The Official Opening of the College of Biomedical Sciences

Another busy weekend and Friday saw the official Opening of Chikankata College of Biomedical College. The college has been operating since February and we have 20 students on campus, with another 20 due to commence in 2008. The Guest of Honour for the day was the Minister of Health and a number of important dignitaries made their way to Chikankata for this special event. We all met in the Boardroom for a briefing beforehand before touring the Hospital and the School.

There had been a Lab School at Chikankata for a many years but for a number of reason this was closed in 2000. However, at the request of the Ministry of Health and with the support of The Salvation Army, Churches Health Association of Zambia and the Ministry things have really been moving. It's been a long standing problem across Zambia, especially in the fight against HIV/AIDS that the backup personnel have been in demand. In response to this request, Chikankata made the necessary arrangements and joins two other similar programmes for the whole country.

In order to get this project up and running we have had to renovate the old Lab Hostels, build a new classroom and renovate one of our rooms into a new Demonstration Lab for students. We had a lot of different supporters and it has been a huge undertaking. In the short-term the College will benefit the Hospital because the students will learn and support our own Laboratory Services. However it will also help a number of institutions across the country, especially the Mission Hospital as part of the funding agreement with CHAZ is that we reserve a certain number of places for Church health institutions.

The day went well and everyone was suitably impressed by the new facilities. Thank you to all those that helped in a special way, many from afar. The Lab School is officially back-up and running but there is still a lot of work to be done.