Vida's Other Life

Most of us at UBC Okanagan know Vida as a student, first as a master's candidate and now completing her Phd. However, Vida has another life in Ghana and I wanted to share a little about that with all of you. We know that she is far more than a student, and that she has contributed to her wider community in many ways, not the least of which is Project GROW.

When we were in Tamale, Jan and I visited the campus where Vida holds a position as a Lecturer with the School of Medicine and Health Sciences in the Faculty of Nursing. So, she teaches nursing, but she does more too. She also runs the University Health services, much like our own Health Services here at UBC Okanagan, and is the Nurse Manager. It was exciting to wander around her campus and picture her in one of the offices or teaching. She will return, armed and dangerous to those who do not promote women's health I might add, and resume her teaching role at UDS once her Phd is completed. So, next time you come across Vida on our campus, you might want to think beyond her studies in Canada, and picture her in place at UDS, continuing to influence and inspire, and to change lives in her own community.

I have popped a couple of pictures in below so you get an idea as to what the campus looks like. It is south of Tamale, and has a lot of land because they are, like UBC Okanagan, in a building and expanding phase. UDS has 4 campuses and according to Cynthia, the plan is to bring the campuses together at one location, or at least to centralize much of the learning there.