Said Mussa Ali’s warm voice and heartfelt laughter is his signature. His empathetic demeanour draws in his patients, both young and old as they engage with his kindly eyes. As he walks through his new posting at the Primary Health Care Unit (PHCU) facility interacting with patients, one can see he is at ease.
His path into nursing can be traced back to the circumstances of the village he grew up in, which left a profound imprint on him. “There was such a shortage of healthcare providers in the village I come from, so much so, that the gap challenged me to join the profession.”
Said underwent his diploma training with Aga Khan University in 2012. Shortly thereafter, he was deployed to a health facility at Kojani PHCU Plus, where his approach to his duties changed dramatically. The island had a sizeable facility yet they were seeing very few patients. With his new-found view on community engagement, Said decided to seek out patients instead of waiting for them to come to the facility.
“As colleagues we started to ask ourselves what we can do differently.” The outreach programme soon resulted in the formation of a health committee and regular visits to all villages. Mosques in the area became the first port of call as the team traversed the island. Several houses of faith hosted the village meetings, lending credibility to the health team and their message.
“We started sensitising people about the advantages of coming to deliver in the health facility, as well as the dangers of home delivery.” One of the enticements that the team used to increase uptake was free birth certificates. By law, babies delivered in a facility receive a free birth certificate, while those delivered at home have to pay for one on registration. Advertising the simple provision was a huge incentive to parents and numbers of facility-based births shot up dramatically.
“Patient numbers increased tenfold. But what makes me happy is that even after I left that facility, the positive numbers have been maintained. The critical thinking approach really made a difference.”
Said reflects on his time as a nurse in the context of his new position as the senior health worker of a small rural facility. “I am the In-Charge so all the responsibilities of the facility fall to me. If the General Nurse, who is my assistant, is not around, I will provide the vaccinations. If those whom I supervise are responsible for generating a report, I have to make sure they accomplish that.”
For Said, hierarchy doesn’t absolve him from action. Instead he chooses to lead actively, rolling up his sleeves by example and making sure that the needs of patients are met. He’s proactively leading from the front, in ways both big and small.
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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