Child-to-child helping children in emergencies and affected by conflict

Child-to-Child is a rights-based approach to children’s participation in promoting health and community development. The Child-to-Child approach is an educational process that links children’s learning with taking action. It is a practical way in which children’s rights can be effectively implemented. The Child-to-Child approach has been successfully implemented since 1978. Education, health promotion and community development programmes are using the approach in over 70 countries. The Child-to-Child international network encourages and enables children and young people to promote the holistic development of the health and well-being of themselves, their families and their communities

Reflections on an Innovative Mentoring Partnership Facilitators and Inhibitors to Success in Faculty Development

The need for more interactive, learner-centred pedagogies at Aga Khan University in East Africa led to the development of a partnership with Academics without Borders (AWB). AWB recruited three nursing faculty volunteers to provide mentorship to the nursing faculty at the three Aga Khan University Advanced Nursing Studies campuses in East Africa. As part of the evaluation and as a strategy to improve the quality of the mentoring and the project, the authors developed an action research study to identify facilitators and inhibitors to the success of this inter-cultural initiative. In this article, the authors share their observations and reflections as recorded in journal entries and postings to an online site as well as the results of a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT) analysis completed by mentees, mentors and project coordinators. Finally, the authors share their thoughts on the implications for future cross-cultural mentoring relationships at Aga Khan University and the potential for assisting others in similar relationship

Quality Assurance Self-assessment: A Catalyst at Aga Khan University

This article describes the establishment of the Aga Khan University’s Network of Quality Assurance and Improvement in promoting the principles of quality in its programmes. As an international university, the experiences and lessons learned have the potential to inform quality assurance and improvement in similar contexts. The authors reflect on past attempts to improve the quality of educational offerings, which were primarily traditional quality assurance audits. With the advent of the Inter-University Council for East Africa self-assessment process, the next generation of quality assurance and improvement was launched for the Aga Khan University programmes. They found the self-assessment process effective in changing attitudes towards quality enhancement and implementation of improvement plans, because it created ownership in the process. Practically, self-assessment is an important tool for academic quality assurance providing critical feedback, and catalysing action. The article will be useful for those establishing quality teaching and learning units across multi-site, multi-campus universities, especially in resource challenged environments

The perceptions of the preparedness of medical graduates to take on internship responsibilities in low resource hospitals in Kenya

The Aga Khan University is developing an Undergraduate Medical Education (UGME) curriculum for implementation in East Africa in 2016, which aims to serve the health needs of the populations there. Pilot focus group discussions of recent interns were conducted at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi to find out: (1) If Kenyan medical students are adequately prepared for their roles as interns in low resource hospitals upon graduation from medical schools; (2) The likely clinical conditions that interns will face in low resource hospitals in Kenya; and (3) How might the UGME curriculum best prepare interns for their roles in low resource hospital settings? Through focus group discussions, current and recent interns expressed feeling ill prepared for working in low resource settings, unequipped with the clinical skills for the tasks and procedures expected of an intern ,in adequately exposed to obstetrics, paediatrics, emergency medicine and lacking in resuscitation training. These findings will inform the development of the UGME curriculum to ensure learning outcomes that meet stakeholder requirements

Mentoring for educational change an East African case study

In 2012, a partnership was begun between Aga Khan University (AKU) and Academics Without Borders Canada (AWBC). In the initial project, three mentors from AWBC worked with nursing faculty on three East African campuses of AKU with a focus on developing more interactive teaching skills and scholarship. Following this four-month project, two of the mentors continued to work with nursing faculty to develop capacity. The relationship between AKU and AWBC has been formally extended with the initiation of several new projects, all centred on strengthening the student learning experience

South Asian foodways in Britain diversity and change and the implications for health promotion

People originating from the Indian sub-continent (South Asians) make up the largest ethnic minority group in Britain and suffer from higher rates of coronary heart disease (CIII)) and noninsulin- dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) than the general population. The classic risk factors (other than diabetes and insulin resistance) do not explain these elevated rates. Insulin resistance is associated with central obesity, which is more prevalent amongst South Asians than Europeans and the most effective dietary means of preventing or reversing obesity is by reducing fat and energy intake. However it has been hypothesized that regional origins and religious differences within the South Asian community would result in differences in a) food related behaviours of selected South Asian groups b) the foods commonly consumed by the various South Asian groups and c) the nutrient composition of their traditional dishes, such that dietary intake of fat could be modified by use of selected traditional recipes and dishes. Any attempt to develop effective health promotion programmes would require a knowledge of these differences. In order to test these hypotheses two main studies were undertaken. Firstly, the traditional dishes most commonly consumed by members of five South Asian groups (Bangladeshi Muslims, Pakistani Muslims, Ismaili (East African Asians) Muslims, Punjabi Sikhs and Gujerati Hindus) were identified and their nutrient composition ascertained either by calculation from recipes for home-made dishes or by direct analysis in the case of purchased foods. Secondly, food related behaviour was examined in three Muslim groups (Bangladeshis, Pakistanis and Ismailis). Wide diversity was apparent in the food related behaviour of the three Muslim groups studied. Whilst first generation females were the main food preparers in all the Muslim groups, food purchasing was the responsibility of first generation males in the Bangladeshi and, to a lesser extent, the Pakistani groups. Religious food laws were strictly adhered to by the Bangladeshi and Pakistani communities, although there was an apparent weakening in religious influences over food amongst the second generation. Acculturation in eating patterns was seen across the Muslim groups. Whilst most change was observed in the meals of least importance (eg. breakfast), traditional eating habits persisted for the main meal of the day. The Ismaili group had the most westernised diet and appeared to be aware of healthy eating messages. In contrast the Bangladeshi community adhered to traditional foodways, though large generational differences were seen in the acculturation of food habits in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups. Factors associated with this change were exposure to the host culture, education and employment patterns. 2 Results showed wide diversity in both foods consumed by different groups and nutrient composition of traditional dishes. Of the 170 dishes (633 recipes) analysed for nutrient composition, only one was common to all five groups under study i.e mixed vegetable curry. Of the 29 dishes common to two or more groups, recipes from the Bangladeshi Muslim, Gujerati Hindu and Pakistani Muslim groups generally had higher fat contents than those of the Punjabi Sikh and Ismaili Muslim groups. By selecting lower fat versions of traditional recipes it was demonstrated that a 7% reduction in % energy from fat could be achieved in the Bangladeshi and Pakistani groups. Based on the findings of the studies the implications for the design of dietary intervention programmes appropriate for different groups within the South Asian community are discussed

The COVID-19 pandemic: A catalyst for creativity and collaboration for online learning and work-based higher education systems and processes

The purpose of this research is to focus on work-based problems catalysed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, based on a case study of a multi-continental, multi-campus university distributed across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Pakistan. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries lacked pre-existing infrastructure to support online education and/or policy and regulatory frameworks during the pandemic. The university\u27s programmes in Pakistan and East Africa provide lessons to other developing countries\u27 HEIs. The university\u27s focus on teaching and learning and staff development has had a transformational organisational effect

Transforming teaching & learning in higher education: Stories of impact from the Aga Khan University

https://ecommons.aku.edu/books/1130/thumbnail.jp