Saving one child under the age of five does make a difference. This simple truth lies at the heart of the School of Nursing’s Starfish project.

 

The project is named after the legend about a young boy who was standing on a beach covered in starfish, throwing some of them back into the water. Told that saving a few would make no difference, he picked up one starfish and said: “To this one, it will make a difference.”

 

The NWU staff members participating in the Starfish project also believe that making a difference in even a few children’s lives is worthwhile.

 

Prof Welma Lubbe says the main goal of the project is to train and inspire registered nurses and health workers at clinics and hospitals in the Dr Kenneth Kaunda District in North West to pass on research-based information about children’s health to the parents or guardians of young children.

 

“Children under the age of five are very vulnerable and through our project we want to lower their mortality and morbidity rates – meaning the death and sickness rate,” she says.

 

Watch out for the next edition of eish! to read more about this life-saving project.

 

 

Saving children through the Starfish project

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eish! is produced and published in English, Setswana and Afrikaans by the Corporate Communication department of the NWU.