World Health Organisation Meetings on Nodding Syndrome

During the last week , Andrew has  attended three days of meetings at the World Health Organisation in Geneva.
He was invited to meet with a number of Doctors and researchers within the organisation who have expressed concern about Nodding Syndrome and the effects this disease is having amongst children in our Kitgum district of Northern Uganda as well as Southern Sudan and other potential areas of Sub Saharan Africa which are affected.
One of the other people attending was Professor Bob Colebunders from the Tropical Disease Institute in Antwerp, Belgium. He is planning to undertake some extensive research into the condition and has a theory about the cause he wants to investigate.
Our Yotkom project is hoping to  increase our capacity to deliver better health services to the communities affected by Nodding Syndrome in our area of influence. We will also be aiming to collaborate with the World Health Organisation and researchers like Dr Bob Colebunders to gather more information and data on Nodding Syndrome in the district of Kitgum , Uganda.
We have established some very helpful networks and relationships within the WHO and they have encouraged us to continue in our work and are keen to  maintain  co-operation with us into the future.
This is a wonderful opportunity.
In the next two weeks, Andrew will be in Uganda sharing the information from the meetings with our medical team and also meeting with other agencies and individuals seeking to provide care. We will visit some of the affected villages.
We hope to put together a recommended package of health care and services and seek out specific donors who have a heart to meet this need.  I believe we have a great core team of health workers and strong foundations in place on the ground , giving us  the capacity to grow and do more as we gain the necessary resources.

One of the major steps forward which has already been achieved from our meeting  is the addition of Nodding Syndrome to the World Health Organisation web site , in the Neglected Tropical Disease section.
The NTD department will host this site and encourage the development of this  as a repository of information , a  data base of researchers and a source of  guidelines on best management.
Yotkom may have some input into the content of this web site in coming months.
If you would like to see this go to this site :

World Health Organisation : Nodding Syndrome

Next steps: Andrew will be meeting Neil Shuker in Dubai tomorrow and then travelling together to Uganda.
More news will be coming  from Africa !



 
 

Focus on Nodding Disease in Uganda

On March 26 27 and 28  the  World Health Organisation is convening a meeting of reseachers and doctors to discuss Nodding Disease, a neurological Seizure Disorder affecting children between age 5 and 15. The disease has affected thousands of children, primarily in districts of Northern Uganda and Southern Sudan. The Kitgum district where Yotkom Uganda is working  has been one of the most hard hit.
Dr Andrew Wright has been asked to come and be part of the discussions in Geneva.
We are trusting the outcome of this will be steps toward discovering the cause and delivering treatment and support to the children and families affected. The Yotkom Uganda medical team in Kitgum hope to play a part in this process over coming months.
For further information on Nodding Disease-  go visit this link and watch the You Tube video

Nodding Disease


Over the next four weeks Andrew will be updating the website with developments in Geneva and later joining Neil Shuker in Uganda.  We are aiming to encourage and build up our team on the ground in Kitgum Uganda during April.  Stay tuned !

YOTKOM UGANDA PROJECT UPDATE

Yotkom Uganda is a small non for profit organisation registered in Uganda.
The project has 5 directors , 2 from Australia and 3 from Uganda.
The board of management is predominantly made up of Health professionals from Australia and Uganda.
Our vision is to improve access and excellence of Primary Health Care services to Northern Uganda.
We seek to do this through building strong relationships , sharing resources and encouraging self reliance.
Our organisation is faith based  and our values reflect this strong Christian ethos.
We value Honesty, Transparency, Compassion , Justice and Respect within our team and strive to maintain these standards in our care of others.
The community we serve in Northern Uganda is defined by high levels of poverty and unemployment and a lack of infrastructure and services due to over 15 years of civil war.
The disease burden is high with many children under five dying from infectious diseases such as Malaria, Pneumonia and Diarrhoea.
Women on average in Uganda have 7 pregnancies, and with each one the risk of mortality is 20 times higher than that in Australia due to limited pregnancy care and safe birthing facilities.
Yotkom Uganda is seeking to address these needs through training and mentoring of high quality health professionals and provision of good diagnostic services.
We are currently working closely with an established Primary Health Care/ General Practice in Kitgum town, Uganda.
We have a regular financial commitment to assist with medical staff wages, chaplaincy and ongoing education and training of existing professionals and future team members who work in this community.
We also have a vision to build a purpose built medical clinic and maternal and child health centre for our team to work in.
Yotkom has purchased strategically located commercial land in Kitgum and developed  a construction plan for our future clinic building.
We appreciate our donors assistance for our ongoing committments (currently approximately $15,000 per year ) and also toward the $250,000 target for our  building fund . We hope to commence building in 2014. Stage 1 will be a primary health clinic , costing approximately $180,000 and Stage 2,  a maternal and child health centre for $70,000.

Plans for Yotkom Uganda Medical Clinic

We have a BUY a BRICK fundraising effort underway, where $5 given will buy one brick in our new building .  Click on this link:
GoFUNDRAISE: Andrew Rowe : Brick by brick fundraiser

Because of our size we have minimal administrative overheads and can target our donor funds directly to the health needs on the ground. We also have transparent financial declarations and are subject to monitoring by AUSAID through our partner organisation in Australia, Healthserve. This organisation also provides tax deductibility status for our donors.

