April 22, 2014

At the heart of the College’s core values is local and international civic engagement. Donna Sabella, an assistant clinical professor at the College of Nursing and Health Professions, embodied that core value recently when she travelled to Uganda to provide maternal and child healthcare education to locals for two weeks. The trip was made possible with funding assistance from the Rotary Clubs in Bluebell, Pennsylvania, and Kampala, Uganda. This assistance has paved the way for a potential a long-term partnership between American and Ugandan healthcare teams.

Along with her colleagues from Drexel University, Sabella visited Namalemba Health Centre II, Namungalwe Health Centre III, Kasangati Health Center IV, and Komamboga Health Center III. During their time, Sabella’s team offered education on women’s health, pregnancy, gynecological disorders, and children’s healthcare. The purpose was to enhance educational awareness specifically in the areas of maternal and children’s healthcare.  

One of her group’s main goals was to overcome the lack of proper health information records. The team, comprised of Sabella, Yanick Vibert, Gregg Alleyne, Betsy Batejan, Laneice Coleman, Michelle Rogers, Owen Montgomery, Deborah Turner,and Ron Smith, set out to provide vocational training, open access to Ugandan library resources, and the expansion of mobile devices for health information in an attempt to overcome some of these disparities. The use of new technologies has the potential to increase awareness about these issues.

“I admire the people of Uganda and how they take great effort to address people's healthcare needs, even under difficult conditions and few resources at times. I hope to expand our collaboration with healthcare providers there and eventually open up the experience to College of Nursing and Health Professions students,” said Sabella.