Personal information
Name: Adriana Jeremiah
Date of Birth: 05-07-2001
Country: Tanzania
Study: Diploma of nursing and midwifery
Why I need the iSTEPup Foundation
I, Adriana Jeremiah, pursuing a Diploma in nursing and midwifery at Ndolage institute of health science, am so glad and thanks to istep up for your support. I acknowledge Madame Nathasjar for being a bridge of my study journey since October 2021 up to date. Furthermore, we Jeremiah’s Family received the amount requested for this programme after then paid as planned to the institute for the issue of fee and other accommodations cost we tried our level best to cover basing on our economic status.
My ambitions toward study is to complete the third year and acquire the expected profession so as to be a servant of my society in either public or mission entities but also supporting my family in all aspect of life. All in all, your support and exposure is still in need and most important to me so as to reach in expected goals mentioned. We thank again and again for still being humble and consistent towards our life situation and supporting us without considering any relation and any status and I will try my level best to perform well in my studies and score targeted units so as to cope with college standards and international as well.
Buddy
My name is Nathasja van Leeuwen, born in the Netherlands in 1992. Since I was a little girl, I told everyone I knew that I wanted to work in Africa. I did not know why, after all, I had never been there. But for some reason, I was convinced that I was meant to be there. When I grew older, I tried to figure out the best way to reach my goal. That’s when I decided to study medicine. Not just because I was interested in how the human body works, but also because I thought that I could make a difference in Africa being a doctor. So, in high school I chose the right subjects and after graduating I applied for university. Unfortunately, my application was refused. Therefore, I turned to my plan B; taking a Bachelor’s degree in medical biology and then switch to medicine. Luckily, I managed to succeed this time.
For my last medical internship I went to work in a small mission hospital in Tanzania for three months. Finally an opportunity to taste a little bit of the life of a tropical doctor! Within the first minute of setting foot in Tanzania, I fell in love with everything I could see. During this internship, I got to experience so many beautiful things, that I knew I had found my new home. There has not been a single day I wanted to go back to the Netherlands. Already during the internship, I applied for a job in the neighbouring hospital, St. Joseph Hospital in Kagondo. I went home to pick up my diploma and, finally a medical doctor, straight back to Tanzania to start my dream job.
During these three years I kept myself busy with many projects in the hospital. In order to improve patient care I collected money to buy a new portable ultrasound machine. And to increase safety and motivate staff I donated a solar system to make sure there is light 24 hours a day. I also managed to help with some hospital projects, run by the management itself. Such as repair of toilets, painting, et cetera. However, besides these projects inside the hospital, I also look for ways to help people in my environment. Together with my husband I started the Poor Patient Funds, which is a programm to help the poorest people get the right medical care, funded by donations. And we also look for children/adolescents who did not get a change to go to school or study. By various means we try to find a sponsor for them. So far we were able to help to high school boys (through private donations) and one nursing student (through I-STEP-UP).
Besides all these projects I dream of opening my own maternity clinic. Every day, I experience the strengths and weaknesses in the current maternity care system. And every day, I see room for improvement. I make small steps every day, and hope to open the clinic at the end of 2022. I expect to start with 150 patients per month, with a capacity up to 450 deliveries per month, reducing the 14.000 yearly unattended deliveries in our region quite a bit. Up to now, I have managed to buy the plot, big enough for the clinic, a staff house, a separate pharmacy and canteen, room for relatives of patients, and our own, already built, house with a small guest house. In November 2020, we moved to our new house, in order to closely supervise the plot and the building process to come. Stable supply of water and electricity for the clinic are already in place, as well as a large part of the materials for the clinic’s foundation.
My dream of becoming a doctor in Africa has been fulfilled. It is now time for new dreams. And one of these is possible with help of I-STEP-UP. Adriana Jeremiah was brought to my attention by her brother, a nurse in the hospital where I am working. He asked for help to get her into college. I invited Adriana to my house and after we talked, I decided to look for help for her. Together we applied for sponsorship through I-STEP-UP. And two months ago she started her first class! She is very grateful and happy with this opportunity. And for me, I am very excited to find more applicants in my neighbourhoor. Together we can improve healthcare in Tanzania!
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