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The Inspirational Educator Rosemary Okello, Principal, The Good Samaritan School of Nursing and Midwifery, Uganda

Rosemary Okello was born into a family of medical practitioners. Her grandfather and father were Clinical Officers, while her grandmother was a midwife. “I love nursing. It is in our blood,” she says.

In her quest to live out the family legacy, Rosemary set out to get a diploma in nursing and later acquired another in community health. During her nursing practice, she acquired a passion for teaching. She then trained as a tutor, and when her husband passed away she left nursing in pursuit of a full-time teaching job. She found the ideal teaching job in South Sudan. It gave her satisfaction and purpose.

Despite her contentment with her new career, Rosemary was bothered by the paucity of training schools in Lira, her hometown in Northern Uganda. In 2009, she packed her bags, made her way back home and started the Good Samaritan School of Nursing and Midwifery. It was the first private training school in the area. “I started with 20 students, then 35, then 53. Today, we have as many as 300 registering annually.”

Two years later, a friend who had graduated from the Aga Khan University challenged her to go back to school and acquire more knowledge. Madam Principal was not quite sure how this would work, given that she was then in charge of 50 students. Moreover, the 540km she had to cover weekly to get to the suggested institution – AKU Kampala – was daunting. It all seemed like such a hassle, but her drive would not let her rest. She set her ducks in a row, delegating certain roles, then enroled for a BScN.

It is one of the best decisions she has ever made: “I am very proud to have been a part of AKU. I always tell people AKU made me who I am.”

While the courses greatly expanded her scope of knowledge, Rosemary believes that it is the skills and lessons she picked up indirectly that have had the greatest impact on her as a manager: “We had to work hard to hand in our assignments on time. My time management skills improved tremendously given that I also had a school to run.”

Rosemary acknowledges the impact learning about the nursing process has had on designing Good Samaritan’s curriculum: “A holistic approach of giving care is what I am now imparting to my students. AKU made me realize that you have to look at the whole person throughout the nursing process.”

In Rosemary’s office hangs a portrait of her smiling widely, resplendent in her green and white AKU graduation gown. Her shelf is full of books. “One day, out of the blue, the Principal called and asked me to go see him at the University. I sent my daughter, who was in the capital, because it seemed more convenient. She was given a ton of books; she could barely carry them herself. I wondered what I had done to deserve the kindness I had received. Those books are the ones my tutors and I now use as references.”

Rosemary’s dreams are sky high. More important, she strives to make them a reality. By mid-December 2017, the foundation stone had been laid for the third level of a hospital she is putting up in Lira Town. The problem-solving educationist believes she will be killing two birds with one stone once the project is completed: “My students go for their internships in places as far as Kitgum, which is about 114km north of Lira. The population here is growing. The referral hospitals can get congested at times. I believe I can give my people quality services while ensuring my students get training closer to home.”

Nurses and Midwives - Leaders in Healthcare in East Africa story series reflect the depth and diversity of the nursing and midwifery profession in East Africa. 

Finding, capturing and documenting these stories was a collective effort of many individuals and institutions. At the very beginning were the investments made by the Johnson & Johnson Corporate Citizenship Trust, the Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), the Lund Family and Rotary International that brought the nursing and midwifery training programme to life.

These partners provided scholarships, support for programme development and faculty investments that were pivotal in enabling the Aga Khan University School of Nursing and Midwifery (AKU-SONAM) to recruit a diverse set of students and build innovative, pragmatic academic programmes.

We hope that these stories will continue to inspire, challenge and show the power of nurses and midwives for years to come.

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