He found that the locals were drawn to him in their search for medical assistance and he served them the best that he could without any medical training.

“The villagers would come to my little house and assumed I would help them with any sort of medical ailment,” Belknap said. 

Motivated by this lack of medical care, he joined forces with other sociology professors to create the Kingiti Fund, which focuses on scholarship and health care. The program provides resources for students to further their education for $250 a year, in addition to providing emergency training to medical staff in local hospitals.

The non-profit also plans to extend their education and emergency medicine projects into other regions. “We have a lot of projects going on right now. We are in a moment of growth, and we’ve had so much luck with this,” Belknap said.

He has returned to the village several times even as he finishes his residency program in Brooklyn, New York. He plans to continue his work, serving the people of East Africa with education and medical care.

For the full story and how to get involved, visit .

Delaney, a BSN student at the University of Louisville School of Nursing, and Assistant Professor Paul Clark, PhD, RN, MA, recently returned from a month-long service learning trip to the East African country.

The trip, organized by the , included students, faculty and staff from seven other colleges and universities in Kentucky, Ohio and West Virginia, and entailed providing care at hospitals and orphanages.

Improvisation became a necessity as the students worked in a labor and delivery ward, helped with minor surgeries and performed general exams, Delaney said.

Tanzania is one of the world’s poorest economies in terms of per capita income and patients have to bring their own supplies – including syringes, bandages and antiseptics – when they come to medical facilities for procedures.

Simple tasks, such as cleaning wounds, are a challenge.

“Usually antibiotic ointment or antiseptic is used, but patients would bring honey to have their wounds cleaned,” Delaney said. “Sometimes, we only had used washcloths and water to clean wounds because those were the only materials we could find in the room.”

Delaney said the challenging practice setting and working with patients of a different culture broadened her critical thinking skills in providing care. She encouraged other UofL students to participate in international service learning trips.

“It was just a great experience,” Delaney said. “Often in the states we take for granted the technology and medical advancements we have.”