Dr. Charles Mphande, PhD
Dr. Charles Mphande, PhD
Dr Charles Mphande, educator, applied linguist, and development information education and communication (IEC) specialist, is Senior Lecturer at Victoria University, Melbourne Australia.
Dr Mphande’s research and teaching in development and social change, spanning over two decades, straddles academia and practice. He is active in community social change work, particularly among new and emerging communities, including African heritage Australians and others. He has supervised numerous postgraduate projects in development and social Change as well as related areas. Further, Dr Mphande works with the African Union on diaspora and development interests.
More recently, he has been actively engaged in work pertaining to the International Decade for People of African Descent.
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Dr. Richard Mafuriranwa
Dr. Richard Mafuriranwa
Dr. Richard holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Tasmania 2015, a master’s in social work from Griffith University in Queensland 2018 and currently pursing Certificate IV in Mental Health with Open Colleges, Australia, and a Higher Degree (HDR) by Research at Curtin University, Australia.
As an ordained member of the clergy, he utilizes a strengths-based and client centered social work practice framework that is contextually, culturally, and spiritually relevant in meeting the needs of clients.
Dr. Richard research interests include the interface between Religion, Spirituality and Social Work, the Intersection of Mental Health and Spiritual Care, the Role of the Church and Clergy in Mental Health.
He is accredited with the Australian Association of Social Workers, Spiritual Care Australia and Australian Community Workers Association as well as the National Association of Social Workers Zimbabwe. Dr. Richard is a Mental Health Social Worker at Umoona Tjutagku Aboriginal Health Service in Coober Pedy, South Australia.
Dr. Richard has extensive knowledge in psychosocial-spiritual support and strengths-based intervention when working with clients from vulnerable and diverse backgrounds.
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Mr. Butrus Ajak
Mr. Butrus Ajak
Mr. Butrus is a Public Health Expert, graduated from Deakin University with two Masters, including Master of Public Health and Master of Health Promotion. His research component was based on asylum seekers mental health where he was employed as a health promotion officer by Western Region Health Centre, currently known as Cohealth across Victoria. In 2014, he resigned from this position and moved to Alice Springs where he worked for the Department of Health with Northern Territory government, specifically, at Alice Springs Hospital as health promotion officer with Centre for Disease control.
In 2016, his contract ended at the Department of Health with North Territory Government, moved back to Melbourne, Victoria where he currently works as a Mental Health worker at Alfred Health.
Mr. Butrus Ajak is passionate to continue working with migrants, refugees, and multicultural communities in Victoria as well as other parts of Australia. He believes mental health issues are challenges in these communities and there is a need to co-design projects and programs that are culturally appropriate and critically important.
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Ms. Hannah Van Der Heyden
Ms. Hannah Van Der Heyden
Hannah is currently completing her undergraduate degrees in Health Science majoring in Public Health and Commerce majoring in Management at La Trobe University in Bundoora. Her main areas of interest include maternal and child health and education. Hannah also serves as the treasurer of the La Trobe Public Health Students’ Association, which aims to improve and promote the health of students at the university and in the broader community via the implementation of health promotion programs.
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Mr. Akoch Akoch
Mr. Akoch Akoch
Mr. Akoch holds a Bachelor of Nursing (BNUR) from the University of Southern Queensland (USQ), 2008, Master of Diplomacy and Trade (with specialization in International Trade) 2014 from the Monash University in Melbourne and Graduate Certificate in Acute Care Nursing 2016 from the Institute of Health and Nursing Australia.
He originally joined the Victoria Centre for Cancer Care (VCCC)/Peter MacCallum back in 2020 on an ongoing permanent full-time basis after completing the necessary checks and balances to qualify for such an important role in such a prestige institution.
Prior to that, he has worked for Cabrini healthcare at the main hospital in Malvern and Western health at Footscray hospital. Mr. Akoch is currently undertaking cancer nursing and clinical reasoning in the post graduate specialities at the University of Melbourne, College of Medicines and Health Sciences, with a tremendous clinical support from the Peter MacCallum.
At Peter MacCallum, he involved in many different facets of learning skills to boost his expertise in the oncology nursing. He has worked as a Registered Nurse for 11 years in the profession, which started in Queensland, South Sudan and now Melbourne. The roles involve Public health in Eradication Programme for Immunization (EPI), training and education for mid-level healthcare workers, health needs assessment and response, Clinical Support Nurse, and current accredited Oncology nurse Certified Chemotherapist.
Mr. Akoch areas of interest and support are:
- Ethics in health care.
- Barriers to access health care services (social determinants of health).
- Therapeutic communication and relations between client, healthcare professionals and health institution at large.
- Career advice to prospect students in health-related courses across the spectrum.
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Dr. Shep Chidarikire
Dr. Shep Chidarikire
Dr Shep Chidarikire is a registered mental health nurse with a clinical background in adult forensic, acute and community mental health nursing. Shep currently works in the School of Nursing as a Lecturer teaching in mental health and communication skills for patient health and safety in the undergraduate and postgraduate courses at the University of Tasmania.
A graduate of the University of York, in England, UK, Dr Chidarikire holds a PhD, Bachelor of Health Science (Nursing) degree as well as a Master of Nursing (Nurse Practitioner).
His PhD thesis explored the experiences of people living with schizophrenia in Zimbabwe.
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