The building progresses

Rear of the building showing site for septic tank being dug 

Digging and constructing by hand a large septic tank

Sifting sand for impurities

Andrew with assistant project manager William, inspecting internal wall rendering 

Walls with plumbing and electrical conduits prior to rendering 

Mesh and concrete ceilings in hallway showing skylights

Malaria epidemic in Northern Uganda

Clinical officers Nancy, Peter and Richard 

The clinical officers working at Yotkom Bregma Medical Centre are being challenged by the number of cases of acute Malaria arising in the community. Many are seriously ill, especially the children. They require admission to our facility for intravenous medications.
The nearby Government hospital is overwhelmed with cases, housing over four hundred children in the small children's ward. There were five children who died of malaria last week.
Our team are dedicated to serving the community. We have some good clinical guidelines in place and charting of fluids and drugs is now part of the nursing routine for patients staying over in the wards.

We have developed a Clinical Guidelines manual to be used as a helpful reference for all the medical staff when treating common conditions . This ensures a consistent approach to treatment of diseases and is also a reflection of the latest international recommendations,

Yotkom is focussed on continuing education for our health workers and we encourage attendance at training seminars. Our chaplain Concy is going to be sponsored to attend a country wide pastors and counsellors conference in Kampala this month.

Building update

Inspecting medical clinic with project manager and electricians to locate power outlets and computer networks

Electricians chisel grooves for conduits into the brick walls. Later to be rendered

Guesthouse site is being fenced 

Yotkom Bregma Medical Centre nearing completion

I believe within two months the construction of the Yotkom Bregma Medical Centre in Kitgum Uganda will be completed and the 30 Ugandan health workers we partner with will have a new home.

It's so exciting to walk through the building which up to know has been a picture in the minds eye or a sketch on a piece of paper. The high ceilings  will provide for a big spacious look and a cool space. Big windows are letting in lots of natural light.
Today the doctors, lab technicians, X-ray and ultrasound operators walked through the rooms with our project director Andrew Kilama and the electricians to locate lights and switches as well as locations for a computer cabling network. 

Excited about the future and how we can together make a difference.

After over 10 weeks living and working in Kitgum Uganda, Andrew and Anne Wright are returning to Australia.

Andrew plans to  come back to Uganda in July.

We are feeling excited about the future of the Yotkom Uganda project.

It is very encouraging to work with such a great  team of healthcare professionals.

There is a real sense of unity and shared vision amongst our leadership who want so much. to create a centre  of hope and healing ,providing high standards of health care to this community.

We are working in a part of the world where there is the greatest need for medical intervention.
Subsaharan Africa has  25 % of the worlds disease burden and only 3% of the worlds health professionals and 1% of the worlds health expenditure.
 Infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis are common here. Add to this the burden of HIV AIDs which affects approximately one in five people.  Then factor in the rising tide of non communicable diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease . And remember in the community of Northern Uganda  live many  of the very poor, with about 40% living below the  United Nations   poverty  line  defined as. less s than $1 US per day.
Northern Uganda is recovering from twenty years of civil war and the unemployment rate is over 60%..
We know The need is great. Living here we have witnessed this first hand ...and it has  had a profound impact on us.
We have a lot of faith that our project can help meet the  need and at the same time show Gods love through compassionate,wholistic health care.

The construction of  the Yotkom Bregma Medical  Centre  is well underway with foundations being poured in APRIL . The walls have been erected in JUNE and the roof is due to be placed in early JULY.

Yotkom  Medical Centre . June 2015

 We have a lot of admiration and confidence in our  building project manager , Andrew Kilama  to complete the task to a high standard  by October 2015.
We need another $25,000 AUS by then to complete the construction .
Please consider donating toward this  by clicking on the  GIVE NOW tax deductible link on the right hand side of this  web page.
The medical team of 30 currently working in rented facilities are very excited about the pending move.

On our worksite we have a chaplain who is providing pastoral care to our builders and labourers. His name is Fearless !

About one kilometre from the medical centre site we have prepared some land for the future construction of a guesthouse facility which will accommodate  teachers, trainers and facilitators who wish to spend some time working with our  Yotkom .Uganda health project.  We believe there are many people in Australia and elsewhere who would like to spend time here,, Sharing their knowledge and skills  in the fields of medicine, surgery, nursing, allied health,, business, counselling, information technology  and many others.

We would love to start building g this facility in 2016!

X Ray facilities are critical to the effective functioning of our medical centre,  there are many patients who present daily with orthopaedic problems such as fractured bones and dislocations as  a result if road traffic accidents or  injuries at home and in the work place.
X Rays assist the doctors greatly in diagnosing and treating.
The machines draw a lot if power so our solar system cannot cope with the demand.  The network power is disrupted frequently so we have wanted a generator for sometime to minimise work disruption.
 We want to thank so many generous people who gave specifically to this purchase !

Construction of foundations for Yotkom Medical centre

You can watch  a brief video of the construction site for the new medical clinic by clicking on the link below: our Ugandan builders are working hard in the hot sun !


Site visit March 23rd 2015

Reflections from David Ajala

Well, what a tremendous experience I’ve had in this vibrant Ugandan town of Kitgum. It really has been a humbling experience, the local Acholi people are beautiful, kind and happy given the extremely challenging circumstances. They live for the day, always looking for the positives in each situation and are very focused on the social aspects of enjoying family, friends and life in general. You very quickly realise how little is needed to sustain you in this life; material things quite often just clutter your life and camouflage the important, beautiful things about life – friendship, family, love and compassion.  

I must say it took me a few days to get used to the thick and unrelenting African dust in the dry season, it seems to get into absolutely every nook and cranny. I lived in Lagos Nigeria for many of my younger years and a lot of things reminded me of that time of my life, but I can’t recall ingesting a kilo of dust daily.

Andrew and Anne showed me around the Bregma medical clinic & the Yotkom drug store on a number of occasions and I had the great pleasure of meeting the medical team there who are a dedicated and lively bunch. 

As is everyone in this township, they are working in trying conditions in an old building with limited resources, but are saving lives and reducing the pain and suffering in the Kitgum community. I take my hat off to each and every person there. Keep up the great work!

We also had the opportunity to visit the land where the new Yotkom  clinic is being built, how exciting. The fence was being erected when we were there and hopefully it will be completed in around 6 months

. I already looking forward to getting back to Kitgum to see it finished, it will certainly lift the teams spirit and further support the community.   

I was very fortunate to be invited to Dr Vincent’s and Rosyln’s traditional Acholi marriage on Saturday, full of colour, music, dancing, song, laughter, fun, food and tradition, it even had the obligatory wedding cake and off course, the wedding presents.

 Thank you for inviting me  Vincent and all the best for a long, healthy and happy marriage.  

Andrew and I had some time one evening to watch a movie (The Foxcatcher) without popcorn, and then he offered to challenge me in a game of chess, where he proceeded to dismantle my ego, piece by piece – thanks Andrew, I think I’ll go back to playing my 10 year old son.

The real highlight of the week, apart from the wedding, was seeing the absolute joy we witnessed on a 5 year old Acholi boys face when we handed him a brand new soccer ball to play with. He must have done a 10 second hundred metre dash back to his family home to show off his new ball. That was a special moment.

Anyway, enough ratting from me, thank you Anne & Andrew for making me feel so welcome and safe (with Bosco and the dogs as our constant house guards, who wouldn’t feel safe & secure – thanks Bosco), and taking me into your home with open arms, it’s been a delight in so many ways and a trip I will cherish.

P.S enjoy the slow cooked chicken in my absence. David