Message from Professor Alberto Grando

Hi everybody, I attached below the message sent by the SDA Bocconi Dean, Professor Alberto Grando, to all SDA Bocconi MBAs 35. I would like to thank personally Professor Grando who promoted the internship opportunity at Kalongo.

Dear Federico,
dear MBAs 35, given my age, I'm not particularly accustom with
blogs, but I would like to express my personal gratitude for the
choice Federico made. I know that others among you all, had the
desire to follow him, but unfortunately it is an option for a few. I
really think that the MBA must be a transforming experience and not
just from a professional point of view. Building the leader of
tomorrow is our goal. But the issue of leadership addresses the
question: “leadership to what end”? It is hard to mention leadership
without invoking a question about values. Being leader in the
society means serving people, companies, institutions - in a word -
the large community of the outside society in which you are asked to
behave as professionals, as you are, as well as civil servants, as
I’m sure all of you will be. Thank'you very much for making us proud.
I'll follow the bolg in the next months, but if you can, please
insert my message in it.
Take care and all the best.
Alberto Grando

Only few days miss...

Only few days miss and the 1st of June I will take my flight from Milan to Entebbe. I cannot hide that I'm excited and I can't wait to start my experience but I'm continually wondering how will be there.
I deicided to start this blog with a description of the hospital and I hope everybody could understand better where I will go without being too much boring.
The hospital is very close to a little village called Kalongo in the middle of a rural area, isolated and extremely under developed.
The hospital was founded in 1957 by Father Joseph Ambrosoli, a surgeon belonging to the Catholic Comboni order, who turned a small dispensary into one of the most important health care organization in Northern Uganda. After his death in 1987 the hospital remained closed for a while as a consequence of rebels’ fightings in the area. Yet in 1989 another Combonian doctor, Father Egidio Tocalli, restarted the hospital and managed it till very recently. Now a Catholic surgeon, Sr. Vincentina Achora, is in charge of the hospital.
Today, Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital is a private not for profit hospital with 345 beds capacity, managed by a totally Ugandan staff, employing 300 people.
The hospital is made up of many wards : surgery, delivery, HIV special unit, malnutrition, pediatrics, infective diseases and outpatients department.
The Hospital treats about 60.000 persons per year including outpatients.
The leading diseases in terms of years of life lost are malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, acute respiratory diseases, traumas, complications of pregnancy and prenatal conditions.
Right aside the hospital, St.Mary’s Midwifery School was founded in 1959 by Fr. Joseph Ambrosoli with the purpose of training girls to help pregnant women and babies, the most vulnerable in society, in order to reduce maternal and prematures’ deaths.
It aims to supply to students a qualified midwifery’s training so promoting also a long-term sustainability for the hospital.
From its beginning the school has qualified more than 1200 students who are considered as very qualified in the many different health structures in Uganda and in other African countries.
Now the school has developed three different courses and has a capacity of 120 students per year.
The school is very well managed under the leadership of Sr. Carmel