A Royal Encounter : Diaspora Nurse Advocates for Global Health at St James's Palace
Wednesday 2nd October was a ‘pinch me moment’ for me as a Diaspora NHS Nurse, representing so many like me, from humble beginnings.
It was a great honour and privilege to be hosted by the King and Queen of England, along with The Duchess of Edinburgh and Duke of Kent, ahead of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.
Whilst interacting with national and global leaders and decision and policy makers including Hon. David Lammy, Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs of the United Kingdom, Professor Kevin Fenton, Public Health England, various Ambassadors and heads of state, my humble message and request as I spoke with them was to acknowledge and recognise the Diaspora as important players and partners in national and global health and economic development.
The same message was shared with Dr Anne T Gallagher AO, Director General of the Commonwealth Foundation.
The moment was extra special because I was standing alongside our own giants, Hon. William Mutenza, Chairman-Founder of UK Africa Business Summit and my Boss, Hon. Moses Mulimira, UK lead- Uganda UK Health Alliance ( UUKHA ) and THET ( www.thet.org ) Diaspora Engagement Advisor, and Project Manager NHSE Global Health Fellowship, and Founder of Uganda Diaspora Health Foundation. What an incredible honour!
I am sincerely grateful to our esteemed High Commission team and H.E Ambassador Nimisha Madhvani for the continued efforts and support for Uganda-UK community, and for inspiring us to be proactive paricipants and contributors towards positive change at home and away.
The King was very appreciative of our efforts and took his time to talk to us and thank us for everything we are doing. In particular, he thanked, the healthcare professionals present, saying, “what would we do without you, our nurses and midwives?”
As I shook his Majesty’s hand, I reminded him to continue supporting Global ( Eye ) Health as many LMIC’s remain undeserved in this and many other areas.
I did not take the opportunity for granted, I was also representing partner organisations and supporters; UNMA-UK, BUDA, UDAHP-UK, Ubora Foundation Africa, GAF Eye Health Foundation, ICEID, World Cancer Hope USA-UK, KnowTheGlow, WAEH, WCEA, Archlights Project, Moorfields volunteers and many others doing fantastic work to support marginalised communities locally and globally.
# Together, yes we can ! 
Our work continues and on that note, a kind reminder for your calendars ;
📍 World Sight Day, 10th October 2024
●Please support community eye health, more details via: https://eye.ug/
● 📍 THET Annual Conference – 6 & 7th November 2024
Tickets are available at this link: https://www.airmeet.com/e/92edd040-652c-11ef-9968-d7bafd0156b6
It is an online two day conference which is free for anyone based in an LMIC.
● 📍 World Diabetes Day, 14th November 2024
Please support our partners in Ghana, to reach more undeserved communities, via: https://iceid-gh.org/
Sincerest thanks and gratitude to everyone for your continued support and inspirational leadership.
Best wishes,
On behalf of the teams :
UNMA-UK, BUDA, UDAHP-UK, Ubora Foundation Africa, GAF Eye Health Foundation, ICEID, World Cancer Hope USA-UK, KnowTheGlow, WAEH, WCEA, Archlights Project, Moorfields volunteers and many others.
Address
- London, United Kingdom
- +44 7984-885-777
- +44 7984-885-777
- info@eyehealthafrica.org
- Eye Health Africa is a Community Interest Company registered in England and Wales. Company Number 12480431.