Ukrainian student conference
CMF is in gospel partnership with Christian medics in many countries around the world and gives opportunities to their student members to get involved in running summer teams, camps and conferences in a wide range of cultures.
will not go on to practise it. The ability to buy a medical degree without passing exams has lead to a general mistrust of doctors, leading to poor health of the general public. Life expectancy is 68, tuberculosis rate per 100,000 population is 113.7 (compared with UK 11.9) and 1.6% of the population aged 15-49 is living with HIV (compared with UK 0.2%). 1
BEN: Ukrainian medical students work in a deeply corrupt medical system where being an active Christian who stands up for their faith is both counter-cultural and detrimental to their progress up the career ladder. It was certainly a contrast to the comparatively easy ride we have in the UK.
To combat the poor health and corrupt medical system many Christian doctors who are members of CMAU are seeking to meet the medical needs of communities.
LIZ: I chatted to a woman called Lena over dinner who was working at a refuge for women and their children, many of whom are HIV positive. I was really amazed about how the refuge cares for the women where society and the health service have failed. Along with this nearly every CMAU student group is involved in some kind of medical outreach service at weekends. I was actually a little bit gutted that I’ve organised my elective already!
32
LIZ: This weekend was an excellent experience for me. Not only was I deeply challenged, encouraged and inspired, I also felt honoured to be able to be part of the work God is doing in Ukraine. BEN: This trip was a great motivation for me – to stand up for Jesus as a student here in the UK, and in whatever setting he leads me to in the future. I hope to maintain my links with Ukraine and possibly visit again in the future.
The work is not over. On 29-30 October 2011 there will be a Christian medical conference for international students studying in Ukraine. The main language spoken there will be English and it is hoped there will be 350-400 people in attendance, both believers and non-believers. The organisers have asked for prayers for
the preparation of this conference and also that some people from English speaking countries will be able to get involved. They want students to go over to be an encouraging presence, particularly if anyone is able to prepare and give a talk on a topic to do with Christianity or medicine, even better would be Christian medicine. If that could be you please get in touch (
students@cmf.org.uk) – you won’t regret it! ■
1. MGD Monitor, tracking the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.
www.mdgmonitor.org
SUMMER 2011
REFERENCES
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40