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Developing Teaching on Forced Migration and Health: Perspectives from a Service User and an Academic
Gervais Kouloungou-Mambs, Service user
"Boyeli malamu na esika ya munganga. Esengeli bokoma bakombo nabino nakati ya buku pona komona moto na oyo etali bokono nabino? "
Can you answer the above question? How did it feel when you read it? It is in my language Lingala and means "Welcome to the health centre, please can you register".
I arrived in the UK with my young daughter after having been forced to flee from my home country and without any spoken English. Accessing healthcare was daunting and - from my first encounter onwards - I saw the huge difference that the healthcare professional's attitude and behaviour can have on how I feel, am and access health.
Since 2012 I have worked in the school of health sciences to develop sessions for future healthcare students. We have now worked to deliver sessions to thousands of healthcare students. I have been involved in every aspect of these sessions from the planning stage to the evaluation. I love receiving student feedback and it reminds me about how important and powerful my voice can be - and how my lived experiences can inspire future healthcare professionals.
Sophie North, Lecturer in Health Sciences
I feel incredibly lucky to have spent past 9 years at UEA working with many individuals from migrant communities to explore parts of their journey - and how this journey may impact upon their health and healthcare access.
I have now joined Gervais - and other members of refugee and migrant communities - at well over a hundred sessions to different cohorts of healthcare students. Before each session, we meet and discuss what we think we would like to include. After each session we debrief and think about what went well and what could change.
In each session, and in the process before and after, I feel I learn so many new things. I always leave inspired, challenged and with new knowledge. I am incredibly grateful to every member of the refugee community who has participated in teaching activities with me. Be this through speaking in a session, helping to develop a resource, or suggesting what they think should be in the curriculum. I know it makes a difference. One student reflected on their evaluation form recently that hearing lived experiences had opened their eyes, educated them, humbled them and felt an immense privilege. I feel this after every session and cannot express how grateful I am to those who feed into this teaching.