STRATEGIC COLLOQUIUM ON REGIONAL MEDICAL EDUCATION AND SERVICES IN BURUNDI AND THE SURROUNDING REGION IN CONNECTION WITH HOPE AFRICA UNIVERSITY.
(September 25, 2009--See below for details.)

Invitation to all physicians with interest in medical education and medical services in Burundi and central Africa. (If you have friends or colleagues who could have interest in these endeavors please bring them. This is not limited to Free Methodists only.)

Featuring: Special guest, Dr. Seleus Sibomana, Dean of the Frank Ogden Medical School at Hope Africa University.

This is your invitation to a Strategic Colloquium on regional Medical Education and Service in Burundi and the region and in connection with Hope Africa University. The Colloquium will be held on September 25, 2009 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at Essenhaus Inn and Conference Center at Middlebury, Indiana. This is planned to coordinate with the Free Methodist Medical Fellowship which begins on the evening of September 25 at the same location and participants are encouraged to stay on the for the FMMF program September 25-27.

Please reply to me, batesgerald@sbcglobal.net , if you are planning to come to the Colloquium. For lodging instructions contact Tim Kratzer, M.D. at president@fmmf.org.com

Background: In March 2009 a group of four physicians (Dr. David Crandall, Dr. Cedric Johnson, Dr. John Lammie, Dr. Norm Wetterau--all with international experience) visited Hope Africa University, its medical and nursing schools, Kibuye Hospital and various other medical installations. The visit was hosted by Dr. Seleus Sibomana, Dean of the Frank Ogden Medical School at Hope Africa University and the University's Rector, Bishop Dr. Elie Buconyori. The final two days of the visit were devoted to an intense planning session which developed the outline of an integrated Master Development Plan covering these institutions.

The hub of all this is Hope Africa University, a bilingual (French and English) boldly Christian liberal arts school of 2600 students. The plan includes making Kibuye Hospital a University hospital, thus upgrading its service to the surrounding community and furnishing clinical education for doctors and nurses in training (A student dormitory is being completed at this writing.). The University is extending its reach to the whole central Africa area (nine nationalities represented in its student body). Through its witness in Christian leadership, in the vibrant church that is present in Burundi, by Radio Voice of Hope, and through its Christian influence on the medical and educational systems of the country the University's kingdom potential is virtually limitless.


The Colloquium