Lukwiya Health Fellowship

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Annual Scholarship for a Health Professional Placement in Uganda

The Lukwiya Health Fel­low­ship will be awarded to a New Zealand health worker (nurse, midwife, doctor, radio­grapher, speech-lan­guage ther­ap­ist) who will join NZCMS Mission Partner Dr Nick Laing and his team in Uganda. This would be a short-term place­ment, sup­por­ted by NZCMS, to serve at St. Philips, a busy and dynamic church-run health centre in Gulu, North­ern Uganda.

We believe that health­care is not just a job, but a call upon our lives to serve others and develop our faith. Some of the first hos­pit­als were set up by Chris­ti­ans who believed that God com­pelled them to care, not just for their own people, but for those of all faiths and socio-eco­nomic backgrounds.

The church-run St Philips Health Centre serves some of the most vul­ner­able people in Gulu town. This place­ment is an ideal oppor­tun­ity for a New Zealand health worker to both grow their pro­fes­sional skills, and develop a heart for mission.

The person selec­ted would:

  • Work along­side Ugandan staff in various depart­ments at the health centre
  • Be ment­ored by Ugandan staff to nav­ig­ate cul­tural complexities
  • Reflect with the St Philips’ lead­er­ship on their exper­i­ence working in this health­care setting
  • Enrich the min­istry of St Phil­lips Health Centre
  • Grow in medical ability and know­ledge as they learn from Ugandan colleagues
  • Receive the Lukwiya Health Fel­low­ship Schol­ar­ship Award of $6000
  • Become a “Lukwiya Fellow” and share their exper­i­ence with others back in New Zealand
  • Grow spir­itu­ally and exper­i­ence medical mission first-hand

The Details

Who can apply?

To be eli­gible for this award you need to be:

  • A qual­i­fied nurse, midwife, doctor, radio­grapher, or speech-lan­guage therapist
  • Have at least one year medical/​professional experience
  • Part of a Chris­tian wor­ship­ping community
  • Open to living simply
  • A New Zealand citizen
  • Medical stu­dents are not eli­gible for this award. However, Trainee Interns (medical stu­dents in their final year) are welcome to do their elect­ive at St Philip’s Health Centre.

How long is the placement for?

Minimum of three months, but could be exten­ded. Place­ment dates are flexible.

What does the scholarship cover?

The award is $6000 per year. This would cover most of the cost of return flights, accom­mod­a­tion, food and trans­port, pro­fes­sional regis­tra­tion, insur­ance, and visa.

    What preparation would I receive?

    NZCMS will provide cross-cul­tural train­ing before the place­ment, and debrief­ing after the place­ment. Dr Nick Laing would oversee the place­ment in Uganda.

    Who is the Fellowship named after?

    Dr. Matthew Lukwiya was head doctor of St. Mary’s Hos­pital Lacor in North­ern Uganda. He was the first Ugandan hos­pital dir­ector and was called to lead the hos­pital in a time of crisis. In 2001 he iden­ti­fied Uganda’s first Ebola out­break in Gulu, and rallied many staff who left their posts in fear to come back to the hos­pital and work with the sick patients.

    Before he died from Ebola, he prayed “let me be the last.” His prayer was answered as he was the last staff member to die during the out­break. His family gave us their bless­ing to name this fel­low­ship in honour of his service.

    Application Details

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    The dead­line for applic­a­tions each year is 1 July.
    Selec­tion of the Lukwiya Fellow would be final­ised by 31 July.

    St Philips Healths Centre Face­book Page: https://​www​.face​book​.com/​s​t​p​h​i​l​i​p​s​h​e​a​l​t​h​c​e​n​t​er/

    Contact NZCMS

    Contact NZCMS

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    Would you like some more inform­a­tion? Contact us at our office and we’ll put you in touch with the right people.
    03 377 2222
    office@​nzcms.​org.​nz

    Email NZCMS

    Application Form

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    Fill in the form below and someone from NZCMS will be in touch with you soon.