About us

In November 2007 Peter Hearn, a GP from Bournemouth, UK, made a volunteer trip through AidCamps International to work as a doctor in a rural health clinic.

Peter Hearn with a male nurse handing over equipment
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Spreading Health

In the village of Lui, Oku sub-division in Cameroon, West Africa. Peter lived with a local village family, a great way of getting to know the villagers and their way of life. He enjoyed wonderful hospitality and friendliness throughout the village. There was a 'Welcome' ceremony, complete with traditional music and dancers and at the end of the placement there were speeches and gifts in a tropical rainstorm.

In this village he worked with nurses who usually ran the clinic alone. They had never had a doctor working there before. The clinic served the village and several surrounding ones with a total population said to be around 20,000, resulting in long queues every day.

About the project

The facts

  • In the developing world healthcare systems are inevitably focused on urban areas where the population is most concentrated.
  • It is enormously expensive to provide a universal healthcare system such as we have in the UK, and for many governments in developing countries this is beyond their means.
  • Many people in rural areas have difficulties accessing healthcare.
  • Whilst on this volunteer placement, it occurred to Peter that the need in rural areas is for fundamental and basic healthcare and that this can be provided by a well trained nurse and midwife, with access to doctors when needed.
  • This charity is, therefore, founded on the belief that we can best contribute to the wider spread of health by sponsoring local people to train as health professionals to work in their own communities.
  • The involvement of the community is vital in the selection of a candidate, to give support during training. Provide a clinic building and employment therein once the student nurse has qualified. This involvement will lead to more sustainable long term development of rural healthcare, because the nurse is more likely to remain in that placement as it is their original community. In some cases the state has taken responsibility for funding of a Spreading Health sponsored nurse and their clinic further increasing the likelihood of sustainability.
  • It is expected that once qualified and experienced, these health professionals will accept future students for training attachments with them in their village health clinics.

Meet the team

We are a small Bournemouth, UK based charity/NGO raising money to sponsor the training of nurses in Africa. Our partner in Cameroon is SHUMAS.
Flag of the UK

The UK team

Meet our incredible team based in the UK

Peter Hearn

Glynis Hearn

Bill Shaw

Peter Kammerling

Pasco Hearn

Flag of Cameroon

The Cameroon team

SHUMAS staff involved in the Spreading Health Nurse Programme

Stephen Ndzerem

Billian Nyuykighan

Gisela Beri

Sama Paltiel Yeti

Nyuydze Collette Kernyuy

Yong Kevin Wanefon

Omer Tawong

Key volunteers

Geoff & Lene Gurney

Our partner

We are grateful to our partner SHUMAS in Cameroon
Shumas Sign - Strategic Humanitarian Services
Cameroon ngo

Shumas

SHUMAS is a charitable and Development Non–Governmental Organisation (DNGO) involved in a wide range of development issues. The Government of Cameroon, per Authorisation number 1082/E.29/1111/VOL.7/APPB of 21st April 1997, recognised SHUMAS as a Development 'Not for Profit' NGO.

SHUMAS and her partners have been supporting the Cameroon Government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy. This includes, amongst others, the construction and equipping of rural schools, sustainable agriculture practices, environmental protection, health related issues etc.

To learn more please click to the SHUMAS web site

11/15/2007
Dr Peter Hearn visits Cameroon

Does a volunteer medical placement in a rural community clinic in Lui village, Oku district, in the Anglophone, North West region of Cameroon Works in a clinic serving 20,000 from a cluster of villages.

03/14/2008
Spreading health set up

Peter & Glynis Hearn and friends set up Spreading Health in March 2008.

09/28/2008
5 nurse students sponsored in Bamenda, Cameroon.

Peter and Glynis Hearn visit SHUMAS, our partner NGO in Bamenda Cameroon to review the new set up and visit the 5 new students at St Louis college.

11/15/2008
Peter & Glynis visit Cameroon

Peter and Glynis Hearn visit SHUMAS, our partner NGO in Bamenda Cameroon to review the new set up and visit the 5 new students at St Louis college.

10/20/2009
New Nurse students sponsored

In addition to the standard 3 year training, we agreed to sponsor some students for a 1 year Nursing Assistant course.

08/24/2010
First Nursing Assistants Qualify

The first 3 nursing assistants qualify from their 1 year course and return to their communities to work.

08/15/2011
First SRNs qualify

4 students qualify SRN from St Louis college and 3 more nursing assistants qualify from Capitol college Bamenda.

11/15/2011
Peter & Glynis visit Cameroon again

Peter and Glynis visit SHUMAS in Bamenda and catch up with the students currently in training.

11/21/2014
9 New SRN students sponsored

We have received a £10,000 grant from the British Medical Association (BMA) and this year are able to sponsor 9 new nursing students for the 3 year SRN course.

10/24/2015
Spreading Health run a CPD course in Bamenda

Peter and Glynis lead a Spreading Health team of volunteers from the UK to run a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) course at Shumas headquarters at Nkwen, Bamenda.

10/29/2017
Training Suspended

Political conflict closes all schools, colleges and universities in the Anglophone sector of Cameroon.

Make A Donation

We aim to work in partnership with rural communities in the developing world who want to develop the health care in their villages.

UK Registered Charity Number: 1131624

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