Our Chief Executive, Geoff, is currently travelling in Uganda to check in on our projects and partners
Muzungu blog day four: Today was what is generally known as a packed day.
We began with a visit to the Wellspring Centre in Masaka where we were able to reconnect with
the team and to catch up with all of the latest developments.
We then saw several challenging cases brought before our two doctors Dr Pauline and Dr Geoff. I got to sit in on the consultations which, whilst being a privilege, made me realise how frontline healthcare here in Uganda just does not cater for the poorest families who cannot afford even some of the most basic medicines.
There was a child of eight with an exposed tibia, a child of about five whose hands and feet had not fully developed fingers and toes, and a child under two who was going through puberty. These and more were all cases that challenged the small team of clinicians here at the centre.
Whilst our doctors cannot always give a definitive solution, they are more often than not able to provide advice and guidance as to what to do next. Wellspring is full of families that, because of an intervention by the Medcare Team have managed to achieve remarkable recoveries.
We met with the team that manages the programme of support that enables the poorest families to receive some basic food supplies. The alternative is children taking often quite powerful medication on an empty stomach. One of the most effective things that can be done is to provide a small amount of food for these families which will then give a better chance of success.
Noeline’s Home
In the afternoon, we visited the purpose-built facility that looks after severely disabled children that families have had to give up.
Noeline Nakaagwa, whom the centre is named after, runs the facility whilst herself being severely disabled. Dr Pauline, whose vision and drive helped set up the centre - along with all of the Medcare projects, is swamped by cheering children when she arrives and if you happen to be standing near her, you inevitably end up with many children coming up and hugging you.
These are some of the children who are part of a home setup by Medcare for disabled children whose families simply cannot support them.
The staff here are truly wonderful as they are at all of the Medcare facilities and go above and beyond what is expected of them daily.
This is the home of three children whose father left and cannot be found, whose mother recently died and the eldest child, aged eleven, is looking after a brother aged ten with Cerebral Palsy and a sister aged eight. A neighbour is allowing them to sleep in his house because the two young girls are vulnerable, but he cannot feed them as well. Medcare is stepping in as they have done for many families like this.
Mildmay is looking at a possible partnership with Medcare and my role here today was to gather as much front-line information as possible. I have to say that I am extremely impressed with what this team have achieved.
Geoff Coleman
Chief Executive Officer
Mzungu, also known as muzungu, mlungu, musungu or musongo, is a Bantu word that means "wanderer" originally pertaining to spirits. The term is currently used in predominantly Swahili speaking nations to refer to foreign people dating back to 18th century. The noun Mzungu or its variants are used in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mayotte, Zambia and in Northern Madagascar (the word changed to "vozongo" in Malagasy, but locals will still understand the word mzungu) dating back to the 18th century.