Fall 2007
Vol. 14/ No. 2

George Kaine is a nurse for the Medical Teams International on a U.S. AID contract in Grand Cape Mount County in Liberia, Africa .

Jill Scott-Cawiezell, nursing professor, met Kaine during the first meeting of the Childhood Survival Project in January this year. She also personally saw the impact public-health nurses, like Kaine, had on the lives of Liberians living in the most remote part of the country. She was also aware of the fact that one out of four children under the age of 5 die.

As she walked through the villages with George, she saw his gift for navigating these primitive villages and their tribal leadership, his communication style that crossed language and tribal culture, and thought that he truly exemplified what public-health nursing is all about.

Left: One of the fathers that George works with as a public-health nurse in Liberia. One out of every five children under the age of 5 will die in the worn-torn country. These twins are being "protected" by amulets necklaces.

“We talked about his dream of going to graduate school,” Scott-Cawiezell says. “I thought to myself, this young man will not just improve the health of a few with an advanced education; he could have an impact on the health of a nation.”

So in addition to her commitment to public-health advances in Liberia she is now committed to finding a way for Kaine to “attend” Mizzou through the on-line Master's courses.

“I keep thinking if I tell his amazing story of commitment and talent that I will find a way to make this happen,” she says.

George Kaine, second on right, and Jill Scott-Cawiezelll, far right, meet before heading into the village.