Being a small medical centre in rural Uganda we face difficulties of accessibility and lack of education or understanding about healthcare. Our team at the Donna Carnevale Medical Centre is committed to providing the best medical care to ALL needing it in Kankobe Village and many of the surrounding villages. To do this we must not only sit back and wait for those to come to us but we must also use our resources to reach out to those in need! After having countless meetings with village health leaders from 14 of the surrounding villages we have begun a program to visit each village and complete an outreach based in the individual needs of the village. To date we have had 2 very successful outreaches
Outreach #1 March 27, 2013
Village: Kazi (about 20 min walk from the medical centre)
Focus: Free HIV/AIDS testing, counseling, treatment, and education
Due to the close proximity to the water, the transient lifestyle of the fisherman, the lack of knowledge about HIV, and the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Africa we were asked to come to Kazi to provide free testing, counseling, education, and treatment for HIV/AIDS. After 3 village health leaders assisted with mobilizing the community (one with a megaphone and his bike) and 6 hours on site with our nurse, lab technician, outreach administrators, and a few volunteers we were able to test 66 villagers for HIV and educate many more. During the time of blood draws and waiting for the test results individuals were counseled on transmission, prevention, and treatment as well as given the opportunity to ask the medical staff questions and receive free condoms. Due to some of our lack of the Luganda Language we assisted with what we could and then played with the local kids (typical). Those who got tested ranged from children whose parents were infected with the virus to elders. Although sadly there were a few who did in fact test positive, we feel that by this early detection they will be able to continue to live happy and healthy lives in the future. I continue to believe that education, education, education is a key ingredient in prevention and decreasing the prevalence of this disease and many others this community face.
The Boda Boda ride with the driver, me, Agatha, and Johannes heading over to the outreach site. Yes, we are all on 1 moto!
Some of the villagers waiting to get tested.
Two negative and one positive test.
Outreach #2 April 18th, 2013
Village: Bukibira
Focus: Family Planning (education and administration of birth control)
We partnered with Blue Star, an organization that assists clinics and medical centers with birth control methods and education, to hold an outreach that focused on family planning, birth control, and education regarding family size. As part of the partnership, Blue Star uses their truck and megaphone to inform many of the surrounding villages about the medical centre, our services, and our family planning outreach. Due to an unforseen circumstance Blue Star was unable to bring the usual 2 employees to assist with the driving of the truck and the talking over the loud speaker so the search began for a driver. After looking high and low for someone who was able to drive this massive, manual, beast of a truck the search ended with the Mzungu girl… Me! I had the honors of navigating a big 4 wheel drive pick up truck through “roads” which are foot paths and motorcycle paths leading from house to house, during the rainy season, without hitting any children running towards the car. This sure was an interesting 4 hour long drive being chased by 50 kids yelling “Mzungu!” All in all we we able to reach many (without hitting a child or livestock), spread knowledge about our services, and counsel and treat 15 women about family planning.
Me and my truck! (Ohh and I had to get used to steering wheel on the right side)
The children chasing after the truck.
We will continue to reach out to as many people as we can. 2 outreaches down, many more to go!
thepresentlife 