To foster enthusiasm in youth who come from impoverished environments to enter the nursing profession requires exposure to performing service for family and friends at an early age. Sulu Province in the southern Muslim Mindanao area of the Philippines is such a place. Dire poverty, armed conflict, classrooms without books or chairs and lack of quality public health facilities has led to Sulu to be considered as one of the most impoverished regions of the world by the United Nations. Any hope of a higher education seems out of the realm of possibility for most children. With less than 20 doctors for some 1 million residents of the province, nurses are often the lead health care providers. In 2016, Asia America Initiative made a commitment to provide scholarships, books and other learning materials to support 50 Muslim girls in Sulu to achieve a nursing degree and license to practice the healing profession. In the past 3 years, we have surpassed that goal by supporting more than 200 nurses to become registered nurses and midwives and revitalized degree programs at both Sulu State College and Mindanao State University.
"The contribution of hundreds of textbooks and other learning materials has been a great help to our instructors and students," states Dr. Annisa, Dean of the Graduate School at Mindanao State University. "In addition, test scores have dramatically improved."
The Rainy Season of 2019 in the Philippines has fostered an epidemic of deadly dengue fever across the Philippines. Helping to stop the spread of this deadly mosquito-borne disease has involved elementary student nurses, especially in the southern province of Sulu. The little nurses are inspired to make nursing their career by the pride they feel in fighting the epidemic conditions through cleaning stagnant water and debris piles where mosquitoes breed. The confidence level of the little nurses in each school is raised when they know they are helping to protect their friends from the deadly dengue virus. They feel the appreciation and love from those children’s parents, their own, their teachers and school nurses. These real life experiences are the impetus the students need to seek higher education as qualified nurses.
Asia America Initiative supports the Nursing program with funding support by Global Giving donors.
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UPCOMING EVENT
On Thursday July 18, Global Giving is offering a Bonus Day which will match your donation at the $100 level or above. If you are interested in providing a smaller monthly contribution for these young nurses, Global Giving is offering a match at 100% ! Just select "monthly" when making your contribution. Thank you !
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