CHP staffer attends Global Mentoring Leadership Retreat

Nonhlanhla Nxumalo attended a Global Mentoring Leadership Retreat in the USA, Middleburg, Virginia from the 3rd – 6th April 2017. She also attended a related supplementary event; the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH) conference on the 6th to the 8th April 2017. The mentorship retreat was hosted by the Global Health Equity Scholars Fellowship. It was attended by mentors from universities from India, Tanzania, Kenya, Peru, Zambia, Mozambique, South Africa and the US. The purpose of the retreat was to strengthen the network of mentors from the universities mentioned. It was also to share strategies to strengthen the mentoring programmes in our respective institutions. The workshop generated ideas on potential papers related to mentorship programmes and the experiences thereof. It included sharing of ideas on ways to grow and sustain mentorship programmes through for instance, materials and tools such as guidelines for developing a mentorship programme and evaluation templates. There was the opportunity to brainstorm and agree on the definition and role of a mentor and a mentee, respectively.

The CUGH conference provided the opportunity to attend presentations and panel discussions on current global public health research. It included presentations on capacity development initiatives which facilitate scholarship placements of students from around the world to conduct research in low and low middle income countries.