Near the end of her interview on the Wales, Africa and the World podcast, Dr Edna Adan stopped reflecting and started asking. It is worth listening to directly.

The ask, in her own words

Dr Edna is almost eighty-nine. Near the close of the interview, she said this: "My time is running out. I hope that you will carry my message, and invite universities to give us a chance to do six months, one year practical rotations there. It would make a tremendous difference to our standard of health patient care."

She has already trained 1,000 midwives for Somaliland, the target she set herself. Her ambition now is one million midwives across the whole of Africa. As she put it: "If Somaliland can do it, anybody can do it."

What answering that ask looks like

VeinTrain's own answer is HALO: bringing outside expertise in rather than delivering training and leaving. A colleague from a Russell Group medical school has already shown interest, and I hope more will follow. It's such a rewarding way to work, and the Somalilanders are a pleasure to teach, building capability that stays local rather than leaving with us.

Read the fuller reflection in Leadership That Changes Nations: Dr Edna Adan's Message to the World.

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