{"id":70477,"date":"2025-08-04T17:06:55","date_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:06:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/en\/?p=70477"},"modified":"2025-08-04T17:06:55","modified_gmt":"2025-08-04T15:06:55","slug":"growing-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/growing-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Growing together"},"content":{"rendered":"

In one of Mozambique\u2019s youngest and most dynamic cities\u2014Beira\u2014the Catholic University (Universidade Cat\u00f3lica de Mo\u00e7ambique<\/strong>, UCM) isn\u2019t just an institution for higher learning: it\u2019s a vibrant laboratory of ideas, exchange, and growth<\/strong> which is courageously and pragmatically shaping the future of health. Here, a new generation of doctors and nurses is being educated and trained, alongside the dedicated work of Doctors with Africa CUAMM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We have heard about it from the testemony of Dr. Francesco\u202fSegala<\/strong>, from Turin, and Federica\u202fPenco<\/strong>, nurse from Genoa\u2014who have been working hand-in-hand with the university since November and April respectively, thanks to a CUAMM-supported project.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a formative experience even for me, despite being here to teach,\u201d<\/em> Francesco shares.
\n\u201cOur office is inside the university. We live the dynamics of a centre of excellence from within\u2014one that a great many Catholic universities in Africa and the Lusophone world look to as a point of reference.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

UCM\u2019s pedagogical method is innovative: designed around the so-called \u201cbased learning\u201d<\/strong> approach, it places students at the centre of the educational process. Small tutor\u2011led groups guide them step by step.<\/p>\n

For Federica\u2014working in an academic setting for the first time\u2014the welcome has been warm:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy colleagues and the students involved me right away. Despite my imperfect Portuguese, they correct me, support me, listen to me\u2014and they ask me to contribute my own experience.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

One of UCM\u2019s most pioneering initiatives is the Sa\u00fade Familiar<\/strong> programme\u2014launched over twenty years ago: from the very first year, each student is assigned to five or six families in the bairro<\/em> of Chipangara, located right across the campus. These are communities often lacking electricity or running water, exposed to infectious diseases and severe health vulnerabilities. Over a four-year period, students follow these family units: they visit them, record health issues, and accompany them\u2014if needed\u2014to local health centres.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a powerful message to send students into the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods to knock on doors and ask, \u2018How are you? What\u2019s going on here? How are your children?\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/em> Francesco explains.
\n\u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like this at a Western university. It\u2019s a lesson in medicine and humanity rolled into one.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Starting this September\u2014and thanks to CUAMM\u2019s support\u2014the project will be enriched with a new research activity: a prospective cohort study<\/strong> to monitor key poverty-related infectious diseases\u2014HIV, malaria, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, helminthiasis. The goal: produce an up-to-date snapshot and design targeted future interventions. But the transformation is already underway.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing part of Mozambique\u2019s nursing revolution is both a beautiful and necessary challenge,\u201d<\/em> Federica admits.
\n\u201cUCM graduated its first nursing cohort only in 2009, but today the profession is gaining recognition and autonomy. Here, a new generation of care professionals is being built. And step by step, real change is happening.<\/strong>\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teaching at the Catholic University of Mozambique in Beira and working with its students is both challenging and deeply rewarding. It\u2019s far more than a job\u2014it\u2019s a mutual journey of growth that tutors and students undertake together.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":70478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1172,2493],"tags":[1187,1522],"argomenti":[],"protagonisti":[],"luoghi":[2513,2598,2937],"class_list":["post-70477","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-homenews","tag-beira","tag-ucm","luoghi-mozambique","luoghi-beira","luoghi-sofala"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70477","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70477"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70477\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70477"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70477"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70477"},{"taxonomy":"argomenti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/argomenti?post=70477"},{"taxonomy":"protagonisti","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/protagonisti?post=70477"},{"taxonomy":"luoghi","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/doctorswithafrica.org\/it\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/luoghi?post=70477"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}