Colleagues in Global Health

Anyone who has ever been involved with Project HOPE understands the adage, “Once a HOPIE always a HOPIE.” Learn more about our Colleagues in Global Health.

Project HOPE Colleagues in Global Health, HOPIEs, are an extraordinary group of individuals because their bond is one of giving…of themselves, their time and their treasure…to improve the health of people around the world.

The mission of the Colleagues in Global Health (formerly Alumni Association) is to keep its members informed about HOPE’s initiatives and progress, and to offer opportunities for our cherished alumni to support HOPE through their knowledge, skills, and financial resources.

Colleagues in Global Health is composed of approximately 5,100 members, representing volunteers from the original SS HOPE missions, longer-term land-based programs, and other humanitarian assistance efforts including disaster relief from the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami to the 2016 Hurricane Matthew in Haiti.

Latest News

Send in your Nomination for the Position of President

Nominations are being accepted for the position of President of the Colleagues in Global Health.

Please forward all names to Sharon Redding, the current president at [email protected] by December 1st. The names of candidates will then be posted. Voting for candidates for the position will be open from December 1 through January 15 and ballots may be sent to [email protected].

Join Colleagues in Global Health Virtual Town Hall Meetings

Project HOPE Colleagues in Global Health (formerly known as the Project HOPE Alumni Association) would like to invite you to participate in a Town Hall online event, focused on keeping members of our group updated on activities and programs that may be relevant to you and your colleagues.

The Latest Colleagues in Global Health Town Hall Meeting

Our latest event took place on Thursday October 15, 1 PM Central Time.

Topic: Palliative Care Education in China

Presenters:

  • Sandy Chen Stokes, MSN,  Founder of the Chinese American Coalition for Compassionate Care,
  • Carma Erickson Hurt, DNP, ACHPN, End-of-Life Nursing Education Consortium, former HOPE Wuhan, China volunteer

With the change in the name of our group, we are also changing our direction and wanting to reach out to members in various formats. We anticipate having Town Hall events several times in the next year, in addition to your receiving information via mail, email and through social media such as the Project HOPE and Facebook websites. We welcome your feedback on these formats. Feel free to contact us or Project HOPE at any time. We hope you find this Town Hall experience educational and inspiring. For more information or questions, please reach out to [email protected].

Faces of the Tsunami — William J. McDaniel, M.D., Rear Admiral, U.S. Navy (retired)

At the November 2019 Alumni Association Reunion, attendees listened to an outstanding presentation by Dr. Bill McDaniel. He recounted his personal experience which he shared with HOPE volunteers on the 2005 US Navy mission to provide assistance to victims of a tsunami, centered in Banda Aceh, Indonesia. Bill has continued his friendship with HOPE personnel and attended previous alumni reunions. He wrote an account of his experience entitled Faces of the Tsunami several years after the event and relates that he was not emotionally able to do this sooner.

Dr. McDaniel is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine and was commissioned in the Navy in 1969. He served in diverse locations around the world and had 5 commands at naval hospitals. He is the only physician to ever hold a unified command position when named the Deputy Commander of PACOM in 1996. He was selected as a Rear Admiral in 1989 and retired in 1997. He was also a 5-time Navy wrestling champion, team physician for wrestlers at the 1984 Olympic games and continues as a volunteer physician for USA Wrestling. Following retirement, he was twice called back by the Navy for medical missions. He currently serves on various health and diesel engine technology boards and has hiked the full length of the 2074-mile Appalachian Trail. He has 3 daughters and 5 grandchildren, travels extensively and thrives in new settings and countries as he meets new people.

Dr. McDaniel’s book is available in Kindle and related formats on Amazon.com.

Other information can be found at www.facesofthetsunami.com. Dr. McDaniel says: We, as a nation, respond to virtually every natural disaster. Our military is always the biggest responder, but we respond as individuals, corporations and as non-governmental organizations like Project HOPE. This book is intended to put names to individuals and organizations involved and shed light on the incredible people we were privileged to meet and help. It tells our stories as we steamed to help the Indonesians, only to be overwhelmed by them, their resilience and their faces.

Dr. McDaniel can be contacted at [email protected]

Dr. Ellemes Phuma, 2019 William B. Walsh Fellow, Transforms Lives in Africa

Malawi and Sierra Leone are hard places to be a mother, with high neonatal mortality rates, few resources, and limited trained staff to provide for small, preterm and at-risk neonates. To help meet the challenge, Project HOPE is preparing the first cadre of neonatal nurses who will provide quality care to vulnerable newborns in Special Care Baby and Kangaroo Mother Care Units.

Overseeing this work is Dr. Ellemes Phuma, 2019 William B. Walsh Fellow, who works as HOPE’s Regional Coordinator for Nursing Education in Malawi and Sierra Leone.

Dr. Phuma has a Ph.D. in Higher Education from the University of Western Cape, South Africa, and holds a lecturer position with the University of Malawi, Mzuzu School of Nursing. She lives in Malawi and is a member of the Nursing and Midwifery Council and the National Council for Higher Education.

In her role, Dr. Phuma coordinates national efforts to develop advanced neonatal nursing programs within education institutions and with the support of the Ministries of Health and professional nursing and midwifery organizations. She also coordinates the curriculum development process and the faculty preparation program in partnership with counterparts and national planning committees.

Dr. Phuma works with HOPE headquarters to plan and manage the technical resources that help both countries develop competency-based curricula and clinical mentorship programs to prepare faculty to teach state-of-the-art clinical skills. She also utilizes the recommendations from a certified neonatal nurse practitioner program in the U.S., which meet World Health Organization and Council of International Neonatal Nurses standards, and uses integrated teaching methodologies to help faculty develop their academic courses.

The process of developing advanced neonatal nursing programs in countries with minimal resources is daunting and demands patience to ensure consensus on decisions and inclusion of standards of education and clinical practice. Dr. Phuma exemplifies the impact that generations of Project HOPE Nursing Education programs have had over the last 60 years, especially for mothers, children and newborns.

2019 Alumni Association Reunion

On November 1-2, 2019, the Project HOPE Alumni Association gathered in San Francisco for a reunion.

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Use of Association Funds — Rekindling Relationships

The William B. Walsh, M.D. Endowment is reserved for the funding of Walsh Fellows and the Bill Kooiman Volunteer Travel Fund has provided exceptional alumni who return to work with HOPE small stipends to help with their travel expenses. The remaining funds — Lee-Olive Harrison Fund for Basic Skills Education, the Alumni Fund and the newly established Dorothy Aeschliman Nursing Education Fund — are discretionary, governed by committees and guidelines.

Colleagues in Global Health plans to pilot a new activity to use portions of the funds to support counterpart-identified activities in former international program sites. The small awards will rekindle relationships among country-specific alumni, their counterparts and the programs on which they collaborated during their years with Project HOPE. A committee including a HOPE Center representative will review proposals according to already drafted guidelines.

Your support of Colleagues in Global Health funds will assure the success of this endeavor.

Make a Donation to One of Project HOPE Colleagues in Global Health Funds Now!

Contact Information for the Colleagues in Global Health Officers

Sharon Redding, President: [email protected]

Got Facebook? Get Social

Join the Project HOPE Colleagues in Global Health Group on Facebook. “LIKE” the Hopies page on Facebook then send us a message to join our closed Alumni Group. It’s a great place to share photos, memories and reconnect!

Visit the Project HOPE Virtual Gallery