The Building Begins

At the beginning of February,  Dr Andrew Wright and  his wife  Anne have moved from Brisbane Queensland to live in Kitgum Uganda for approximately three months in order to monitor the commencement of construction of the new purpose built Yotkom Medical Centre.
We are very excited that generous donors in Australia have entrusted the project with the funds necessary to complete stage one of the medical centre, costing approximately $125,000 Australian.
Much of the giving for this took place over the Christmas season and was facilitated by Gateway Baptist Church in Brisbane. We are so grateful for their partnership with Yotkom.
This is the dry season, so an ideal time to start building, although also intensely hot and dusty which makes working and living here rather challenging. By the afternoon most people are wilting and drained of energy!
One of our major challenges to resolve before building starts is to deal with the recent resumption of some of our land by the Chinese company contracted by the Ugandan Government to build a key road running from Kampala to Southern Sudan which passes by our front door.
Many people in Kitgum have been affected by this road which is threatening to remove established businesses and homes and cause major hardship to the local community.
We are urgently seeking to examine our options so as to not delay our building project.
Ideally we hope an alternate path will be chosen for the road. Alternatively we will need to modify our planned structure to fit on the reduced land size. Our design engineer, Andrew Kilama is currently working on this. We trust compensation for any land loss will be forthcoming and perhaps allow us to purchase some vacant lots adjoining us ,suitable for future expansion.
As this process continues, Dr Andrew will be working in the medical clinic and at St Joseph's  Hospital .
Already we have been reminded of the acute medical needs of the community as a man in his fifties this week died of tetanus. It's encouraging to know that our medical team is already providing a much needed service to Kitgum in the rented facilities they are currently using. A woman in her 40s was this week operated in to have a mastectomy for breast cancer. This was performed by a local surgeon in our treatment room, with a single solar light during a power outage, with the assistance of our registered nurse. The woman will go on to have radiotherapy and chemotherapy in Kampala. Hopefully her life has been saved by this curative surgery. We found her recovering well on our ward round this morning.
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Our vision for a purpose -built YOTKOM MEDICAL CLINIC

For some years we have been working toward fulfilling a vision to construct a purpose built
YOTKOM MEDICAL CENTRE
in Kitgum,  Northern Uganda.
We believe we are close to seeing the vision fulfilled in 2015!
Yotkom is working with a team of 30 dedicated Ugandan health professionals and  support staff who are already successfully providing primary health care services to this disadvantaged community .
They have been challenged by the costs , suitability and  availability of  rented facilities in the town.
We believe the new donated building,  when completed, will do so much to enhance long term self reliance and sustainability in this medical outreach.
WE have a model to develop a high quality,  private non for profit medical clinic which is sustainable.
We aim to ultimately cover  the costs of staff wages , equipment  , treatment  and services through private and insured patient fees .
Yotkom directors  plan to channel any profits after expenses   into the establishment of a  charitable fund to enable access to  those most disadvantaged to free or subsidised  medical and surgical services at our clinic.  The removal of rent from business expenses will help so much in cutting overheads.

Everything is now in place for building to commence.
We have paid for four lots of commercial land on the main road into Kitgum from Gulu. . The title deeds have been secured in the name of Yotkom Uganda
Plans have been drawn up for a medical clinic containing:
Waiting Room
Pharmacy
Reception and Office space
Two Consulting Rooms for Doctors
An emergency , procedure  room / nurses station
Microbiology Laboratory
Biochemistry and Haematology Laboratory
Ultrasound room
Xray room and dark room
Small theatre for surgery
Two overnight stay wards accommodating six beds

Other construction plans include:
Fencing and Guard house
Under ground tanks for roof water harvesting.  Roof top water tank
3 KW Solar  and batteries (transferred from our current rented facilities)
Generator for back up power and Xray use
Outdoor washing, cleaning and toilet facilities

Three local construction companies have provided quotations for the building.
The land has just been cleared and levelled in preparation for construction starting February 2015
Dr Andrew and Anne Wright will be living and working in Kitgum from February to April in order to monitor the commencement of the project.
THE TARGET to raise is   $120,000 Australian  by  January 2015

We are excited that  Gateway Baptist Church is partnering with us over Christmas and dedicating all funds raised at Christmas services and Christmas  Carols  toward our building fund.
Would you please consider helping us to reach this target by giving to this project through our online giving options on this webpage  or via cheque .
Giving is tax deductible.

