Following her short trip to Myanmar in May, Melanie Yeneralski has worked with Video Editor, Dion Johnson, and other members of the Media Studio team to produce a short film about the work of Addenbrooke's Abroad volunteers in countries as diverse as Botswana, El Salvador and Myanmar. Drawing on video and stills shot by Media Studio and other CUH staff on their visits, the film explains the great value derived from such international collaborations – both for the partner institutions and for the volunteers themselves. Addenbrooke's Abroad aims to make a positive change in healthcare, improving the lives of millions of the most vulnerable people. It relies entirely on CUH staff volunteering and receives no funding from the NHS, which makes its fantastic achievements all the more remarkable.

The film was shown last week at an 'An Evening with Addenbrooke's Abroad', titled 'International volunteering and global health partnerships: Building resilience in an NHS in crisis'. At the event, Lord Nigel Crisp, former Chief  Executive of the NHS and co-Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Global Health, made the keynote speech on global health partnerships and international volunteering. He explored why, now more than ever, we should be harnessing the opportunity that overseas volunteering provides to build the skills and resilience of our own staff so they can thrive in the current NHS climate.

Lord Nigel Crisp

Addenbrooke's Abroad NHS staff volunteers presented a series of three flash presentations, giving first hand accounts of how they have helped shape health care in their placement countries. Melanie spoke about her visit and the great value of having an experienced CUH long-term volunteer in Maggs Hamilton to help her film large numbers of interviews and activities.

She also got directly involved in training; a retinal biomicroscope camera had just been delivered and Mel was able to demonstrate to the Endocrinology team how to take high-quality retinal photographs for Diabetic Retinal Screening. Seen here with Mel are the Head of Endocrinology, Prof Khin Saw Than (in green), Dr. Moe Wint Aung (in pink) and junior doctors Dr. Bo Bo and Dr Cho, working in the 40-degree heat of Yangon.

A group of nurses at the Yangon General Hospital, looking cool despite the heat.