Category Archives: Health Education

Rose Charities people….. ANDREW MACNAB (Canada)

Brighter Smiles Group. Unsurpassed understanding. Unparalleled friend to Uganda.

Prof. Andrew Macnab (Brighter Smiles ) and Ms Joanna Thompson (Rose Rehab Australia) receiving the prestigious Charity Rose Awards for outstanding charitable service to their fellow women, children and men.
Andrew in Uganda 1960s

Andrew first went to Uganda 60 years ago (image) and has returned an almost uncountable number of times since. As a paediatrician, Andrew has over half a lifetime been able to improve child health in Uganda by employing school-based health promotion. a concept that he originally developed in collaboration with Canada’s First Nations for their school system. The model seeks to creatively engage school children and their teachers to enable each child to acquire knowledge and practical life-skills that benefit their long term health. It is an approach now endorsed globally by WHO.

Tooth examination for a Ugandan child

Andrew’s approach met its first success in the dramatic improvement of oral health among Ugandan children. Andrew points out that .. It is notable that number one reason a child in Canada requires a general anesthetic, with all its risks, needs for specialized staff and equipment and its fear for a child, is for badly decayed teeth !.

Andrew, a Consultant at UBC both in Pediatrics and Urology founded his ‘Brighter Smiles’ organization to promote and implement his programs from a Canadian base and in the early 2000’s merged it as a member program of Rose Charities (bringing a huge panoply of experience, innovation and scope to the latter) and remains one of the most distinguished, internationally focused members of the Rose family

Health Promoting Schooling Uganda. Andrew Macnab’s and Brighter Smiles great success.. !

Andrews Africa programs (both Uganda and elsewhere) are, significantly, collaborations with local communities. Oral health (as mentioned above) led on to nutrition. Andrew promoted school health-nutrition plants plots and now many Ugandan schools now plant gardens and use the produce to benefit malnourished pupils through lunch programs. Malnutrition weakens children’s resistance to common infections and restricts their ability to learn. Andrew points out how much anemia and delayed reading age are remediable by the addition of vitamin A and iron to children’s diets, which in Uganda were regularly deficient in such. Researching this, his teams found that the innovation of combined planting in school gardens of a new, vitamin A and iron rich yellow sweet potato rootstock with the maize and beans traditionally grown was a highly effective solution.

Malaria in Schools program. One of Andrews major successes to date has been his malaria in school alleviation program. Seeing the problem of endemic malaria as much as an education as a health problem (days missed with stress on child and family superimposed on the danger of the illness) Andrew introduced highly monitored and personally researched program of early diagnosis and treatment, actually carried out by teachers, specifically trained to do so.

Andrew writes.. ‘The solution offered, although simple, was novel at the time. Supported by the Hillman fund (another Rose Charities member group) , our teams taught teachers how to ‘test and treat’ malaria by using a rapid screening test on a drop of blood and artemisinin combination therapy. This safely makes available WHO advocated tools to fight malaria available in rural areas with limited or no access to clinics. A two year evaluation documenting the change in duration of absence from school due to malaria has shown that this school-based approach significantly reduces morbidity – the prevalence of disease in the school area. . Pre-intervention, children used to miss an average of 6.5 school days with each bout of infection, but this has fallen to less than 1 day where teachers are able to screen all the children found to be sick at school (photo 3), and promptly treat those testing positive.’

The extent of Andrews charitable achievements considerably go beyond those above and include urological assistance to rural Uganda seniors (and in Canada, technological invention), promotion of anti-violence-on-women. ( an ongoing campaign has seen a partnership with one of Uganda’s leading popular song studios with their star performers in the development of a song ‘Tekawo Enjawulo’ – We can make it better). Andrew is constantly researching data to find novel or unrecognized ways to improve the wellbeing of communities and the women, men and children who constitute them.

