Summa nursing students on a study trip to Gambia: "You learn everything there that isn't in the books."

Sixteen second-year students Nursing From Summa Healthcare and Welfare, they will depart for Gambia on January 12th. For a week, they will experience a completely different way of caring and living. Together with teacher Charlotte Hulsen, who initiated the initiative, they will discover what healthcare looks like in a country with far fewer resources than the Netherlands.

"It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," says student Floor Maas (19) enthusiastically. "We're going to see how healthcare works there, without all the equipment and facilities we take for granted here. I think it will make you appreciate what we have in the Netherlands even more."

Preparations have been underway for months. The students have collected boxes full of supplies desperately needed in Gambia: baby and children's clothing, bandages, medical gloves, catheters, sutures, paracetamol, and umbilical cord clamps. The boxes are now on their way, so the group can distribute them on site in January.

Lenthe Zoetmulder (18) single-handedly provided ten boxes. "I put out a call on Facebook and received so many responses from family and work. My sister-in-law even showed up with bags full of baby clothes. Everyone pitched in."

During the trip, the students will visit hospitals, teach at a primary school, and visit a home for children with disabilities. "We'll also go to the beach, go kayaking, and sample the local cuisine," Floor says with a laugh. "And we'll keep everyone updated via Instagram: Summa goes to Gambia. "

The initiative came from Charlotte Hulsen, a pharmacy assistant instructor at Summa, who has been involved in projects in Gambia for five years. "I visit the country regularly. The need is immense, but the people are incredibly resilient. That's when I thought: our students need to experience this."

She beams as she talks about the preparations. "I really had to swallow when I saw the stacks of boxes they had collected. I sent photos of them to my local contacts. My phone immediately flooded with messages from Gambia from people who were so grateful."

For Charlotte, it's more than just a trip. "It's exciting, of course, taking sixteen young people to Africa. But it's well-organized and safe. They come back with a backpack full of experience and a different perspective on the world."