The chairman of the Benin working group Benin, Michaël Verwimp, wrote a piece about his volunteer work with LUMOS. LUMOS is the volunteer organisation and driving force behind the medical development cooperation between UZ Leuven and its partner hospitals in Africa.
"Some 7 years ago, I was unexpectedly asked to participate in their Benin mission. Not being a nurse or doctor, I never thought I'd be able to contribute to the cooperation between UZ Leuven and its partner hospitals in Benin. But also in Benin there was a demand for expertise that could support the hospital activity. More specifically, there was a need for an analysis of the hospital management in two small local hospitals. Based on the analysis, support could (potentially) be given.
The assignment was one big adventure. The culture, scale and circumstances are completely different from what I'm used to. This made the assignment educational but also enriching and refreshing. In the end, the local hospitals learned a lot, but so did I.
In the meantime, I've been an active member in Benin, and I have been returning every year to assist the hospitals involved with their budgets."
Via LUMOS UZ Leuven works towards high-quality healthcare in its 12 partner hospitals in West and Central Africa, together with the KU Leuven Biomedical Sciences and the UCLL Health programme.
This article is part of the Annual report 2021
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