“Every time you care for someone without prejudice, every time you treat a patient with dignity—regardless of their origin, religion, or story—you are building peace.
You are resisting the forces that divide and destroy.
Your every action — a dressing, a comfort, a presence — is a small work of peace, which opposes disinterest, indifference, the invisible violence of loneliness.”
The hall of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at St. Luke’s Hospital in Wolisso was full on Saturday, June 28 on the occasion of the 22nd graduation ceremony. Flavio Bobbio— CUAMM doctor and director of the hospital—addressed the gathered students, who were celebrating together with their proud families and behind his Excellency Bishop Lukas Fikre. reminding them that “healing often begins where compassion lives.”
Because yes, providing care requires skill, professionalism, and precision, but choosing this profession also means embracing a calling—and today in Wolisso, 59 students are celebrating that choice. There are 24 midwifery students and 35 nursing students who, after two years of study, receive their diplomas and become qualified and competent healthcare professionals.
“For the first time since the opening of the college, all the students enrolled passed the exam and got their Certificate of Competence – COC. This is not only a success for the students but also a great achievement for the school itself” said Flavio Bobbio.
For many of them who left home to move here and study with commitment and dedication under the guidance of Selamawit Tamirat Tefera – school director, this school felt like home. In the classrooms and hospital corridors, they have grown both professionally and personally. They have focused on theoretical knowledge, challenged themselves in labs, and gained clinical experience by working alongside the hospital staff and CUAMM doctors. It has been a full immersion into the profession and the work of caregiving, which is “a radical and powerful act,” when carried out with humanity, as Flavio underlined in his speech.
The Nursing and Midwifery School in Wolisso opened its doors to students from various regions of the country in 2000, the same year the hospital itself was inaugurated. Since then, Doctors with Africa CUAMM has provided continuous support. Over the past ten years, our commitment has been strengthened by a valuable collaboration with Women Hope International NGO—an organization with which we share the mission of training health professionals. Together, we continue to train future healthcare workers, thereby increasing the number of qualified professionals in the country.
Indeed, the shortage of professionals is one of the major challenges affecting the Ethiopian healthcare system at all levels. The number of medical specialists in the country is vastly insufficient, and in this context, qualified healthcare professionals are essential to ensure the delivery of services. Year after year, the school helps to slowly fill a gap: as of 2022, Ethiopia was far from reaching the WHO target of 2.3 healthcare workers per 1,000 inhabitants by 2025, with an average of only 0.7 midwives and nurses per 1,000 people.
To date, 920 healthcare workers including midwives and nurses have graduated at St. Luke College in Wolisso.
Each year, around 60 students enroll at this institution—recognized by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and part of the professional school network of the Oromia Region. These are students ready to assist, to listen, and to build peace through the work of care.