Andrew Macnab, is a truly outstanding member of the Rose Charities ‘family’ who devotes vast experience, academic and practical ability for the benefit of others and has, and continues to both save and improve the lives of tens of thousands, directly and by linkage, to millions. He makes the world a better place

Eye dispenser training for rural Nepal

Sight is one of the most vital aspects to the life of any individual both directly for themselves as well as for their families and communities. Often even simple health and screening measures can prevent, stay or even reverse many degrees of blindness.

Ms Yamuna Ghimire (Demlitar Community)

Rose Charities often supports its impressive partner VTN (Vision Together Nepal) founded by Optometrist, Mr Sakar Subedi. This NGO specializes in travelling to extremely remote villages in hard-to-access areas of Nepal to screen for disease, treat if possible or at a minimum, facilitate transport to a surgical eye center if more complicated procedures are needed. In addition a refraction service can assist in obtaining glasses for a needy patient.

At a recent eye camp in Demilitar Rural Municipality, assistance was given to an excellent local initiative to establish a simple Eye Centre. Trained staff were needed so VTN supported by Rose Charities facilitated training for two village members to be assistants. Ms Yumuna Ghimire (Demlitar Community) and Mr Roshan Dahal (Sindhuli Community) were sponsored to undertake basic optical dispenser training courses.

Further eye center initiatives are planned in rural Nepal for the near future

Mr Roshan Dahal (Sindhuli Comminity)

Safe Motherhood Guatemala update Jan 2022

The Guatemalan Safe Motherhood Project continues to make progress, in spite of the pandemic. We in Canada have been in bimonthly contact via Zoom with our Guatemalan teammates. Because of travel restrictions, teaching in other communities has been replaced with a new clinic, providing prenatal care to local pregnant women and holding prenatal discussion groups, as well as addressing topics beyond pregnancy and birth, including breastfeeding, alcohol and other substance use disorders, domestic violence, nutrition, and supporting teen mothers.

Here in Canada we’ve been having a meeting every 5-6 weeks with a primary focus on trying to find corporate sponsors as well as granting foundations. Our long-term goal is to expand our training courses with more teams. We hope to be able to travel to Guatemala once again in the fall of 2022. Our team will be able to train a number of further trainers to bring our hands-on course to many more remote areas, so as to make a larger impact in fewer years. The need remains huge and more trained teams are needed in order to impact the lives of so many marginalized, poverty-stricken families (primarily indigenous) in Guatemala. With persistence, further funding will allow this.

More including donation window

Covid Emergency Nepal: masks for the community

Rose Charities Canada has sent funds for the Rose Nepal Programs Group under Ms Sarala Adhikari to urgently supply around 3000 medical masks, primarily for people in the Pharping area with a focus on kids. While the protective benefits of mask wearing have become well appreciated in the area, simple lack of having them has been impeding their usage. Great work Nepal Group !

The Freedom of No Malaria!

Since 2916 Dr Andrew Macnab’s (Rose Charities Canada / Rose Uganda Support Group) amazing schools based malaria abatement program in Uganda has been delivering outstanding results. The highly endemic disease accounts for thousands of missing days of education in a young population desperate to attain the maximum benefit from school attendance. Teachers are trained to recognize early symptoms and then confirm them with a simple and relatively cheap kit test. Artemsia based drugs (as approved by the WHO ) can be then started immediately in situ, and, being quick acting, take effect early to reduce the childs convalescent absence period from days to possibly only hours. (https://academic.oup.com/ije/article/45/6/1759/2670325 )

Children, teachers, parents all love the program and its success has been attested to now for the last 5 years. A huge success for Uganda, Rose teams but above everything the kids and their families !

dr. Elizabeth ‘liz’ Hillman (C.m.) passes on…… Rose Charities mourns

The late Dr’s Don and Elizabeth Hillman – mentors to the world..