November  2014. Clearing Yotkom Medical clinic site.

The YOTKOM UGANDA leadership team

We have just had a Directors meeting for the Yotkom project at my home base here in Kitgum and I am feeling very blessed to be working with such a great team. There is  a real sense of unity and shared vision among us. Listening to my colleagues share in the meeting is so heartening. I feel it is a real privilege to work with my Ugandan  friends here and it will be with some sense of loss that I leave to return to Australia on Sunday.

Our leadership team today consisted of Dr Vincent Oringa, Clinical Officers Peter Omara and Richard Yulam, Chaplain Concy Amigo, Engineer and Architect  Andrew Kilama and myself.
 Dr Charles Abonga was unable to join us due to his ongoing specialist training in Mbarara in Western Uganda.  These people have commitment, passion, integrity and enthusiasm .
They are formidable !

Its been four weeks of  busy activity as we strengthen our foundations and prepare for a building project in 2015. We are ready and have done our part. We now need to trust and pray that God will provide all that is needed in the way of resources through the generous giving of our partners in Australia.
We believe with the addition of a building constructed to house our medical team we can provide a high quality , compassionate and sustainable health care facility to the disadvantaged community of Kitgum.

our focus is on CARING FOR THE SICK

TEACHING AND TRAINING-  Surgeon Dr Moses works alongside Clinical Officer Richard performing procedures

PREVENTATIVE HEALTH and COMMUNITY EDUCATION - our Nurse and Chaplain share on FM Radio about Womens Health issues

 

Brainstorming ideas on income generation

we are using some green hat thinking here, exploring ways to improve our income generation.
We have a rented shop which is functioning as  a pharmacy and the Yotkom Office.
As a result of our work with DAYS for GIRLS, we have purchased a sewing machine and employed Rhoda to sew the materials necessary to produce Days for Girls sanitary products. We hope to sell a pack for 12000 shillings, which is about $5 Australian.

This pack provides protection for young women and school students and can be used and reused for a period of up to 3 years. The alternative is to buy disposable items . These cost the same amount but only last 3 months, so the DFG products make sound economic sense. We hope to make small profits but also use our facility to make the free packs which are given out as part of our school teaching program.
We are also talking to an African artist who might brighten up our shop and sell more of his artwork..We will take a small commission for sales. His name is Joshua and he is going to paint an African   DFG  logo for our shop wall.

The Nurse assistants who staff the pharmacy are also keen, when not busy,  to learn to make necklaces which we sell in Australia to help raise funds.
The team here are very enthusiastic.

Andrew is enjoying opportunities to network with other health professionals here.
Dr Aniel Cherian is the director of a training school for South Sudan Clinical Officers. The school is sponsored by the International Christian Medical and Dental Fellowship. He travelled the 10 hour bus trip from Kampala and stayed with Andrew for2  nights. He is planning to bring the trainee Doctors to Kitgum and will develop a partnership with Yotkom and St Josephs Hospital in order to give them a wide range of valuable supervised experience.

Before he left , Pat Holdsworth was able to give some valuable medical equipment to St Josephs Hospital and the Yotkom/Bregma Clinic. The equipment will facilitate training and the care of emergencies such as cardiac arrest , fractures and spinal injuries. Pat is planning to return in 2015 to follow up on is work.

A container is coming with more medical supplies in about one months time thanks to the generosity of the Mater Hospital Brisbane and the hard work of Graham Carter.

On Friday, Andrew is teaching at the medical grand rounds at St Josephs Hospital on the topic of Acute Asthma.

