As I write this column I am sorrowful, because I have lost a good friend and a good man. Moses Munezero was killed in the night bus ambush which happened on the Mbarara- Kabale road this week.

He was a young doctor working in Lira who first worked on a community HIV project in Hima and then moved to Lira to help me set up a clinic, where we not only treat those who can pay, but hundreds of charity patients and those with HIV.

I visited him four weeks ago and he was excited about the possibility of extending the clinic to have a theatre to carry out emergency caesarean sections and other operations. Moses was the kind of person whom one depended on, because he was steady and never let people down. He was that rare breed of person who was truly unselfish and spent his life helping others. He wanted to be good at what he did and considered the patients more important than his own personal needs.

Moses represented the very best of Uganda, in these days when we hear a lot about corruption and Ugandans who are in a hurry to get rich quick by any means. He was a role model, the kind of person you would be happy for your daughter to marry — competent, serious-minded and compassionate. He was a Ugandan who restored hope when one was tempted to feel the society was rotten. It is this which makes his death all the more tragic — because he was killed by Ugandans who illustrate the level to which our society has fallen.

The thieves placed big stones across the road, which the bus crashed into and then overturned, killing at least five people and injuring many. The thieves were not appalled by what they had done, but boarded the bus and systematically robbed the dead and the dying. The worst of society had killed the best in society. Is this the kind of place that Uganda has become?

We have so many good people, but they are being pushed aside by those who have no conscience, feel no tenderness and show no mercy. Uganda has been here before — when the State Research Bureau disposed of people as if they were pieces of meat; we have only just got rid of the menace of Kony, but now it has become dangerous to do everyday things, like taking a bus ride at night.

One of the main purposes of government and civil society structures is to maintain law and order, so that people can go about their daily lives without fear of molestation. The death of Moses is an indictment of these organs of society. His death was due to a combination of lack of law and order and lack of care by the driver and the operators of the bus company. If the driver had been going more slowly within the speed limits, he could probably have seen the stones and stopped. If policing is now so weak, that thieves can operate with impunity along a major highway, then the system is ineffective.

The combination of these two deficiencies resulted in the death of a fine young Ugandan, and let us not kid ourselves, this death could have been avoided. But will anyone take responsibility? Will the Police, who have failed to enforce speed regulations on the buses and to patrol the road? Will the government, who have allowed an incipient lawlessness to take hold, which breeds violence and death? Or will everyone just shake their heads and agree that it was a tragedy, while we wait for the next hold-up or next bus accident to happen?

We are losing the good people in our society, because we are failing to control the worst elements.

Published on: Saturday, 19th December, 2009

Moses joined International Medical Group in February 2005 and was one of the pioneer staff when we started running the Hima Cement staff/ community clinic. He was then re-assigned to the IMC-Lira in 2007, and was very instrumental in setting up this clinic and has been in charge of it since.

To say that Moses was a brilliant, hardworking, honest and supportive colleague is an understatement – we will greatly miss him. Perhaps what can encourage us is to see what the fruits of his hands are and hope that we can continue to uphold the spirit of excellence that Moses exhibited in his work.

May his soul rest in peace.

She has managed to do this, whilst also being a busy mum and performing a very demanding role as the Director of Nursing at International Hospital Kampala, Uganda’s largest private hospital.

She holds a BSc degree in Nursing from the University of Eastern Africa Baraton in Kenya and Botswana. She is passionate about nursing and believes that nurses are crucial agents of change for improving health care delivery in sub Saharan Africa. Moreover she believes that empowering women in poverty to take action and to be at the forefront of decision making is fundamental for sustainable development in the fight against poverty and disease – particularly HIV/AIDS.

Dr Ben Khingi, one of our specialists on Hope Ward

We are very lucky with our specialists. Dr Ben deals with many of our complex cases and as a plastic surgeon we need his expertise. Many of the patients in the recent Hope Ward Newsletter have been helped by him.

There are many patient stories but perhaps for endurance by patient and skill by surgeon it’s impossible to beat Calvin with legs like elephants and 2 years later, after multiple operations he is going back to school. He may not have ‘million dollar legs’ but they are normal size and work fine.

Thank you Dr Ben.

One Wild Life is an account of a journey Clare Mulvany made in 2007 travelling the globe for 11 months documenting inspiring stories of social change throughout the world. She interviewed hundred of social entrepreneurs and change-makers about their life stories, their motivations and their desires, and sought out individuals who were using their ideas, creativity and innovations to bring hope to millions.

