Leah Narans oversees New Life Band School student Anna, who is drawing blood from Hope 2 Others volunteer Drew Lund
Hope 2 Others volunteer Leah Narans is spending the summer in Tanzania. She spent five weeks teaching New Life Band School students an introductory course about medical sciences and lab skills. Topics she has covered include microbiology, hematology and urology. The last week of the course, from June 23-27, focused on teaching the students how to draw blood.
During their last week of class, they used what they learned to draw a vial of blood. They demonstrated proper procedure and practical knowledge by securing the tourniquet tightly, feeling for a good vein, swabbing the arm, and finally, with Leah’s supervision, inserting the needle. Some students filled a vial with blood, others missed and did not get anything. Narans’ first class of students graduated on July 11, 2014.
Narans’ class is just an introductory class. Students who wish to go into the medical field will need to take more advanced classes at the university, just like in the United States. But it is a good start and a great way to give the students hands-on knowledge.