At the beginning of September, we told you about the Reverend Canon John Stanley, who was 90 on 20 May 2021, and challenged himself to walk the ancient city walls of Chester 90 times by the date of his birthday.
John succeeded in this challenge, and raised £2,900 for Mildmay Hospital in Uganda, to support its vital Covid vaccination initiatives.
Today, we got an update from our colleagues in Mildmay Hospital in Uganda on the progress of their COVID-19 vaccination programme.
“We are grateful to Rev. Canon John Stanley, for the generous donation towards saving lives. Thank you, Rev. John Stanley. Your donation has enabled us serve over 4,000 people with COVID-19 related services. This is a great contribution to the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic at the Hospital and country at large. In addition, the Hospital appreciates the great partnership with Mildmay UK and entire UK public for the support towards saving lives by supporting the fight against COVID-19 pandemic."
says Dr. Yvonne Karamagi, Director of Medical Services.
The donation has equipped Mildmay Uganda Hospital with appropriate materials to administer COVID-19 services. These include Vaccination and Testing services. The hospital has acquired disposable masks, gloves, aprons, reusable plastic outreach nurses’ uniforms, infra-red thermometers, hand sanitisers, hand washing facilities, an outreach tent, airtime, and data to support care for COVID-19 patients. In addition, disposable sheets, disposable syringes auto-disable needles, and 20 litres of liquid soap, all of which are are critical for caring for COVID-19 patients.
To date, the hospital has vaccinated over 4,000 people with 3,000 receiving the first dose and 1,000 receiving the second dose.
The vaccines are offered freely to the public and are provided by the government of Uganda.
“During the second wave, we lost very many young people without any underlying health conditions. They kept telling us (when they were hospitalised) that they wished they had been vaccinated. That can be very heart breaking when you are living in scarcity. Do we have enough vaccines? No. The demand is higher than the number of doses.”
Mildmay Uganda Hospital also offers healthcare to orphans and vulnerable children. The hospital provides specialised healthcare to adolescent young mothers due to teenage pregnancies with quality reproductive health care services. In addition, the young mothers are enrolled into small scale income generating initiatives to support their lives and babies.
64-year-old Kiweewa Bruhan, a driver at Uganda Clays, (manufacturers of baked clay building products) is one of the beneficiaries of the national vaccination activity to manage COVID-19. He inspires others get vaccinated against the virus.
“I want someone to see my story and say, ‘hey, if he can do it at 64 years of age. I can do it too. I made up my mind and decided to get my jab. I have now been fully vaccinated at Mildmay Uganda hospital. My friends felt it was a death sentence, but I didn’t listen to them – I had made up my mind and I have not felt any side effects from the vaccine,”
We are so very grateful to Revd Stanley and humbled that Mildmay UK and Mildmay Uganda were able to collaborate in this matter thanks to his generosity of spirit. It is wonderful that such immediate benefits could be realised for their clients as a result of his singular efforts.
Thank you on behalf of all in the Mildmay Family.
