Container of Medical Equipment released !

After many months of waiting ,pursuing officials , filling in forms and several hundred emails....the container of donated medical equipment from Australia has finally been released by Ugandan authorities. The seal has been broken and the doors opened allowing access to much needed equipment for our medical clinic and other projects such as St Joseph's Hospital and Tender Trust Centre. We want to thank the Mater Hospital Brisbane and Graham Carter for all the efforts they have made on behalf if the Kitgum community.

We have a guest from Australia here with us currently. His name us David Ajala.
Today he was able to see the building site and observe progress on the construction of the medical clinic. He has also been meeting our team and helping with business development  ,sharing some helpful ideas on strengthening the project activities and financial reporting.

HIV AIDs centre of excellence

Subsaharan Africa has the highest incidence of HIV. AIDs and associated diseases like Tuberculosis in the world.
The Yotkom sponsored medical centre in Kitgum has been awarded Ugandan Government approval to provide free HIV medications to adults and children affected by this disease. The clinic will also be providing pregnancy care to mothers and seeking to identify those carrying the virus so that transmission from mother to child of HIV AIDs can be prevented,
It is unusual for private medical facilities to be given these responsibilities so this is a very positive reflection on the quality of our medical team and the services they provide here
Today the focal team met for some in service training given by a Ugandan  doctor who works in this AIDs  specialty area.
Those present included two clinical officers, a doctor, two comprehensive nurses, a midwife, a laboratory technician and a counsellor. It was a very worthwhile time. Our health team are keen learners!

Prayer,dedication and celebration as we set aside our land for construction

 Yotkom Uganda  team and medical staff from the medical clinic have gathered together on the construction site to celebrate in true African style , thankful for the provision of funds for building and praying for a smooth construction over the next six months.
Builders will commence work within a week.

On Tuesday the 3 rd march the Yotkom directors unanimously agreed to accept the building quotation from Andrew kilama to construct the medical centre.
A contract has been signed and the site handed over to the building company.
The completion date within 6 months.

Meanwhile, medical work continues at the clinic. Children are being vaccinated  regularly against preventable  diseases like polio hepatitis b, pneumonia ,tetanus, and pertussis.

Today we vaccinated a man against rabies after he sustained a dog bite.

A child aged 2 travelled from the Sudan border to seek medical care at our clinic. The young girl had malaria and most likely worm infestation leading to severe anaemia  and malnutrition. ( she weighed only 8 kg )

Days for Girls outreach to Agoro

Next week Yotkom will be partnering with an organisation called Kitgum women's peace initiative  to  facilitate the presentation of the Days for Girls teaching program  to four schools in the rural community of Agoro. KWPI are concerned about young girls missing school because of inability to access feminine hygiene products and they have asked us to assist. There is also a need to provide education on self care and protection from sexual assault to these young women.  The incidence of unwanted teenage pregnancies and HIV AIDs. Transmission is of major concern in these village communities.

Agoro is two hours drive from Kitgum. Lying close to the Sudan border.
Today we travelled to lamwo district government headquarters and. met with Barnabas, the director of Education for the district .He is highly supportive of the  work to educate young girls and improve school attendance.

We will be donating days for Girls sanitary products  to four schools . These have been tailored in our Yotkom centre in Kitgum using funds donated from Australia.
These rural schoolchildren will benefit a lot from this preventive health strategy.

Yotkom project updates

We are very keen to get final approval to open our container of medical equipment donated from the Mater Hospital in Brisbane. We have faced many obstructions and bureaucratic hurdles and are praying for a breakthrough. Getting things done here can be sooo slow .

While waiting on road clearing alongside our land we continue to prepare and put all things in place  with the final plans and approvals , ready for construction to start. Andrew Kilama will be our project manager.

In the Yotkom office we are working to adopt the use of an accounting software program to improve accounting ,transparency and reporting capabilities for the project,

Days for girls initiative continues to grow ,with our nurses planning visits to isolated schools to teach on women's health issues and sexual health. Our Taylor, Rhoda, is working hard in the back office sewing sanitary products for women, some of which are sold in our drug shop, and others donated to schools, with  the assistance of donor funds from Australia.

At the medical clinic patients a young girl receives treatment for shortness of breath associated with an acute asthma attack.

Medical work continues 24 /7

Our Yotkom Uganda medical practitioners continue to work hard responding to the medical needs of the community.
Dr vincent and radiographer Mike were busy restoring the shape of a broken forearm and plastering it. The child was  given an injection of anaesthetic and was asleep throughout the procedure.

There was also a child today who ingested liquid paraffin, vomited and then aspirated into the lungs, causing acute breathing difficulties. Our clinical officer Richard was able to initiate treatment, including oxygen delivered from a concentrator. This was powered by a solar system, donated by Gateway Baptist church two years ago. Without that system the child would have been in major distress, denied oxygen by one of our many power blackouts.

We are proud of Richard and the work he is doing for his community. Our organisation sponsored him through high school and medical school and now to see him fulfilling his role is so exciting.

One if our other clinical officers here, Beatrice, has a beautiful child called  Vivienne.

Sometimes she needs to come to the clinic to be near mamma. The other staff are very supportive of this family atmosphere.

We are changing lives, bringing hope and healing

Today in the medical clinic we had evidence of lives changed through the medical interventions of our Yotkom health workers.
A young woman was admitted in shock from blood loss associated with a serious miscarriage at 12 weeks of pregnancy. She was near to death and had travelled 100km to get help .
After resuscitation with intravenous fluids her blood pressure was recordable and she had a surgical procedure at the clinic to resolve the issue. Today she is free of pain and receiving antibiotics to bring a full recovery.

A little boy named john travelled with his mother from Southern Sudan to come for medical advice. He had developed normally until one year ago when he contracted cerebral malaria and sustained permanent brain damage as a result. When he was first seen he was having continuous seizures and was very agitated and distressed. Today after commencing anti epileptic drugs we found him to be smiling and settled although his management will still be along term challenge for his mother.

It is so encouraging to see  lives changed  as a result of our presence here.