Moved by Love
Welcome to 2021 a year that we hope will see the Covid19 bought under control as the roll out of the vaccinations is underway. The year 2020 was an extremely challenging year for the majority of people the world over and the KHC team was no exception.
The covid19 pandemic brought a lot of anxiety and fear among our team due to the fear of contracting the SARS-COV-2 virus and becoming critically ill. Despite all this the team was mindful of the fact that care and support services to all our patients had to be maintained to ensure good treatment outcomes. The team soldiered on throughout the year and we successfully maintained our services. Fortunately, none of our team members has been critically ill with the disease and we hope it remains that way.
Fortunately, the vaccines are now in the country and all KHC staff will be among the health workers who receive the first dose of the AstraZeneca vaccine that the government has provided.
New Partnership – New Hope Children’s Hostel
In August 2020, the New Hope Children’s hostel funding period ended and with the Covid19 pandemic raging on, we were extremely worried about how we could maintain the service for the children with cancer. We decided to reach out to many of our friends around the world i.e. Australia, Norway, Denmark, Germany and our palliative care partners in the US – Samaritan Hospice who all provided donations that helped keep the hostel operational.
We are happy to report that one of our friends Dr. Margrethe linked us up with Ceri, a wonderful friend based in Washington. Ceri has made a major donation that will cover 65% of the annual operational costs of the hostel for this year and we thank her from the bottom of our hearts for her kindness towards the children with cancer in Uganda.
Ceri, we look forward to the day that you will be able to travel to Uganda and see the impact your support has made to the families of the children with cancer.
Recognition Awards
The year 2020 ended with our annual staff outing which was held under strict covid19 standard operating procedures. At this event we recognised and announced:
The Employee of the Year 2020 was Dauriano Tukwantanise, Data Clerk.
He was selected because of his good performance in his role and for being a good team player and lead staff welfare efforts e.g. birthday celebrations, support for those who lost their loved ones, and following up sick members of staff.
The Manager/Coordinator of the Year in 2020 was Jaston Rutakuburwa who also played a big role in ensuring that HIV care and treatment services for patients was maintained during the covid19 lock down. He developed a number of strategies that ensured that all patients got their treatment and that activities like targeted HIV testing continued.
He also rode his motorbike to take ARV medicines to the patients’ homes.
The runner ups were also recognised for their wonderful contribution during a very difficult year:
Mpakibi Mary also excelled in her work as the CB-DOT coordinator. She ensured that all TB patients received their treatment during the covid19 lockdown and all other services such as TB contact tracing, sensitization etc continued.
Dr. Bertha Amanya (right) provided great leadership for the medical team. Despite the covid19 fear and anxiety among the team, she led from the from the front by ensuring infection control and prevention equipment and sanitizers were available. She also advocated for appropriate PPE for the staff and she ensured that all clinics and home based care services were available.
Congratulations to our worthy recipients.
Annual General Meeting
KHC has had a productive start to the year with our Annual General Meeting on 6 February. With the current restrictions we were able to invite friends and partners to join us via zoom.
At the meeting we welcomed seven new board members to the KHC team and Prof. Victor Musiime was elected as the new Board Chairman.
KHC is extremely grateful to Mr Aloysius Byaruhanga Mwesigwa who was Chairman for the past eight years. His leadership and support have been central in KHC growing the services it provides to the poor and disadvantaged and the respect that KHC has in the health community both locally and internationally. Thank you for your contribution.
We would also like to thank Simon Peter Bwete who held the position Board Client Representative since 2014. This is an important role that ensures that our clients are represented.
New Appointees:
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Sarah Komugisha – Founders Representative |
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KHC School Fees Program
Like many children throughout the world the past year has been difficult for the school children and we must not forget the pressure on the parents!
During 2020 the schools were closed for most of the students, with only the candidate classes continuing their schooling and they recently sat their final examinations.
KHC have 76 children on its school fees program and of these 60% are HIV positive. As KHC sponsored children are from the poorer communities they are even more vulnerable during this pandemic as many rely on the one meal a day, provided at the school.
KHC provided the children with self-study, paper-based materials so they could study from home as it was not possible for them to have online interaction with their teachers.
The children have also been provided with psychological and social support including home visits to ensure they are ok and this support will continue until all the children are back at school.
If you would like to make a great investment then you can sponsor one of the children on our waiting list.
GlobalGiving
In June 2020 KHC became a partner with GlobalGiving, a non-profit crowd funding platform that connects charities with international donors and companies.
The project that is being promoted is helping children with cancer from disadvantaged rural areas, access to oncology treatment. By staying at the New Hope Children’s Hostel the child and their caregiver are provided with accommodation, 3 meals a day, counselling, nursing care, legal aid, educational play sessions and daily transport to and from treatment.
Since we opened the hostel in 2016, 591 children have stayed at the hostel and of these 168 are in remission, 198 are still on treatment, eight are on ‘End of life care’ and follow up and sadly 170 children have passed away. We are unable to contact 47 children who returned to their homes.
Little x Little Campaign
Recently GlobalGiving had a 5-day promotion and matched 50% of the donation up to US$50.
Thank you to those who donated to this campaign, we raised enough funds to provide the 30 children in our care and their caregivers with 2 meals a day for the next month. It certainly takes the pressure off for the time being.
International Women’s Day
This is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality.
This year the theme was Choose to Challenge. A challenged world is an alert world and from challenge comes change. So, let’s all choose to challenge.
KHC is pleased to have an exceptional pool of talented women shaping and building the capacity of KHC.
This is why we keep doing what we do
I had been ill with malaria and was coughing. I went to a clinic and was tested HIV positive. As the clinic could not take on any new patients, I was referred to KHC. I was tested at KHC for TB and it came back positive. I was then enrolled on the HIV and TB care program. I received counselling and was given information about TB and HIV. A KHC community volunteer came to my home to help me take my medicines and taught me the importance of good adherence and how not to infect my relatives and other people in the community with the TB. I am very grateful for the support I have been given and the care shown to me – Thank you KHC. Robert – Age 30. Robert has recovered from his TB and is continuing his treatment for HIV.
I am extremely proud of our KHC family and what we have achieved since we commenced this journey in 2007. It is the people who make the organisation and who manage the many challenges day in day out. Thank you for going that extra mile.
Until next time
Dr. Sam Guma Executive Director
Thanks for the work uou are doing. I’m very impressed by the results of your work during the last year, happy to receive news and see some familiar faces. Thanks for good job and tireless efforts. Stay safe and healthy!
Agnes from Germany