Training Local Colleagues in Port Sudan: Fatima, Mutasim and Bahaeldeen.

One of the main goals of each of our projects is continually training local colleagues, to transfer skills and create a positive impact on the country’s healthcare system over time.  

Health training programmes for doctors and nurses take place both through shadowing during clinical activities and through lectures.

The centre also has training links with higher education institutions. It hosts a rotation of students in Paediatrics from the Port Sudan nursing academy, and is officially recognised as a training centre for paediatric residents of the Sudanese University.

Facilities like our Paediatric Centre are essential to guarantee the right to care, and it is the incredible contributions of our local team, including colleagues like Fatima, Mutasim and Bahaeldeen, that make this possible.  

Fatima, head nurse: “I found what I was looking for in the Paediatric Centre in Port Sudan.” 

“With EMERGENCY, I found a qualified international team, work, and training experience in my country. I asked myself, ‘Why leave if I found what I was looking for here?’ I love this place,” says Fatima, Head Nurse at our Paediatric Centre in Port Sudan. 

Her father and brothers left to work in Saudi Arabia, but she chose to stay in Sudan. 

“Among the things that motivated me to stay was the chance to constantly improve, thanks to the training offered by EMERGENCY,” she explains.
 
“Children come here from the most remote parts of the country, and beyond,” she says. “Some have even come from Chad. There is great word of mouth, which makes EMERGENCY’s hospital – ‘Where they treat children without asking for money’ – known even far away. Sometimes there are so many people that the entrance looks like a bus station!” 

Mutasim, with us for over 10 years  

Mutasim has been part of our incredible team in Port Sudan for over 10 years. “I was working as an administrative supervisor when I witnessed a serious accident between two buses: over 100 people were injured and many died. I realised the problem with the lack of medical personnel in Sudan, so I decided to study nursing.” 

“After finishing my studies, I got to know the Salam Centre in Khartoum and was very impressed by the fact that patients could be treated for free. So as soon as they started building the hospital here in Port Sudan, I applied to work there,” he says.

Mutasim started as a nurse and is now Deputy Medical Coordinator. 

Bahaeldeen, now a logistician at the centre

Working in the non-healthcare roles within our centre, Bahaeldeen has also developed his career:  
 
He started working with us as a cleaner supervisor and over time became the facility’s logistician. Bahaeldeen coordinates, supervises and supports non-healthcare staff, and manages the rotas and on-the-job  training of employees. 

The Paediatric Centre in Port Sudan is co-funded by the European Union