Michael J. Ssali
5 August 2008
The team of American doctors that pitched camp at Bukomansimbi in Masaka District, on July 24, and provided free medical treatment to hundreds of patients was a typical case of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist asking for more.
It was also, in a sense, a betrayal of our many government health facilities built in nearly every sub-county but actually exist as mere buildings and nothing more.
The patients turned up in such big numbers. A local FM radio station reported an estimated 2,000 people but the figure could have been higher by far.
They presented all sorts of complaints - backache, swollen legs, fever, abnormal pregnancies, diabetes, high blood pressure, stomachache and many more. Others had what looked like hopeless cases, although the American doctors gave them hope for possible remedies.
Mr. Dickson Ssegawa, his wife Ms. Evelyn Nakanwagi Ssegawa holding baby their son Umaru and Dr Delois Blakely Mayor of Harlem during the visit of a team of American doctors who gave free medical treatment to the people in Bukonabasimbi. Blakely along with her American colleagues is to arrange for young Umaru's treatment at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.
Young Umaru Mugerwa aged only ten months suckled at his mother's breast, half asleep despite the scorching sun. He had an oversize head that perhaps weighed more than the rest of his body.
They sat next to his father, 25 year-old Dickson Ssegawa. Ssegawa and his wife Evelyn reported that day by day they would notice their first born baby's head grow bigger and bigger.
They tried a few health centres and clinics in Bukomansimbi County but nobody seemed to know what really was wrong with their baby. I asked why they didn't try Villa Maria, a private Missionary Hospital.
"Money was our biggest problem," replied Ssegawa, who is a peasant, subsistence farmer at Kabosa Village not far from Bukomansimbi Trading Centre.
Some of his neighbours would tell him it was a case of witchcraft that could only be dealt with by traditional medicine men, and indeed a big percentage of his meagre income had been spent seeking their help while the child's head only continued to grow bigger.
But the American doctors now said there was a possibility for the child to get successful treatment at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York.
Dr Delois Blakely, who was part of the American visiting team, said she was determined to see that young Mugerwa went to the hospital in New York to get the specialised treatment for his condition.
She said, "Your Minister of Health, Dr Stephen Mallinga, received his medical training at the prestigious Columbia University in New York and he knows about Columbia Presbyterian Hospital where we want Umaru to go, in the company of his parents. It is one of the best hospitals in the world! So I hope that he will easily grant us permission to help this child."
A Ugandan based in the USA, Mr Flex Kayanja, has been co-coordinating the American doctors' visits to Uganda every year since 2004.
"At first only two doctors came and I took them to my home area of Kifamba in Rakai District where they treated sick people.
"We have a programme in that area called Kifamba Zukuka, which in English means: Wake up Kifamba.
"Over the years many more doctors and health workers decided to join the team. These are people who have chosen to spend their annual leave visiting Uganda, and treating the sick free of charge, providing free medicine.
"But, of course, I don't take them to my birthplace only. They have since been to so many other places in Uganda including Kalangala, Kira Town, Mukono and a few districts in Western Uganda," Kayanja said.
The team from the USA comprised 16 doctors and some civic leaders and their children, totalling 27 people. They were all black Americans. They included the Mayor of St Gabriel, His Worship George L. Grace, and the Mayor of Harlem, Dr Delois Blakely.
Mr. Kayanja explained, "They also have a special affinity for Africa as their continent of origin. They know that somewhere in Africa are real kinsmen, and descendants of their great, great grandparents from whom their fore fathers were forcefully and painfully separated by the slave traders."
He went on to say that some of them were in the country to see how they would help with the living standards, and that they had donated over Shs40m to a school in Kifamba, in Rakai District, and donated 15 computers to Nabbunga Primary School in Kalisizo Town, also in Rakai District.
Kayanja made special mention of Dr Clyde Green whom he said owns a private hospital back home in Georgia State and has consecutively come to Uganda every year since 2004 to give free medical service to various communities.
The Americans went to Bukomansimbi at the invitation of the area MP, Hajj Idd Lubyayi Kisiki through an arrangement with Kayanja. Hajj Kisiki was however overwhelmed by the big turn up of the sick people, more than half of whom missed getting any treatment because the doctors had to leave by 11p.m. It was meant to be a one-day-camp.
"It has served as an eye opener to us leaders that we have got to do something," Hajj Kisiki admitted. "Our people are sick and we have got to improve medical care." During the recent parliamentary by-election campaigns that he won, Hajj Kisiki had spoken of having invited a team of Americans that were to build a big hospital in his Bukomansimbi Constituency.
When asked if these were the Americans he spoke about and when work was to begin on the hospital, he said, "Land is still our problem. We have so far failed to find the land to begin construction of the hospital." He did not indicate whether these were the Americans he meant and appeared rather elusive about the issue.
In the constituency of Bukomansimbi, comprising of four sub-counties, there are four government dispensaries: Butenga, Buyoga, Kitanda and Bigasa. All of them are supposed to provide free medical treatment, and hopefully they do sometimes.
However, as Hajj Lubyayi noted, the people of Bukomansimbi are sick and are in dire need of medical help. "Even if some of them missed seeing the doctors, there are many others who have done so and benefited and to me this is very good. Our American friends have now come to get a better idea how big our problem is and for sure they will provide more help," Lubyayi further said.
The District Vice-Chairman Anasi Mawanda said that he too had been shocked by the big turn up of people with all sorts of illnesses.
"We have made sure that there is a dispensary in every sub-county and we have posted a doctor at Butenga Health Centre Four," he said. "But the problem is that it is difficult to keep doctors in our health facilities for long. They tend to leave for greener pastures."
Just in front of him as he spoke stood 11-year-old Scovia Nabbosa who has had a cancerous swollen foot for the last two years. She too had failed to see the American doctors. Her mother, Nalongo Lumu, stood with her and both of them sadly listened to Mawanda's talk of government's difficulties to keep health workers in its hospitals and dispensaries.
Their hope is that the talk will one day be more than just that.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