We are sad to announce the passing on of Dr. Elizabeth ‘Liz’ Hillman, pivotal figure in the Rose Charities Canada and the whole Rose Charities Family. Liz both contributed in expertise and/or initiated multiple Rose Charities programs (under her special ‘Hillman Fund’ division) both in Africa and Asia. She was always one of Rose Charities topmost mentors and advisors.

Dr Elizabeth Hillman grew up in Northern Ontario with no roads, schools, or healthcare. She and her family lived in a retired railway car that was converted into a schoolhouse; the schoolhouse traveled to a different town each week, where her parents would teach the children of local workers. Dr Hillman went on to graduate from medical school at the University of Western Ontario (UWO) in 1951. She then completed postgraduate training in pediatrics from five different schools in three countries.

For 20 years, Dr Hillman was Director of Ambulatory Pediatrics including Emergency, Management of Child Abuse, and the Poison Control Centre at Montreal Children’s Hospital. For four years, she served in Kenya with a McGill-Kenya CIDA-funded project to develop a pediatric program at the University of Nairobi, alongside her husband, Dr Donald Hillman, and their five children. She and her husband worked as global medical consultants in several Asian and African countries.

Dr Hillman was the first female president of the Medical Council of Canada and both she and her husband led active roles in the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics. They were both awarded the Order of Canada (C.M.) in 1994 for their commitment to international child health. She was also chair of the Board of the Elisabeth Bruyère Research Institute at the University of Ottawa from 2005 to 2008. In honour of her late husband, Dr Hillman established the Hillman Medical Education Fund which ran as a special division of Rose Charities Canada (and International) to support health education and to foster future leaders in medicine, particularly in East Africa. It did however extend considerably further contributing to Rose Charities initiatives both in Asia as well as Africa.

Liz’s passing on is a great loss to the world. Her life was however full, vibrant and focused, contributing hugely to diffusing education and health care to many who have benefited from it and have themselves then spread it on to others. In this way her influence, and charity have brought wonderful lives to many who otherwise would have remained within the poverty trap.

To Rose Charities, Liz was one of the finest sources of expertise and advice possible and the organization was truly lucky to count her has a mentor. While Africa was her main focus, her experience and advice extended also to S.E. Asia, particularly Indo China which has been one of the main foci of Rose Charities activities for its 22 year existence.

Dr Elizabeth Hillman. The whole of Rose Charities salutes you, lauds and acclaims you, and now, mourns you. We will not forget you and extend all condolences to your family.

Menstrual Care Kits for Uganda

Many girls across the world are unable to attend school when they have their periods as they have no access to affordable menstrual care. Days for Girls is a US non-profit that has developed reusable kits that solve this problem. Their aim is to develop sustainable solutions that remove limitations for women and girls. Thanks to a partnership between Rose Charities and Disaster Aid Canada( a distributor for Days for Girls) 50  menstruation kits were sent from Vancouver to two of Rose’s projects in Uganda – Stand Tall School and Smiles Scholarship program. The kits had quite the journey! Made by volunteers on Vancouver Island, they were brought to Vancouver on the ferry, then transported in a hockey bag to Kampala where they were delivered to the girls.Along with some education about menstrual hygiene these kits will enable the young women to attend school without interruption each month. This is such a basic need for young women – access to products that allow them to continue with their lives whatever time of the month.

Maggie Francis (Chair Rose Charities Canada)

Rose Haiti Healthcare trains neonatal resuscitation at Albert Schweitzer Hopital Haiti

Hopital Albert Schweitzer Haiti

Last week, a team of 3 Canadian health professionals from Rose Haiti Healthcare Education conducted a training on #neonatal resuscitation with 31 members of our staff. They did an initial training with 3 senior nurses and 3 pediatricians, who then assisted with training through the week. These 6 HAS employees will train the remainder of the staff

and run practice scenarios every 1-2 months to maintain their competency. We are grateful for the knowledge and skills Rose Haiti Healthcare Education shared with our team! Our nurses and physicians are better equipped to save the lives of our tiniest patients.

