Our farm is in a shared compound with a hospital run by ADRA Uganda with a team of medical staff from Adventist Help - emergency medical support.
It is not at all easy to operate such a device. All services and medicines are provided free of charge because the refugees simply cannot afford it. A staff of 8 medics helps around 200 patients a day. They come mainly women with small children and the most common illness is malaria and then various digestive problems, which are usually the result of poor diet and hygiene. Malnutrition of children is no exception, mainly due to one-sided and unnourishing diet (corn porridge every day...)
The hospital does not have enough staff and especially medicines. Therefore, operations, births and more serious procedures cannot be performed here. However, it has a laboratory, a pharmacy, outpatient clinics and a team of enthusiastic young medical staff.
See how such a hospital works in our video HERE:
During our trip we gave the opportunity for the first time to a medical student from Slovakia, Veronika, to intern
in this hospital and try „tropical medicine“. And it was really a challenge. We tried to put into operation the ultrasound machine that was given here as a gift. We got it up and running, but the transportation, humidity, and storage did their toll. The software declared an error, and our colleagues in EU technical support recommended replacing some corroded components. But what would we put in there? A corn or a banana leaf? So unfortunately they have to cope without instruments as before.
We admire them for their ability to help in these conditions. However, they have to send the more serious cases to a hospital in the city, which is far away, and most people cannot even pay for transport, let alone any serious treatment. Well, this is also what life is like in the refugee area, where 129 000 people from Congo, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan are housed.
Our farm supplies vegetables and fruit to the hospital kitchen and for a long time we also provided accommodation for the medical staff. The hospital is currently operating thanks to support from ADRA International and is addressing long-term cooperation with other partners to continue its operation.