Erdi Huizenga Scholarships for hospital staff in Sierra Leone
Introduction
In 2011, the Smarter Hospital Foundation (SHF) was founded by Erdi Huizenga and 2 friends from IBM. SHF’s vision is that we believe in a world where skilled people can help other people who are not yet able to help themselves. After Erdi’s tragic death in 2020, we as a foundation want to keep its vision alive and ensure that people who want to help receive the right education to support the needy. With this in mind, we started the Erdi Huizenga Hospital Staff Education Scholarships, which is currently targeting the City Garden Clinic in Makeni, Sierra Leone.
Type of Scholarship
1st step
State Register Nursing Training
• No trainings fee
• Support for salary, insurance, pension etc.
• 3 years
• Commitment to work after education in CGC
€ 70 per month
(or a part of it)
2nd step
Community Health Officers Training
• No trainings fee
• Support for salary, insurance, pension etc.
• 4 year
• Commitment to work after education in CGC
€ 70 per month
(or a part of it)
3rd step
Surgical Training Program
• 3 year Training program
• Payment of training fees
• Internships in other hospital
• Support for salary, insurance, pension etc.
• Commitment to work after education in CGC
€ 250 per month
(or a part of it)
Other supporting roles for a medical organisation
Examples:
- Lab Technician
- Physiotherapist/Anesthetist
- Accountant
- Support depending on the training
- Commitment to work after education in CGC
€ 100 per month
(or a part of it)
(estimation)
About the fund
Dr Erdi’s vision has always been to educate as many healthcare workers as she could. Wherever she worked, the nurses became better at nursing, the CHO’s became better clinicians, she trained anesthesiologists, theatre assistants, and the list goes on. Probably there is not one profession in a hospital that was untouched by Dr Erdi. She is vividly remembered for her passion to improve healthcare.
To honor this virtue, we brought into life the Erdi Huizenga Scholarship Fund (EHSF). It is a fund to enable healthcare workers to pursue a degree in a certain medical field, which in the long term will benefit City Garden Clinic (CGC). The funds are collected from sponsors and private donors.
The fund intends to pay for the fee of the university, and depending on the study also a small living stipend for the student.
Who is eligible?
To be eligible for this opportunity, the student-to-be must have shown a certain loyalty to the hospital. This means that somebody must be employed by CGC for three years or more, before he/she can start a study.
As is well acknowledged, sometimes employers are deemed too old to start a new study. To reward their loyalty to the hospital, their children are eligible for the fund. The demand is that the parent has been employed for five years or more by CGC.
Which studies are entailed by the fund?
There is no set list of studies from which employers can choose. Any study or course in the medical field that will benefit the hospital is allowed. Some examples: State Registered Nurse (SRN), Community Health Officer (CHO), physiotherapist, laboratory technician, anesthesiologist. The hospital CEO and the Medical Advisor from Smarter Hospital Foundation (SHF) decide who gets to participate in which study. The sponsors and private donors will earmark their donation (either for a certain study or to be decided by us), so that the treasurer of SHF has an overview of how much money is available for different studies.
Contract
Employers who are to start a study will sign a contract. The contract states the rules regarding this fund, for example the time an employer is legally obliged to work for CGC after completion of the studies, or what will happen if a student does not manage to get the degree. The contract is available to read for everybody interested, please contact us for more information.
We hope to have informed you well, and we hope you are as enthusiastic as we are to create this opportunity for a better living. For employer and patient.