“Out of respect for the applicants I shall refrain from giving specific details but let's just say it is never a dull day at work and I have plenty of marriage proposals pending!”

UNICAF students in Lagos, Nigeria were invited to a social event, on the 15th of July, held at a nice café in town, to meet and interact with fellow students. The main purpose of this get together was to encourage UNICAF students to exchange experiences and ideas and to instill in them the sense of belonging to a large and friendly family: the UNICAF community, now firmly present in nine different countries and continuing to expand.

“Student advisers must have a good command of the English language, full understanding of the processes and programmes on offer, be able to empathise with applicants, be able to multitask, create rapport with applicants and follow all procedures as requested.“

UNICAF staff in Zambia recently attended an exciting barbecue party at Precious Moments Lodge in Lusaka. The aim was to bond, get to know each other better and build a team spirit. They ate delicious food, drank beer and laughed a lot. They played games as well. Soccer and the Zambian version of dodgeball. UNICAF Marketing Officer Valerie Chama’s team won the soccer game, beating the team of Professor Sinjela, Rector of Unicaf University, while Anthony Chanda, UNICAF Marketing Manager was the champion of dodgeball.

“The best reward that we have while interacting with an applicant is when they thank us for advising and guiding them through the application process, all the way until they enroll on the degree programme they have selected. It feels good when someone appreciates you for the good job you are doing.”

UNICAF invited Ugandan students to meet in a nice café in Kampala to get to know each other and to network. 10 students, doing University of Nicosia degree programmes through UNICAF, met on July 15th and had a great time talking about their experiences. After coffee and snacks the group expressed their joy and gratitude for this opportunity to meet with fellow UNICAF students in Uganda. They even wrote down their remarks on coloured sticky notes, took photographs of the event and expressed their satisfaction and pride for being a UNICAF student in video testimonials.

With a rapid population growth, as seen in African countries, arises the need for high quality public healthcare, that can serve all parts of the country. With a limited number of doctors, healthcare practitioners and nurses, who are on the frontline of medical care provision, efficient management of resources becomes crucial in developing a sustainable national public healthcare programme, that can adequately cover the largest number of patients at the lowest possible cost.