at a Nurse Led Rural Clinic in Burundi

The organization is rooted in faith and centers Christ at the core of its international efforts. They ultimately communicate the message of hope, redemption, and compassion through a network of healthcare professionals who work toward transformational community development.

A friend met near the building site for the hospital

Images via Miriam Chickering, President

Dr. Amy Toone, Member of the Nurses Council

Introducing Our Team:

Dr. Amy Toone,

RN, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC

By Alina Thomas

Dr. Toone [Image via uttyler.edu]

Dr. Amy Toone, RN, PhD, APRN, FNP-BC, serves as a valuable curriculum expert and consultant on Nurses International’s Nursing Council. She provides prime insight on nursing education, as a professor and interim director for the APN programs at the University of Texas at Tyler (UT Tyler), and delivers the following perspective:

"An old African saying is that there are two things that no one can take away from you – education and your culture. Both of these items tell people where you have come from but it is what you do with them that tells the world where you are going. Assisting students on their transformational journey to the next level of nursing is truly a privilege. I look forward to helping nurses transform."

Dr. Toone served as a Family Nurse Practitioner in Tanzania for ten years and later founded the International Nursing Symposium, with both her Western and tropical medicine expertise. In March 2014, Dr. Toone assumed the role of a stateside coordinator at the “Seventh International Symposium in Continuing Nursing Education”, hosted in Limuru, Kenya.

Limuru, Kenya [Image via weather-forecast.com]

Conference delegates included nurses and nurse practitioners working in an international setting, with goals to update and broaden their nursing knowledge through diverse viewpoints.

[Image via nursingsymposium.net]

With thorough international nursing education and mission experience, Dr. Toone has detailed her perspective in academic journals and provides skilled insight to our Nursing Council. Here, she vividly writes about her experience in Burundi and adventures in Tanzania: https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-234930409/kenya. Dr. Toone even translated learning materials into Swahili, providing a range of insight on nursing literacy and the future of international nursing education.

Thank you, Dr. Toone!

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Maureen Goes to Burundi

Nurses International in Burundi:

Maureen's Recent Mission Trip

By Alina Thomas

Toward the end of March, our liaison Maureen Lee traveled to Burundi with the objective to help interview twenty prospective students for our pilot project, Great Lakes International School of Nursing - Burundi (GLISN - Burundi). Her journey spanned 48 hours and several connecting flights. One of the biggest things that stood out to Maureen on this trip was the cultural warmth of her Burundian friends which provided such a stark contrast to the country's ongoing political turmoil. 

With referrals from local pastors and communication assistance from Partners Trust International's Dr. Isaac Mbabazi, Nurses International began to identify students who can ultimately become skilled healthcare providers, leaders and change agents in their communities. Students will receive education in healthcare, Biblical studies (through PTI), and community development. In interviewing prospective students, Maureen posed a critical question: When you go back to your villages/communities, what can you do for others? Maureen also worked closely with the organization Hope4Burundi, which provides sewing classes for Burundi's widows and orphans. 

Prospective GLISN–Burundi students

Maureen & Home Care-Burundi’s “Mama Peace”

In the second week of April, Maureen returned to the U.S. Despite facing challenges arising from Burundi's political climate, the students are hopeful that the project will begin soon. Maureen mentions it is encouraging to witness their persistence and continuous efforts.

Maureen identifies preaching and healing as the themes of her latest trip, as well as previous mission trips. As Luke 10:25-37 tells the parable of the Good Samaritan and Acts 3 exemplifies Apostle Peter's mission to heal, Maureen ultimately sets out to share the Gospel while meeting the needs of the less fortunate with her nursing expertise.  

Thank you, Maureen!

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Major Strides

Major Strides

Nurses International has made major strides in the past few months, particularly with fundraising efforts toward our pilot project in the Republic of Burundi. Here are some updates on our progress.

In March, we began raising funds for the formation of our nursing program in Burundi (GLISN – Burundi), with the mission to skillfully train nurses to set forth in their communities and center Christ at the core of their patient-provider relationships, despite physical challenges. The following is a breakdown of program-related fees:

Item	Cost
Stethoscope & blood pressure cuff	$35
Textbook	$25
Lab coat	$25
Transportation to clinical site (1 week)	$15
Dell laptop	$250
Housing (1 month)	$150
Shipping to Burundi (container of supplies for nursing skills lab & textbooks)	$20,000

We encourage you to donate, as each and every monthly contribution aids Burundi’s nursing students, their families, and their rural community: 

https://nursesinternational.nationbuilder.com/donate. We also welcome your positive thoughts and prayers.

What our Nurses International supports with your donation

Moreover, we released a t-shirt with a newly designed logo: https://www.bonfirefunds.com/nurses-international. Through your donations toward our organization’s shirts, we were able to raise $550 in 21 days! 

Our nursing students will have access to peer reviewed online journals through PTI’s partnership with Research4Life. You can learn more about their program here: http://www.who.int/hinari/en/

Potential students for GLISN-Burundi

In June, we received a $500 donation of promotional materials from 4imprint and the One by One donation program! At the beginning of July, we were pleased to welcome three new faculty members to our team.

“With our nursing faculty almost complete, we are able to continue to move toward implementing our Curriculum and Technology Pilot. We have three active nursing programs who have expressed interest in using our content. Thorough testing of our curriculum and technology will allow us to focus on relationship building when we move into our Program and Community Development Pilot. This will allow us to be even more prepared when we are able to continue work with PTI in Burundi.”

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to contact Nurses International President, Miriam Chickering: miriamchickering@nursesinternational.org.

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

-John 15:12

Introducing our Team

Maureen Lee has been involved in international medical missions since 2010, having served as a nurse in Vietnam, Nepal, Ethiopia, Jordan, and Burundi. In November of 2013, she accompanied Miriam Chickering (President of Nurses International) on a vision trip to Burundi. Since the founding of Nurses International, she has been a key asset to the organization. Maureen’s overall courage and passion for ministry are vivid hallmarks of her service.

In regards to her commitment to help suffering communities, Maureen shared, “My husband passed away early in our marriage due to a tragic accident. Then, my best friend died after contracting AIDS from a medical procedure. When I’m able to share a little of my story with the people I meet while doing my international work, I think it’s very surprising to them. They don’t think of a health care worker from the West as someone with a story that is perhaps, in some ways, similar to their own. When I share my story with someone, they express sorrow for my pain. When I receive that from them, then I can share their pain in a very different way. It puts us on the same level, and that’s when meaningful communication takes place.”

On her first trip to Burundi, Maureen shared her story with a group of widows at a location known as Home Care. In return, ladies from the group shared their stories and experienced a sense of unity. This past March, Maureen prepared for a second journey to Burundi, to serve as a Nurses International representative on the student selection committee for our pilot project in Burundi: Great Lakes International School of Nursing – Burundi (GLISN- Burundi).

Near her hometown, Maureen has helped begin a volunteer clinic for the needy. In addition, she participates in a nursing home ministry with her friends from Texas’ Graceview Baptist Church.

Please share this post so others can learn about and perhaps join our Nurses International community.

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