One of those that she met and interviewed is Dr. Ian Clarke, Founder and CEO of International Hospital Kampala (IHK). His story is included in this new book.

A collection of stunning photography, travel narratives, diary extracts and interviews, One Wild Life offers people of all ages’ inspiration and guidance on how to build a better world through their career and life choices. It promises all who read it that – if they are willing and committed to change – they can have a profound effect on their world and the world around them. In the midst of an economic meltdown, Social Entrepreneurship is a growing area and now more than ever it is seeing unprecedented rises in the people coming together to make their mark on the world, One Wild Life is the embodiment of this positive change.

Click on the image below to view the book details on Amazon.

>>>

I first came across Ian Clarke through a viewing of the ‘Longest River’, when he joined the rafting crew down the Nile (see previous blog ‘Quite Bright and Filming’). Watching him in action, I was impressed by his commentary and observations while passing through the conflict zones of South Sudan, and particularly with his leadership ability within the team. So when I heard about his work in Kampala, I was eager to track him down.

Ian, an Irish medical doctor, originally came to Uganda as a GP and from there set up a rural hospital North of Kampala. His work there showed him the need for high quality medical service provision across the country. He was also eager to show that when it comes to the medical profession that ‘quality’ and ‘Uganda’ can be combined. ‘I decided that my goal was to start a hospital in Kampala and raise medical standards’, he commented. ‘But this time, instead of targeting the rural poor, where I had been working, that I would target the emerging middle income group, and use the money that they pay to upgrade the services and thus effect the overall health services’

So emerged ‘International Hospital Kampala’, a private hospital which provides specialist services in the city. Included are Oncology and Plastics departments, and a nursing school.

‘So it means that you can have a third world country, but it does not mean that it is third rate’, he added-with pride.

The hospital is now at a stage of attracting private sector sponsorship to support a charitable ward in the hospital, so that people who cannot afford the services can still access them. (Since then of course Hope Ward has been implemented and has treated very many charity patients… KFD)

There are also has plans for a medical university, so as to raise the bar on training, and to expand clinical services regionally.

‘The core value is making a difference- and if you are making a difference, you are bringing hope. The ideal of wanting to make a difference, is wanting to multiply ourselves. We are not there just for our service, even making the competition buck up a bit, but we want to take some of the principles we learned and teach other people’.

It has been an intense few years for Ian, who himself has had a battle with illness. I asked him what has kept him going.

‘I have a very strong belief in people, and I think it is my belief in people which enables me to do what I do’, he added. ‘Plus some of it is just determination. You don’t give up and you don’t expect to make huge strides at once. Things happen incrementally, and then you look around in a couple of years, and say, yes, look at what we have done’.

The staff and management of International Medical Group with deep sorrow announce the sudden death of their colleague and friend, JUDITH NYESIGIRE which occurred last night, Friday April 17th.

Judith has been working as a Clinical Officer/ Health Educator at the IMC – Jinja Clinic. She has been the lead health educator and program assistant for the IMG/Hands of Help community program. We have worked with Judith since March 2006. She will be greatly missed.

I met Judith for the first time last summer and spent a very interesting day with her in a rural community close to Jinja. I was very impressed with her professionalism and commitment to those she was helping. She travelled many miles each day, on dust tracks, which are very muddy when it rains, to meet with the community volunteers that she helped train. I’ve re-posted the blog entry about this visit, see below.

Her family are in our thoughts and prayers.

Kevin Duffy, our Chairman, has been working with Wesleyan for the last 3-4 years. Last week he completed his current contract and agreed that it was time to move on. Some of you may be aware that he will take the Managing Director role at International Medical Group at the beginning of May.

His colleagues raised £243 as a gift to mark his time with them and the Wesleyan Charity Commission has kindly agreed to match that making a total donation to Suubi Trust of

£486

We would like to pass on our thanks for this and for their previous support.

Posted in Fund Raising, Staff Tagged: Wesleyan ]]> http://blog.suubitrust.org.uk/2009/04/20/wesleyan-continues-its-support/feed/ 0 Suubi Trust Wesleyan continues its support... http://blog.suubitrust.org.uk/2009/03/24/richard-feinmann-on-volunteering-in-hope-ward/ http://blog.suubitrust.org.uk/2009/03/24/richard-feinmann-on-volunteering-in-hope-ward/#comments Tue, 24 Mar 2009 00:01:58 +0000 Suubi Trust http://blog.suubitrust.org.uk/?p=1069 ]]>

Dr Richard and children on Hope Ward, (Lub Dup, the sound of our heart beat)

What to do when you are a sexagenarian physician who has retired from hospital practice with 40 years in the NHS under your belt and golf/Sudoku not really appealing? Well, my health visitor wife and I applied to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) and I am writing this from a hospital in Kampala, Uganda, where I have been working for five months.

