I followed the clinic's progress for a few years. I started connecting to Kiti Peter, the clinical officer in charge at the time. Things were different compared to my brief glimpse of the situation in 2012. Patients were coming in, other sources of funding were being tapped into. Kiti was actively searching for ways to expand what the clinic could do for the community, and also to make it a desirable place to work. I was honored to receive an invite out there, and I was planning on it.
And then Covid-19 hit. Things shut down everywhere and there was no chance of international travel. It was a dark time in the way of human interaction and communication, even for those living so close to us. It is hard to imagine how much more isolated this rural community felt through those years. Remarkably they survived.
In the summer of 2022 Stephen and I traveled to Uganda to meet Kiti and the clinical team in person. We arrived to find a sharp, young clinical team and a busy clinic. The clinic still lacked resources of all types, but the team was compensating as best they could with dedication and compassion. In just a few days there, I learned so much about the health problems facing the community and I heard so many great ideas about how to help change things. I also understood that this clinic needs help. They want to grow and the community is begging for them to grow.
We used what money we had raised and helped smooth out a jagged road, helped build a new kitchen. We purchased a new microscope and some lab testing equipment. We brought in blood pressure and pulse oximetry devices to help guide triage and treatment. We brought in a doppler for fetal heart tones, allowing mothers to hear their babies heart beat for the first time. I spent time with the clinic team training on emergency scenarios and helping to develop protocols and a triage system, while Stephen replaced all the windows and put up privacy curtains and added new chairs to the waiting room. At the end we helped to fund a medical outreach day. Several hundred community members came and we were able to hire a dentist and an optometrist. With just a small amount of time and money, coupled with the bright minds at the clinic, we started down this path together.
Stephen and I are committed to helping the Kaserem Christian Medical Clinic grow because we had seen what they do for their community and we listened to their plans for the future – and they made sense. With just a little bit of money and time, we can make a difference for people who might think that the rest of the world doesn’t care about them. When Stephen and I left one early summer morning, we decided we were going to do what we could to make sure that the people in this community know that the world does care about them. When you give with a purpose, to people with a purpose and with passion – the giving is going to count and things are going to change.