I want to acknowledge the support and friendship of many people who have been involved in this journey:-
Professor Olesugun ‘Soji Ajibolu, the head of the Department of Health Sciences at the Fiji National University, who so efficiently organised the facilities for the Fiji workshops and participated in the training.
Dr ‘Ana Akou’ola, Radiologist from Tonga who helped train at the first worshop in Fiji.
Dr Cynthia Cowling, who brought me out of the wilderness and under the umbrella of ISRRT, made the African workshops possible, and was a vital part of the team in Kampala and Kigali.
Robert George, President of the ISRRT and senior radiographer from Adelaide South Australia, who supported the project from the start and was a member of the Steering Group for the Fiji workshops.
Professor Oliver Hennessey, radiologist from St Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne Australia, who helped train at the second Fiji Workshop.
Jenny Motto, Senior Lecturer, School of Radiography of the University of Johannesburg, who kept things calm when we were learning about African ways from a distance, and was a vital team member in Kampala and Lusaka.
Dr Paula Bavou Nakabea, Charge Radiologist, Commonwealth War Memorial Hospital, Suva, Fiji, who was a member of the Steering Group, supplied a lot of teaching material, and participated in training in all three Fijian workshops.
Hannah Nicholls, radiography student from Monash in Melbourne, who paid her own way to join the team in Kigali, and spent many hours marking test papers - a great effort!
Dr Harald Ostensen, Head of Medical Imaging at the World Health Organisation, without whom none of this would have happened.
Dr Holger Petterssen, co-chairman of the WHO Global Steering Group for Education and Training in Diagnostic Radiology, who with Harald Ostensen made the presentation to the College in 2000 and was a member of the Steering Group for the Fiji workshops.
Katrina Ryan, radiography student from Monash, who paid her way to join us in Kampala and got very good at copying CDs.
Dr Peter Scally, radiologist from Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital in Brisbane Australia, my mentor and role model as I ventured into the Pacific. For many years the chair of the College’s South Pacific Liaison Committee.
Associate Professor Tony Smith, senior radiographer and Academic Lead, University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health, Taree, New South Wales Australia, who prepared and presented half the talks in the Fiji workshops.
Dr Rodney Strahan, radiologist from Monash, a key member of the team in Lusaka with a great depth of local experience.
Don Swinbourne, former CEO of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, who was generous with his time and support and the College’s financial backing as we made the plans for the Fiji workshops.
The ISRRT, for their generous support of the African workshops.
I am enormously grateful to the national radiography society committee members in Kampala, Lusaka and Kigali who worked so hard to make the African workshops happen; and the local radiologists in those cities who supported the workshops by giving talks.
And finally a huge ‘thank you’ to the participants at every workshop. We had some fun along the way, and I gained glimpses of your lives and your work with all its challenges.
Your engagement with the challenging workshop content, delivered in high concentration over a very short time, and your professionalism were inspirational.