VSO did seem to want us and so long as your health is good, age is not a bar; the average age of volunteers is climbing all the time. So, off to Uganda and although it was hard adjusting to a huge change of lifestyle and temperature I recommend it. It’s great to be blissfully unaware of crashing stock markets and to be in a continent where everyone thinks Obama is their president too.

I really believe VSO and Africa do need doctors of my age. 30+ years of general and chest medicine gives experience which is so useful to hospitals in Uganda who aspire to provide quality care. I can treat and manage TB which is useful and I am fast becoming expert in HIV, but Uganda needs experienced generalists. Senior doctors who can make decisions (usually right ones), can’t operate but know when you need a surgeon, can reasonably confidently manage sick kids, teach and mentor and bring management skills both clinical and general, are certainly needed.

My ward is Hope Ward, a charity ward at International Hospital Kampala, so I’m lucky to have good facilities, good nurses and doctors and a clean hospital. The patients are destitute and come from all over Uganda and they are very sick. I don’t think we’ve had a CD4 count over 10, and the TB presentations are extraordinary, not to mention extra pulmonary. This is a country where 58% of the population of 30 million is under 18, yet abortions are illegal, where the government hospitals are understaffed and oversubscribed. Even in government hospitals health care is not free. Life expectancy is under 50 and HIV may affect 10% of the population with half having TB. Uganda is a member of “the bottom billion club” and the sad stories of patients selling their HIV drugs to buy food are all too true.

Many of my patients are babies or young people. It’s very different to the average age of a UK medical ward. They mostly have HIV with complications, but they are remarkably resilient. Rehydrate, feed them with naso gastric porridge (works wonders), restart their TB and HIV treatment and they seem to get better even though they look at deaths door on admission. Initially as an adult physician I was scared stiff of managing the babies and although many still cry when I pick them up (I’m told it’s my white skin!), we seem to manage.

I’m really busy, and my range is from pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP) in a 9 month old to myasthenia gravis in an 82 year old…both survived!! Of course there are lots of lows, and you have to keep reminding yourself you can’t cure all of Africa. I get really tired because it’s hot and humid with unfriendly mosquitoes, but I think I’m making a difference. A year might be enough but we’d do it again.

It’s good to go with your wife and support each other through the ups and downs. She’s working with the National Community of Women Living with AIDS (NACWOLA), an organisation staffed by dedicated women many with HIV and giving help to women and children with the disease. Her role is to develop child protection policies and a youth strategy.

HIV has wiped out many parents and it’s elderly grandmas who often bring up the children. We are socially very busy both with locals and other volunteers. We have just been to our third wedding out here!

Winston Churchill called Uganda the “Pearl of Africa” and it is a beautiful country with lovely friendly people. Its only blemish is appalling roads and heavy smelly traffic in Kampala.

So, that’s it, I am a physician, paediatrician, house surgeon, TB and HIV specialist and a fundraiser. I teach, do appraisals and appointments, go to hospital meetings and have good friendly colleagues. Patients are universally grateful, even when I get it wrong, and I’m not being complained about or sued.

Come on you bulge-baby doctors…Africa needs you.

Richard Feinmann is a 62 year old general and chest physician who retired a bit early after a serious health scare. He felt he had more to give and jumped at the chance to work with his health visitor wife in Uganda.

Sister Irene with Emmanuel, a child treated for leukaemia

Sister Irene Maria has been running Hope Ward since the beginning in 2006. During this time she has seen Hope Ward grow from a simple medical-surgical unit to a ward offering more complex care and oncology care.

With training from Dr Helena she is now a trained chemotherapy nurse.
She enjoys this new element of her work but oncology can be full of mixed feelings – chemotherapy can make patients feel worse and they need all of Irene’s support both medically and emotionally to help them through this phase.

The benefits of seeing patients go into remission (like Emmanuel, pictured here) makes it all worthwhile.

For Sister Irene, working on Hope Ward presents many challenges, she sees patients coming in without hope and in desperate circumstances. But with help from the team in Hope Ward they improve.

One of her big job satisfactions is “seeing them smile when they go home”

Sister Irene would like to thank  everyone who supports Hope Ward and makes the work that she does with the vulnerable patients possible.

Thank you!