A Message from Brian Jack
I’m delighted to share this newsletter that includes some exciting updates from LeBoHA. Some of you have not heard from us in awhile, however LeBoHA has continued to carry out its mission to help strengthen the health system of the Mountain Kingdom of Lesotho. Some highlights of the progress we have made in recent years:


  • The Family Medicine Specialty Training Program (FMSTP) is the first physician training program ever in the country and is now fully accredited. We are looking forward to reaccreditation September 2021.
  • There are now 3 full time faculty, 9 graduates all of whom remain in the country, and 11 registrars in training. Our doctors work in 9 of the 10 districts of Lesotho and are fulfilling our goal of having a locally trained physician accessible to nearly every individual in Lesotho, especially in the rural communities. 
  • FMSTP faculty and leadership are rapidly transitioning from international to local leadership, and LeBoHA has added new faculty and administrative leadership development programs to support this transition.
  • LeBoHA has signed a contract with the MoH to run the National Medical Internship Program – over 40 Basotho interns who completed medical school in other countries are now enrolled in this 2 year program. Considering there were 130 doctors (1:20,000 people) when we started, this is quite an achievement. 
  • Our dream of transitioning the educational programs from grant funding to sustainable MoH long-term support has been realized. 
  • In the next few months, USAID ASHA funding will allow ground breaking on 4 new buildings - 2 more houses, a second “Bicknell House” and an academic center for administration, teaching and research on our beautiful land in the Leribe district.
We are proud of these accomplishments that Bill Bicknell envisioned in 2003 when we began. This progress would not have been possible without the generosity of each of you. Your ongoing support helps fund critical needs such as infrastructure, faculty development, scholarship and medical equipment. I deeply appreciate your contributions that help us touch more lives and honor Bill’s legacy. 

Below are some more details of these program. Please contact me directly (brian.jack@bmc.org) to set up a time to talk, or to request more details about our work. We plan to send out 3 newsletters each year – so stay tuned!

Sincerely

Brian
Director, LeBoHA
Building New Facilities for Teaching and Learning 
The "Bill Bicknell House" and a rendering of the upcoming postgraduate campus funded by USAID. The groundbreaking is scheduled in the next 2-3 months. Construction includes 2 houses, a second “Bill Bicknell house” (8 bedrooms), an academic center with conference facilities, kitchen and dining space, and a library. These facilities, now being referred to as the "National Postgraduate Medical Campus” will allow for expanding teaching and learning and receiving additional visitors, students, residents and volunteers! We will soon be starting a fundraising campaign for new additions to the campus.
Reaccreditation Boot Camp 
Taole Mangope, Moretlo Thulo and Paballo Lethunya meet to plan for reaccreditation of FMSTP based on Lesotho Council of Higher Education framework, which will be submitted in September making LeBoHA a degree (MMedFAM) granting educational organization.
Internship
Pictured above are some of our medical interns receiving PPE. The Lesotho National Internship Program, launched in April 2019 continues to grow and develop. The program now has more than 40 interns, all Basotho doctors who have returned to Lesotho to complete this 2 year program. The program is run by Dr. Lisebo Mojaje, a FMSTP graduate. A few of our interns have enrolled in the FMSTP. Internship training in the country now makes expanding training to other specialties more possible. Such plans are on the drawing board!
Problem Solving for Better Health
 In 2004, LeBoHA partnered with the Dreyfus Health Foundation to train health workers on quality improvement and practical healthcare delivery using a methodology called Problem Solving for Better Health® (PSBH®). The Ministry of Health (MoH) has recently requested that LeBoHA organize new workshops for nurses with the goal of training all 877 RNs and and 373 LNPs in the country over the next several years. As seen above, Nurses and midwives from many districts of Lesotho are attending PSBH-N (Problem Solving for Better Nursing) facilitator training with Me Mantoetse Jobo (facilitator) and Me Elizabeth Nkholongo (country director).
Monitoring and Evaluation
This year LeBoHA engaged a monitoring and evaluation (M+E) consultant to help us create an ongoing M+E plan for the training programs. The plan is now being carried out by the LeBoHA M+E officer Paballo Lethunya. We used the USAID Collaborating, Learning and Adapting (CLA) that was featured on the USAID website. 
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