Today is one of those days where the importance of communication comes into play and also the importance of having a tool to communicate. This morning we went to UB thinking that we had no meetings or anything due. Upon reaching the library, Carmen the librarian informed us that we were wanted in the admin building. When we arrived in the admin building 5-7 minutes later we were informed that we were being waited upon for a meeting that we were unaware that we had with the Dean of nursing. Rushing over to the Dean’s office, I was embarrassed and wondered if she would take our tardiness as a reflection of our work ethic. Upon arriving I apologized and we got down to business especially since we did not know the status of our IRB in Belize and we were excited to begin doing a lot of the work.
First news we received: Ministry of Health will not look at our work until June 27th. My face dropped, we had been told everything was okay and fine. The reason for the delay was because there was a misunderstanding on our research and how this was just for educational purposes. Also, the review board in Belize is fairly new so this process and understanding that students wanted to do research for educational purposes only was perplexing to them.
The Dean then continued with previous orders of business that we had discussed in the previous week such as holding the health fair as a way to introduce ourselves to the community of San Martin. The nursing office has agreed to contact a number of the partners we wish to collaborate with such as the Diabetes Association etc. This is exciting news since we will at least have an output from all that we have done thus far. Our group from USF will prepare the flier.
Also more exciting than the health fair is that this Wednesday 15th we will meet the other students who will be working on the study pilot. We plan to involve the community health worker (CHW) of San Martin so that we can have community buy in of the project. The dean also told us that it would be better for us to pilot the study in Belize City instead of Belmopan. The reason for the difference is that Belize City is very different from Belmopan and also a lot of the individuals may have ties to individuals from cities such as San Ignacio (I secretly was hoping to go to San Ignacio). This pilot is to take place this Thursday and then on Friday I can use the results from the pilot to teach Epi info to both the UB students and also the USF students on this project. The dean has also agreed that once our other professor comes to Belize we will have another meeting to touch bases. She also advised us to visit the PAHO offices in Belize City along with the Ministry of Health so that we can get access to health data that we cannot access here in Belmopan. This is exciting because everything is coming into place.
After an hour and half long meeting Elizabeth and I walked back to the library where we met up with the other students on the project and informed them of what had happened at the meeting. We then continued working on the protocol with each person taking a part and continuing to research and elaborate.
In the Afternoon while working on the protocol, I heard a familiar African language. After inquiring where the person was from I was introduced to the Nigerian ambassador to Belize, Dr. Ifeanyichukwu Ifedi. We had a very interesting talk and he was very open about the process of how he became a diplomat. It very fascinating how there are so many avenues to reach your goals, I feel more determined and excited about the many possibilities in my life.
Towards the later part of the evening we sat as a group (Debby, Caitlin and Elizabeth) and discussed our project and also the possibility that it may not occur (please have your fingers crossed for us).
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