The College of Nursing is hoping to expand its nursing training program against HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Since 2002, the College of Nursing has been going to Africa to train nurses in the battle against HIV/AIDS, according to College of Nursing Dean Lea Acord.
Acord described the program as a "train the trainer" program, in which Ph.D.-holding nurses are first educated in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment. They then travel to Kenya to teach other nurses about the disease.
Three graduate students and three freshmen went to Kenya this summer. One graduate student is still working in Kenya as a member of the Peace Corps, independent of the College of Nursing, said Joyce Bowers, operations specialist for the College of Nursing.
Twin sisters Holly and Heather Felzer from the College of Health Sciences are two of the graduate students who went to Kenya to train others.
"To me, the Marquette AIDS/HIV project is a one-of-a-kind program," Heather Felzer said. "It's a project that sought out beyond Marquette and beyond the United States."
The project began in September 2002 when about 12 African nurses came to Marquette. The nurses were trained by graduate students and college staff with the idea that they would in turn teach others in Kenya, Bowers said. The 12 nurses, under the guidance of Marquette staff and students, have trained 2,421 other nurses and health care workers in Kenya.
Bowers said the nurses are training the 30,000 nurses already there. She said the Marquette nurses work alongside the student nurses to further their HIV/AIDS education. They provide expert aid and integrate new technology into the program, according to a written statement by Margaret Murphy and Karen Ivantic-Doucette, co-directors of the project, who are currently working in Kenya.
The Felzers were among those training the nurses who came from Africa.
The program began with one Kenyan nurse's plea to train more nurses in Africa and is proof that "one person can make a difference," Heather Felzer said. Holly Felzer said it's great the program included students.
"I think it's great that people are getting involved," Holly Felzer said. The project "gives students the ability to stand up for a cause and take a chance and actually do something."
Kenyan efforts concentrate in Nairobi, Mombasa and Voi, Acord said. The college hopes to expand the program to train more nurses, to provide a better curriculum about the disease, to reach a wider area and to help nurses infected with HIV/AIDS through contact with patients' bodily fluids.
The project's grant expires in one year, but the college is working on writing a proposal to receive funding for the expansion of the project by April 2005. However, the college will find a way to expand with or without the grant, Acord said.
The College of Nursing contacted the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, looking to provide "sustainable agriculture" in Kenya, Acord said. UW-SP is working on a project to give Africans information about nutrition and healthy living, Bowers said.
Acord said forming a partnership with UW-SP would not only help the people, but the land and the agriculture as well. It will give Africans a chance to learn about good nutrition and stay healthy.
"It doesn't matter if you treat AIDS patients in Africa, if they don't have clean water and food they'll die anyway," Acord said.
Acord is currently in Kenya to observe the program first hand.
"It is an important thing for me," Acord said. "I want to be able to talk about it intelligently, because I have been there and know what's going on. It's a wonderful thing to say we made a difference."