Safe Motherhood Guatemala, continued success and expansion in 2017

2017 marked the 15th year of the Safe Motherhood Project in Guatemala.  To recap, the Safe Motherhood Project is an educational project to train traditional Mayan Midwifes (Comadronas) in safe birthing techniques and emergency skills in caring for women who have their babies at home.  Each course is 5 days long.  We now have a competent team of 3 Guatemalan midwives who do the bulk of the teaching.  We strive to conduct 3 to 4 courses per year each course attended by 30 Comadronas and/or Paramedics.  The Canadian members of the project comprise 2 midwives, 1 family physician, and 1 maternity nurse. We Canadians visit at our own expense

once a year in February to make sure the project is on track or to provide practice updates. To date we have taught over 1000 Comadronas in various communities in many parts of the country.

Since our last report, the team has made 2 visits to Chisec, in the department of Alta Verapaz and has been able to teach 3 courses and a total of 100 comadronas in this municipality. Educational space and meals were generously provided by Karen and Rocky of Compelling Love Ministries, a couple from Kamloops who have acquired a small acreage in Chisec to provide community health education programs and to create a children’s nutritional center.  As I write this report, our Guatemalan team will be teaching for 2 weeks, roughly 60 students, in Chichicastenango, a large market community in the highlands of the department of Quiche.

Efforts have been made to connect with local Guatemalan NGOs to collaborate materially and financially on this project. Unfortunately, while we receive lots of approval and verbal support, material support at a local level has not been forthcoming.  I believe the reality for this project in Guatemala, as with much of the health and education infrastructure in the country, is a dependence on foreign donations for sustainability.  A positive development in this country strapped for health dollars is that the Comadronas have been recognized since 2014 as an essential part of the health care system.  The government has made efforts to credential Comadronas who receive formal training.  We have received official recognition of our course from several levels of government.

This coming February 2018, the Canadian team members will return to Guatemala for 2 weeks of courses. The community is to be determined.  However, the popularity of our course has increased by “word of mouth” and there are several communities requesting our presence.  The need is still there for this educational program.  We are proud that we have been able to continue this project for 15 years and look forward the project continuing for many more years to come.

Rose Canada April 2017 ‘Mini-Forum’ : ‘Malaria in Education / Child and Human Rights’, great success

Consultants,  Linda Robers (Charit Rose 2014) and Professor Andrew Macnab (Chari. Rose 2012) gave the first Rose Charities Canada ‘TED-style’ presentations of the new mini-forum format to great acclaim.

Andrew spoke on the success of his amazing new rapid malaria diagnosis and on-site treatment program currently implemented with wonderful  result in rural Ugandan schools.  The program is currently being assessed by the Thai Government for implementation in rural regions of their country. Andrew had just returned from consultations at Mahidol and other Thai centers with view to such development

Linda Roberts

Linda, who is a council member of the Rose Charities International Council as well as one of Rose Charities Canada’s leading consultants, delivered an important presentation on child and human rights and ensuring their proper implementation across all Rose Charities direct and linked programs.   The superb presentation lead then to considerable audience discussion .

The new ‘mini-forum’ format had been instituted and planned by the Rose Charities Administration Committee, and now having shown to be enormously successful will be repeated.  On this occasion the forum was held in the fireside room of the United Church Centre for Peace hall  on  16th and Burrard, Vancouver, an excellent venue.

Throwing malaria out of Ugandan schools: the malaria hero’s !

andres-malaria1Malaria is being tackled in rural Ugandan schools with Dr Anrew Macnab’s remarkable early rapid diagnosis and treatment program delivered by trained school ‘malaria hero’s’, school staff especially trained.  Implemented by Rose Charities Canada’s  Dr Andrew and HEDA Uganda, the program is giving hugely successful, recorded results, cutting the absenteeism through sickness much hated by student and teacher alike.   Please click here to see the most recent paper on the marvellous results.

andrew-malaria2 andrew-malaria3