This web page has a link to our donation site and also videos on our work.
There are also blog entries below, providing a record of our work which has been developing over the past 12 years.
Thankyou for your interest in Yotkom Uganda
Feel free to email us with any further enquiries.
at ;
andrew.wright@yotkom.com
Yours sincerely


Dr Andrew Wright.   MB BS DipRACOG FRACGP MPH &TM
Australian director

Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy

Today we commissioned a key person in our Yotkom Project to attend to the pastoral care and chaplaincy needs of our medical team and the patients we serve.
Walter Otim is a mature man in his 50s who has lived and worked in this community all his life. His parents were Christian leaders and he became a Christian at the age of 18. He attended a Baptist theological college in Jinja Uganda and later was involved in planting a Church in Gulu. He is currently pastoring a church in Kitgum and he speaks regularly on the local FM radio station, where he has a nickname "Muzungu Muno".  He has a heart for evangelism but is also experienced in counselling and rehabilitation. He has worked for Food for the Hungry for over 10 years in a counselling and teaching role.
We are very excited to have him join our team on a part time basis. He will be helping with weekly team devotions and getting to know approximately 40 people who work with Yotkom, the Drug Shop, and Bregma Clinic, providing mentoring, support and encouraging Christian discipleship. He will also be involved in counselling and training other counsellors to work with Yotkom . Patient visitation and care within the clinic will also be a role. We are looking forward to the new influence he will bring to our team. His appointment is  a major answer to prayers as this has been identified as a real need and was a primary focus for our visit this time.

Last two days on the ground

Engineer Andrew Kilama is advising Yotkom project on  Land and Building matters

Dr Andrew and Dr Vincent have enjoyed working as colleagues in the Yotkom sponsored, Bregma Primary Health Clinic.



house hot water system has been undergoing constant repairs since we arrived- havent yet managed to get a hot shower......hoping we do soon

 

PLease pray for our last day on the ground tomorrow that we might get everything done that needs to be done . We would like to particularly make final arrangements for pastoral care and chaplaincy within the project. There are still some loose ends. Also some decisions need to be made on land and building plans.  On Friday we leave early for the trip to Kampala, where we will spend the weekend. We plans to meet dr charles abonga, one of the yotkom leaders who is currently undertaking specialist training in western Uganda. Also a visit to International Hospital Kampala to talk about the family medicine/GP program starting there which may be highly relevant to the training needs in Northern Uganda.

Specific needs to facilitate primary health care outreach in Kitgum

The last couple of weeks of working and living with our Yotkom Health team has revealed some specific needs which would provide a boost to the health service.
These include
A dedicated Vaccination fridge:  Our vaccination team consists of Andrew and Oliva and at the moment they share a fridge with the path lab but this is not ideal. A new fridge and thermometer would cost around $250

Another computer desktop for the Bregma Clinic to allow dr Vincent to connect to the network in his office and have more free access to the Best Practice patient Software program.
This could be purlchased in Kampala and installed by our local IT man.
Cost would be $450

A biochemical analyser for the Bregma /Yotkom  laboratory. This would allow patient blood to be tested for electrolyes and liver function
Cost $2500

A Haematology analyser for calculating red and white cells and differential counts, helping in diagnosing serious bacterial infection.
Cost $10,000

The addition of pathology equipment also provides some income in the form of patient charges which can help support the clinical services offered.

Thanks to our supporters for your donations to date. Please consider assisting us with some of these valuable additions to the health clinic here

WE have really seen a strengthening of our human resources during this trip, focusing on building strong relationships and trust. We also feel a lot of progress has been made into building strong spiritual resources and also in business acountability.  WE trust God will bless us with the capital resources we need to fulfill our vision here .

Local Lawyer ,Jude, assists Yotkom with Land Title processing
We are striving to secure land for our building project to proceed
and Trusting God to provide financial resources for this.

Anne tries out dental chair at medical clinic!
we hope to bring a dental team to Kitgum in 2014 to expnad these services and improve their quality.

 

 

Sunday celebration

I love going to church in Uganda. Today We enjoyed the fellowship , worship and singing at St Josephs Catholic Church. The acoustics are beautiful in this old building which the mission constructed in 1915. Inside there are distinctively african murals and stained glass. Dr Vincent drove us to the 7am english service and we passed many people walking up the road to join us. Inside there were at least 2000 people.

Lat night a visiting technician from Uganda was doing some running repairs on the Bregma Clinic Ultrasound machine donated from Australia. We needed  a spotlight to shed some light on the innerds as the power was off..again. Its  a complex electronic structure. It would be a big help if it could get going.

We had a Yotkom leadership meeting yesterday and all were in agreement regarding the need for a pastoral care / chaplain for the project. We have some names on the short list and we are meeting someone tonight who may be the right person.

Malcolm and Shirley are leaving Kitgum tomorrow.
Shirley has done a wonderful job with the Yotkom and Drug Shop accounts. She has put some processes in place which will help us to keep up with reporting and accountability.
Anne and I will remain on here till Friday.
Another storm is brewing as I write. Most nights we have had rain and storms. Nice when you are safe inside listening to the rain on the roof.  We are trusting for a good use of time here remaining.
Thanks for all those supporting us and praying for us.

Shirley here reporting in on our last night in Kitgum, enjoying the cooling day from the front verandah of our house.  Also enjoying the last of the daylight as when the sun goes down we will be in complete darkness ....still/again ........ we are very grateful to Lucas for providing us with torches .... also enjoying the outdoors before today's thunderstorm hits (better than yesterday when we had 3 storms in 24 hours) ...... also while the computer still has some battery life.  It has been an amazing journey for Malcolm and I and we would recommend the experience and adventure.  It will be sad leaving tomorrow.  We miss Laurel, Lynette and Hannah who should all be back on home turf now.  We will also miss Andrew and Anne, having had our meals together for two weeks now.  May all you supporters be greatly blessed, you are contributing to a wonderful and worthwhile vision.