Caring Heart
Alumna Sada Herrera restores hope in West Africa
Spring 2011 · Comment ·
Sada Herrera 鈥�06 is devoting her life to addressing Sierra Leone鈥檚 overwhelming need for medical and dental care.
鈥�It鈥檚 hard to imagine that this country has six million people but only 75 registered physicians and only eight dentists,鈥� the nursing graduate says.
Herrera and her husband, Gabriel, a dentist, have spent more than a year and a half in the West African nation as part of the Global Connection Partnership Network (GCPN), an international nonprofit that links people with churches and other organizations.
In November GCPN and several partners, including UT Arlington, helped open the Hope Center near Freetown, the Sierra Leone capital. The 11,000-square-foot center, which serves families devastated by the country鈥檚 11-year civil war, features a dental and medical clinic, a conference room, male and female dormitories, classrooms, a computer lab, and a guest聽house.
UT Arlington participants included the , , , , and . Africa Program Director Alusine Jalloh coordinated the University鈥檚 efforts. Engineering professors designed the center鈥檚 electrical systems. Social work faculty contributed to the educational curriculum. Nursing professors consulted with medical personnel. Athletics donated sports equipment.
Herrera says she鈥檚 proud to have earned her degree from a university that鈥檚 restoring hope in the war-torn region.
鈥�This gives me an opportunity to use my nursing skills to help meet the physical and spiritual needs of the people of Sierra Leone. I have the ability鈥攁nd the duty鈥攖o pass on the same knowledge I learned at UT Arlington.鈥