AKONYIBEDO MEDICAL CENTER
UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF ST. NEKTARIOS
Located in Northern Uganda
UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF ST. NEKTARIOS
Located in Northern Uganda
A Joint Outreach of The Orthodox Church of Uganda
and the Friends and Members of St. Philip the Apostle Orthodox Church Tampa, Florida.
and the Friends and Members of St. Philip the Apostle Orthodox Church Tampa, Florida.
A rainy season sea of grass. Matenity Annex on left
The Akonyibedo Medical Center is
located in northern Uganda approximately thirty mile south of the South
Sudan Boarder. It was dedicated and began seeing patients in January of
2014. Since that time, by necessity, the originally anticipated staff
of an R.N. and lab technician has expanded by adding a clinician (the
Ugandan equivalent of a physician), a nurse's aide, an administrative
person to allow the medical personnel to focus entirely on the medical
needs of the patients and a night watchman/handy man. In August, 2016 a
550 sq. ft. maternity annex was added. At the same time a nurse/midwife
was added to the staff. The medical center serves the surrounding villages where previously there was no medical services at all. Ugandan life expectancy is 54 years and the infant mortality rate is 10 times that of the U.S. We are serving some of the most needy of God's children.
Please take the time to explore our website and see what
wonderful things are happening in this remote part of Africa. Donations
may be made on this website at several links through PayPal Likewise
the address of St. Philip the Apostle Orthodox Church is provided for
those wishing to donate by mail. All donations are tax deductable and
100% of donations go directly to the medical center. All costs of fund
raising are paid for by the parish. If you wish to discuss anything
about the clinic and especially if you are a medical professional
interested in serving at the clinic for a two week period, please
contact Fr. Joseph at 813 933 9807.
Health classers under a tree
FR. JOSEPH AND NURSE PRACTIONER SUE NELSON VISIT THE CLINIC
AND CONTRACTS FOR A WELL AND SOLAR POWER ARE MADE.
AND CONTRACTS FOR A WELL AND SOLAR POWER ARE MADE.
Staffing has been dramatically added to meet unanticipated need.
Leaving on July 27th, Fr. Joseph and
Nurse Practioner Sue once again traveled the 8,500 miles to the medical
center which is located about 25 mile south of the South Sudan boarder.
After greeting and conferring with His Eminence Jonah, Metropolitan
Archbishop of all Uganda, they traveled by dirt road the 190 miles from
Uganda's capital Kampala to the clinic. Nurse Sue, supervised an
inventory, checked the center records, met individually with each member
of the center staff, chaired a staff lunch meeting and still made time
for her first love, the treating of patients at the clinic.
Fr. Joseph and Fr. George, the director of the clinic (in addition to serving three parishes and a preschool), met with a drilling company and with a supplier and installer of solar power. Discussions and negotiations continued for several days and finally an agreement was made for the drilling of the well and for the installation of solar power.
Fr. Joseph and Fr. George, the director of the clinic (in addition to serving three parishes and a preschool), met with a drilling company and with a supplier and installer of solar power. Discussions and negotiations continued for several days and finally an agreement was made for the drilling of the well and for the installation of solar power.
The well will be drilled into rock and will supply potable water for use in the clinic. The villagers will be encouraged to draw from the well for their cooking and drinking needs and for brushing their teeth. This should help to improve their overall health. The driller agreed that he will drill until he reaches water and if a dry hole is drilled he will continue to drill at no extra charge until a usable well is in place. Initially a hand pump will be used to draw water.
Solar panels and appropriate batteries were contracted for and will be installed for the electrical needs of the clinic. A specialized refrigerator for storing vaccines was ordered and a sterilizer was purchased as well. The immediate need for lighting was made evident as the clinic overflowed with patients due to a large and virile outbreak of malaria. Many patients had to be kept overnight to administer IVs and the malaria medication. Likewise several venomous snake bites have been treated and those patients also must be kept overnight. The clinic was built with the foresight to prewire it for power, so installation should be relatively fast.
Originally, we had intended to have a staff consisting of a nurse and a lab technician. Because of the high need for services and the complexity of some of these services we have added a Clinical Officer. This is the Ugandan solution to a critical shortage of medical doctors. Likewise we have added a nurse's aid and an administrative aid to assist Fr. George. We also have a night watchman for safety and security.
