News & Events

February 2022

HVI are planning a team to Namibia in November of this year, in the hope that borders will be open and travel free enough to allow us to get there and recommence our work in helping to improve maternal health care.

In preparation for our return to activities, we will be holding a social event at The Deck, the outdoor rooftop bar at Crowne Plaza in Hobart on Friday May 6th from 5pm. This is the Friday before Mother’s Day, a special day for us as we celebrate access to healthcare that Mother’s have here in Australia and recognise the inequity that exists for millions of other mothers around the world that aren’t so lucky.

Please join us for an evening of socialising, an opportunity for volunteers and interested parties to chat about our activities in Namibia, and the chance to win some fabulous prizes in our Mother’s Day Raffle!

December 2021

In July of this year HVI provided 4 Scholarships for selected medical officers from Namibia to undertake a short course in Perioperative Medicine, run by Monash University in Melbourne. All 4 scholarship holders successfully completed the course in November of this year. All have been extremely positive in their assessment of the course, and how much it will benefit patients in their care.

Some of the comments received include:

“The course is extremely beneficial and highly recommended to all Anaesthetists”

“I found the course very useful in our clinical setting. The knowledge acquired will surely change my current practice and approach to individual cases in my setting”

“The course was excellent (and) the scope definitely exceeded my expectations… I learned a lot that I am already implementing in my daily practice”

Below are photos of the successful scholarship holders - Dr Johan de Wit (Windhoek) and Dr Fenni Iyambo (Oshakati)

NOVEMBER 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021

While the COVID pandemic continues to disrupt our plans for our teams in Namibia, Dr Andrew Ottaway continues to spread the work about the dire circumstances of women in childbirth around many parts of the world. He was recently interviewed for a local podcast radio show, “That’s What I Call Science”.

You can listen to a recording of the interview here:

https://thatsscience.org/2021/10/10/episode-130-improving-maternal-health/

JULY 2020

Unfortunately the COVID-19 pandemic continues and international borders continue to be closed, with little hope of a reopening before the end of the year at the earliest. With this in mind we have sadly decided to cancel our final team for the year, scheduled to travel in late October. Currently we have three teams pencilled in for next year (2021) but we will have to wait and see what happens with the pandemic globally before we can make any firm plans.

MARCH 2020

With three teams planned this year for March, June and October, and all fully subscribed with between 12-14 volunteers, it was shaping up to be a big year! Unfortunately due to the COVID-19 global pandemic we have had to cancel our teams for March and June, which is incredibly disappointing. At this time we remain hopeful that things will be heading back to normal in time for our team in October to still make it, but watch this space…..

NOVEMBER 2019

A generous donation of $1000 from local accounting firm WLF was gratefully received by HVI Director Dr Andrew Ottaway. This donation will fully pay for our costs to get 2 volunteers to Namibia, which is fantastic! Donations such as this make an incredible difference to the work we are trying to achieve.

OCTOBER 2019

For the first time we have been able to supply two teams to Namibia in the same calendar year, which we feel is real progress. A team of 12 this time, consisting of one perioperative nurse (Molly), one medical student (Hugh), one plastic surgeon (Sid), 4 obstetricians (Frank, Gregg, Mindy & Rachel) and 5 anaesthetists (Andrew, Aylin, Derek, Mike & Vicky). Also our largest team yet as we sent a satellite team to Eenhana District Hospital with the aim of reopening the operating theatre after its closure 4 years ago. We were ultimately unsuccessful in this but have a plan for getting it reopen when we come back in March of next year.

NOVEMBER 2019

A visit by one doctor and two nurses from the Intensive Care Unit in Oshakati out to Australia for two weeks. Dr Delwina, Sr Petrus and Sr Khadikwa attended the World Congress of Intensive Care in Melbourne, followed by a clinical attachment for 10 days in the ICU at Royal Hobart Hospital. This visit has been instrumental in helping to work practices and protocols in the ICU back in Oshakti.

With thanks to the Intensive Care Unit at RHH for sponsoring their flights to Hobart.

AUGUST 2019

Better late than never, but we have officially launched our charity Health Volunteers International! It was an amazing night, incredibly well attended, and we had some fantastic raffle prizes and items for auction which together raised approx. $12,000! This is a brilliant result and will effectively cover two+ teams of volunteers to Namibia. This also means we can think about expanding our programme, and hopefully increase our impact in trying to improve patient care and make childbirth safer in northern Namibia.

We are also eternally grateful to Hannah (wife of regular volunteer Mike) for all her hard work in making the evening happen!

Click to scroll through some images from the launch evening….

JUNE 2019

For the first time, thankfully, our work visas were granted without a problem! A team of 8 spent 2 weeks in Oshakati with daily visits to Engela District Hospital providing resuscitation training to the doctors and nurses there, many of whom did not realise their hospital had a functioning defibrillator! In Oshakati we continued to work with local staff to improve safety of childbirth and anaesthesia in particular. Our team consisted of one anaesthetic nurse (Kate), one NICU nurse (Kerry), 2 obstetricians (Chris & Kate), and 4 anaesthetists (Andrew, Dave, Margaret & Phil).

NOVEMBER 2018

A visit by Dr Leonard Kabongo to the anaesthesia department of the Royal Hobart Hospital for the month of November. Leonard is the Principal Medical Officer at Gobabis District Hospital, in the east of Namibia, and one of only 2 or 3 medical officers capable of providing anaesthesia for surgery at this district hospital despite no formal training. His time in Hobart was well spent receiving training and increasing his knowledge and experience to better serve his patients back in Gobabis.

With thanks to the Rotary Club of Glenorchy for sponsoring Leonards flights to Hobart.

OCTOBER 2018

While we have not ironed out all the wrinkles for our work visas, our team for October went ahead! Spending two weeks at Intermediate Hospital Oshakati, our team of 10 consisted of one obstetrician (Frank), one ICU specialist (Benoj), one general practitioner (Stuart), 3 perioperative nurses (Anna, Katie & Chris), and 4 anaesthetists (Andrew, Derek, Ben & Simon). Another successful trip and Benoj’s efforts in ICU were particularly appreciated by the junior doctors who were responsible for running a very busy unit with no prior experience or senior support! In addition we ran a 2-day refresher course on obstetrics and anaesthesia well attended by 29 doctors and nurses from 10 regional hospital in the north of Namibia.

JUNE 2018

Unfortunately our team planned for June has had to be cancelled due to more issues with our work visas not being approved. This is disappointing but we will continue to work to overcome these obstacles…

 MAY 2017

Our first team to Namibia. While not technically under the banner of Health Volunteers International, it was during this trip that our charity was born! Despite some minor issues with our work visas this was a very successful trip, with the team spending two weeks in Oshakati in the north. The team consisted of one anaesthetic nurse (Molly), two obstetricians (Peter & Amy), and three anaesthetists (Andrew, Derek & Mike).