Finalising Building Plans

WE have been collaborating with local draughtsman and project manager, Andrew Kilama to finalise plans for the Yotkom Medical Centre and also the guesthouse which will be located on  separate land. We have asked three local builders who have a good reputation to provide us with quotations to build.
Currently we have a vision to commence building by February next year in order to beat the wet season. The Gateway church Christmas offerings will be a major boost to our fundraising efforts for the construction. Other gifts toward this task are warmly welcomed and are tax deductible.

Andrew is planning to return to Kitgum in early 2015 and stay on site for at least 2 months with his wife Anne . He will be  working alongside the Yotkom medical team and also monitoring the building process.  Other engineering and project management professionals from Australia are also considering assisting us.

working on building plans

 

marking out site of guesthouse

 

planting trees on guesthouse site

 

PAt and Maree plant Pawpaw

 

Andrew Kilama and family

 

outside church on Sunday

 

 

 

Training and Networking in Gulu

Our female team members are feeling very happy after eating some of Andrews chocolate stash and trying on their newly made African dresses.
They have been working today to set up a sewing corner in our Yotkom Drug Shop. We have purchased a treadle sewing machine and plan to find ways of sewing and distributing the Days for Girls kits to the Kitgum community.
Days for Girls
The reception from the schools we have visited has been great and our Clinic nurses, Winnie and Florence along with Concy our chaplain have been very animated and engaged in their presentations.
These presentations in schools are a wonderful opportunity to deliver highly effective sexual health and safety messages to the young women of Uganda. It is a very important way of preventing transmission of HIV AIDs and other sexually transmitted diseases as well as protecting vulnerable girls from sexual assault and exploitation. Our Yotkom health team  hope to do many more in the district with assistance of funds from Australia

We spent some time today brainstorming ideas to fine tune the plans for the Yotkom Medical Clinic. Our architect and project manager, Andrew Kilama has been applying himself to the task.
 Andrew Wright will be seeking out quotations from builders here  to construct the clinic in 2015.

Earlier in the week Pat and Andrew travelled to Gulu, where we partnered with Prime International to assist in the delivery of a Whole Person Medicine training course to 40 second year Clinical Officer trainees. It went very well and I was impressed by the calibre of the students and their interaction . Much of the teaching was on consulting skills and managing mental health disorders. Three doctors from the UK  worked with us and two of our clinical officers from Kitgum, Richard and Peter , also participated and received certificates.

While in Gulu we were able to make valuable connections with the Hope for Humans Organisation which is working with children with Nodding Syndrome in that district .
Hope for Humans
 Their director, Caesar is coming to Kitgum next week and we will talk about ways we can work together to address the significant problem of Nodding Syndrome amongst children in our  community.

We also took a 6km Boda ride to the Lacor Hospital, a 500 bed facility established by the Catholic Church in 1959. The Medical Superintendent was very welcoming and gave us a guided tour. It was helpful for our clinical officers from Kitgum, 100km away to meet specialists they may need to refer difficult patients to.  The Med Superintendent  shared with us the challenges of running such a major facility. Only  20 % of all running costs come from patient fees , 10% from Government assistance and the remaining 70% is sourced from donors. How difficult it is for these much needed health care facilities to survive in communities where there is so much poverty , unemployment and major disease burdens.

 

Emergency Medicine Training Day

It was encouraging to see the interest shown by the medical staff from Bregma  Medical Clinic , St Joseph's Hospital  and other local clinics at the training day. Most of the staff have never see a resuscitation manikin or tried to resuscitate a patient, this showed in their active involvement in practicing their new skills in CPR. The few who had been trained were pleased at learning the current practice for CPR. 

 After lunch Dr Moses helped in the training adding his valuable experience in shock management and fluid replacement. At the end of the day all were happy to receive a certificate of attendance with good feedback from the students interested in continuing training in the future.

 

 

 

PAT HOLDSWORTH
Paramedic with Yotkom Uganda Team