Joy and Bwine are a humble couple that loves their son Mathew Ayebare (Pictured) deeply and have done their best to take care of him.  Mathew is a little over two years old and has been in and out of hospital since he was a year old.

Joy noticed that Mathew at nine months did not seem to respond or behave like her other two children. However, she did not read too much into it at the time. When he made a year, Mathew started getting seizures. When he was taken to hospital, they were told he had epilepsy and he was started on treatment.  But the seizures did not stop.

The anxious young parents took Mathew back to hospital where he had a CT scan that revealed bleeding in his brain. This is when they learned that their son had a very complex and rare congenital defect known as arteriovenous malformation. An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is when there is abnormal connectivity between arteries and veins.

www.brain-aneurysm.com says that most brain AVMs present with a brain hemorrhage (severe headache, nausea, vomiting, and collapse/loss of consciousness). Instant death rate is believed to be at about 10% for first-time hemorrhages from a brain AVM, and this is about the same as the instant mortality rate for first-time brain aneurysm ruptures. Many AVMs present with seizures, and some present with neurological symptoms (paralysis or sensory disturbance) due to the mass of the blood vessel tangle causing direct compression of brain tissue.

Joy and Bwine desperately needed a “miracle” for their son.  They were referred to Dr. Hussein Ssenyonjo who agreed to perform the operation. However, it would be a very complex operation with a long stay in Intensive Care after the operation. The family could not raise money to have the surgery done and; so, they approached Hope Ward at International Hospital Kampala.

Hope Ward is a charity ward at the International Hospital Kampala that partners with various companies, organizations and individuals to provide complex medical treatment for the very needy in Uganda. Sponsors include Bead for Life, Muvule Trust, Stanbic Bank, MTN, Narrow Road, Hwan Sung, Suubi Trust, Bless a Child Foundation, IAA Health Care and the International Hospital Kampala (IHK).

Mathew was admitted to Hope Ward and had a successful surgery at IHK. His family was only asked to contribute Shs 2m out of a total of Shs 6.2m.  The International Hospital covered 30% of the  bill and does the same for all Hope Ward patients. The balance was covered by donations from Hope Ward supporters. Dr. Ssenyonjo waived his fee and his only concern was saving Mathew’s life.

Before surgery, Mathew had a 10% chance of living but his future is much brighter now.

In May 2010, I developed cough, severe chest pain, diarrhoea and weakness. My son supported me on his bicycle to the clinic. I was weak, in severe pain, I couldn’t walk, and I was in a confusion state. People in the Village thought that I was not going to come back alive.

The clinic staffs organized for my transport and I was rushed to Hope Ward. I am grateful to Management of IMF, I was treated freely, fed and well taken care of. I thank Management of Royal Van Zanten and clinic staffs for their support. I can now work in my garden and take care of my children.

The environment in Hope Ward brought a smile in my face.
Hope Ward gave me hope to carry on.

The Chairman LC1 had this to say;

I thank IMF, Royal Van Zanten and the clinic staffs for the Good work they are doing in our community. Most of our people are affected with HIV and treatment is very expensive of which they cannot afford. Thank you for helping Nagawa, you gave her hope to continue taking care of her children.

In July 2010, I developed severe diarrhoea, fever and vomiting. I was rushed to the clinic in bad state. I could not walk, eat or drink. I was very weak and had lost hope in life. I knew I was going to die.

Royal Van Zanten management arranged for my transport and I was rushed to International Hospital Kampala Hope Ward. With support from IMF, I was treated, fed and well taken care of freely. I stabilized after a few days and was discharged in good condition. I can now walk and eat.

I thank Management of IMF, Royal Van Zanten management and the clinic staff for their support.

Regina’s mother had this to say:

I had lost hope. I thought my daughter was going to die but when I reached the hospital I knew she will survive. I thank the Management and all the staffs of hope ward for their spirit of hospitality.

‘IMF brought back hope that was lost.’

Louise, Daniel and Emily will be climbing Kilimanjaro later this month and have decided to donate some of the funds they are raising to help support the work at Hope Ward.

You can visit the justgiving page for Louise and Daniel by clicking here…

On the 17th of July Louise Seres and Daniel Wade will be climbing Africa’s highest mountain, Kilimanjaro. The trip is totally self funded so all money raised will go to charity.

The charities chosen, Suubi Trust and Kigezi Healthcare foundation (KIHEFO) are both working towards a better standard of healthcare for patients in Uganda.

Suubi Trust – Treats adults and children in Uganda at Hope ward located at Kampala International Hospital and also treats patients in clinics in Lira and Pader; all such care being essentially free of charge.

Emily’s page is here…

I am a 3rd year Pharmacology student currently sitting my final exams.

Last summer I travelled to Uganda and again I fell in love. I visited the International Hospital in Kampala and I was hugely taken by one particular ward, called the Hope Ward. This ward is run by the charity I am collecting for on this page. They treat patients who are not able to pay for their treatment. These people are generally the poorest people in Kampala, or refugees from the troubles in North Uganda, Rwanda, or DR Congo. They have a specialist cancer centre and the oncologist told me “it is very hard to determine a patient’s treatment by how much we had donated this month, as opposed to the treatment they need”.  But they make do.

Santino’s parents poured water on his hand to cool it down and rushed him to the Health Centre. At the health centre they were told to find some money and take him to a referral hospital for further management. Unfortunately they did not have any money to go to hospital so they resorted to herbal medicine for his treatment.

The young boys hand healed with severe contractures leaving it permanently clenched in a fist.

One day Santino’s father met one of the IMC staff who referred him to Hope Ward. Santino’s father had never been to Kampala and could not speak or understand common languages spoken in the ‘big city’. The IMC staff in Pader put him on a bus with written directions in hope that they would find a boda rider who could transport them from the bus stage to the hospital. Staff at Hope Ward and IMC Pader breathed a big sigh of relief when he finally arrived. They took a big risk just to find some help for the young boy.

Santino was admitted on Hope Ward to begin a series of surgeries that will release his fingers so he can use his hand again. His father said that he is now hopeful that his son will be fine again, especially because he has seen children with very complex conditions being assisted on the ward.

One day a piece of metal fell on his foot and nearly severed his toes. He was taken to a public hospital where they made an attempt to save his toes by attaching them to his foot using some metals. Unfortunately the severed part of his foot died and became septic. He developed gangrene and the infection started to cause him pain in his whole leg.

He was found by a friend who used to be a street kid and was working with the organisation ‘Empower African Children’ at that time. His friend brought him to Hope Ward where our orthopaedic surgeon Dr. Alex amputated his dead toes and saved his leg.

Geoffrey was so grateful to Hope Ward and his friend was shocked to see that he had even put on some weight and look much happier after his time on the ward.

Below is a picture of Geoffrey before and after his surgery:

Her story begins when she was taken by one of her relatives to work in the landing site in Mukono. She failed to find a job and ended up getting married to an old man. She conceived; a month before delivery, her health condition was not good she was taken round to various clinics and shrines. When she was due, she was taken to Jinja Referral hospital where she delivered via C/S. Unfortunately she arrived at the hospital when it was too late to save her baby. The old man she had married disappeared shortly after that abandoning her in the hospital.

After delivery, she experience numbness in her left lower limb, and her foot became black, dry with subsequent necrosis of subcutaneous tissue leading to gangrene and maggots could come out. She was taken to Jinja Hospital and was referred to Mulago hospital where the left limb was amputated.

The Nurse in IMC RVZ came across her during community visit. She now depends on a nearby church for financial support.

The kind staff and management of Royal Van Zanten flower farm raised some money to buy an prosthetic leg for Prossy. The Hope Physiotherapy Charity at IHK provided the rehabilitative physio treatment she needed to learn how to walk with her new leg. Thanks to all their kindness she will hopefully resume a normal life.

Below is a picture of Prossy with her new limb at IHK:

Below is a picture of Mubiru on Hope Ward when he first came and eight months after his admission:

Once we had dealt with Mubiru’s medical problems, he had had multiple surgeries to cure his bones; we were left the challenge of finding a home for him. For about five months we approached several orphanages and organisations without much success. Just two weeks ago, Bless a Child Foundation opened a home and took in Mubiru.

While at his new Hope Mubiru was asked what he wanted to be in future and he said he wanted to be a pilot. So they organised a special treat for him and gave him a ride in a private plane.

…Another life touch by the support of many of you Friends of Hope Ward. Thank You

Amina came to us eight months after her accident; she had spent 5 of those months in a plaster without much improvement and little hope. Amina spent only five days on Hope Ward, had surgery and within less than a week after she was discharged she could bear weight and had improved remarkably!

Hope Ward is the charity ward at International Hospital Kampala (IHK).  It was first opened in April 2006.  Almost four years later the ward has a 17 bed capacity and hosts a Cancer Treatment unit. Half the ward is set aside for children and the other half is divided into Male and Female sections with one isolation room.

IHK provides the Ward space, facilities and utilities for Hope Ward free of charge and in addition subsidises all Hope Ward bills by at least 30%, thus charging only marginal cost on all Hope Ward patient treatments.

The Overall Aim of Hope Ward is to:

Cater for the underprivileged in need of high quality complex treatment, who would otherwise not afford this much needed and often life saving care. We intend to do what we can to alleviate the suffering and improve the quantity and quality of life of our patients.

In 2009 there were 248 admissions on Hope Ward with a total of 2,437 bed nights; 93 were children no older than 10 yrs and of the adult admissions 79% were women.

The total amount spent on patient treatments, Hope Ward staff salaries, specialist fees, as well as transport and other assistance given to very needy patients was UGX 499m (£160,000). Hope Ward sponsorships covered 36% of these costs, the rest (£100,000) was paid by International Hospital Kampala.

Please help if you can by donating online, click the Justgiving image below.