Our next project is a very pressing one. We need desperately to add a nurse/midwife to the staff. Infant mortality is ten times that of the U.S. and we must attack it at its root. The biggest cause of infant deaths is the total lack of any antenatal services.
While at the clinic, an incursion into northern Uganda by South Sundanese militia to a point within approximately 20 miles of the clinic occurred. The invaders were quickly repulsed by elements of the Ugandan Defense Forces. Father Joseph and Nurse Sue have never felt in danger including this visit. For Nurse Sue it was her ninth visit and Father Joseph's fifth.
Donations may be made to the medical center through links on this website. All contributions are 100% deductable and all moneys received are used for the direct support of the clinic.
CHILDREN OF AKONYIBEDO VILLAGE
THESE ARE THE REASON FOR THE MEDICAL CLINIC
These children of Akonyibedo Village in northern Uganda are the
fortunate ones. They have survived an infant mortality rate ten (10)
times that of the United States. However, most of them will not live
beyond their mid fifties, the life expectancy in Uganda. This is only
2/3s that of the United States. All of these children are infected with
intestinal worms and many have already suffered at least one bout of
malaria. A recent study showed that at any given time 64% of them are
sick.
Right now it is relatively secure in their village but should the rebel forces return they could be pressed into service as soldiers by the rebels at the age of 10, 11 or 12. This happened to their parish priest when he was 12. After one month he escaped and hid out on his own from the rebels. When they are old enough they will help their parents with the subsistence farming that is the way of survival in this region.
More than anything they need a medical clinic. There they can be vaccinated, receive tablets to keep them free from worms and receive treatment for their diseases. What does this mean overall for them. Simply this; longer, healthier and happier lives. For them we have undertaken to build and staff a medical clinic located just outside the village to serve all of the people of the region. Some may ask: "why doesn't their government do it?" The answer is that it does not matter. Simply put, either we do it or there will continue to be no clinic.
Please read the other articles on this website, review the photos and then click on the "Donations" tab at the top of any page. Thank you and God bless you.
Right now it is relatively secure in their village but should the rebel forces return they could be pressed into service as soldiers by the rebels at the age of 10, 11 or 12. This happened to their parish priest when he was 12. After one month he escaped and hid out on his own from the rebels. When they are old enough they will help their parents with the subsistence farming that is the way of survival in this region.
More than anything they need a medical clinic. There they can be vaccinated, receive tablets to keep them free from worms and receive treatment for their diseases. What does this mean overall for them. Simply this; longer, healthier and happier lives. For them we have undertaken to build and staff a medical clinic located just outside the village to serve all of the people of the region. Some may ask: "why doesn't their government do it?" The answer is that it does not matter. Simply put, either we do it or there will continue to be no clinic.
Please read the other articles on this website, review the photos and then click on the "Donations" tab at the top of any page. Thank you and God bless you.
HOW IT STARTED
A DREAM COMING TRUE
By Fr. Joseph Ciarciaglino
Brothers in Christ serving mankind
I
am Fr. Joseph Ciarciaglino, pastor of St. Philip the Apostle Orthodox
Church in Tampa, Florida. In 2010 I had the great privilege to serve on a
short-term medical mission team to northern Uganda, under the auspices
of the Orthodox Christian Mission Center. In ten days our doctors and
nurses, aided by several laymen, treated almost 3,800 people. This is a
testimony to the wonderful heath care providers who were on the team.
For most of the people that we saw this was the first medical attention
they received since the team was there in 2009. It would also be the
last that they would receive until the team returned in 2011.
Malaria
and intestinal worms were pandemic. Patients presented with
tuberculosis, dysentery, open wounds, broken arms and legs that had not
been set and even leprosy. Many of these people were only two years
removed from the displaced person camps into which they had been forced
due to previous rebel and terrorist activity. Some evenings our
traveling pharmacy did not finish filling the doctors’ orders until
after dark by the light of a kerosene lamp. None of our mobile clinics
had electricity, running water or toilets.
No matter the temporary
inconveniences, all of us on the team were well rewarded by the love
and gratitude shown to us by the northern Ugandan people. These are
truly the poorest of God’s children. Most have only the clothes that
they are wearing, yet they are some of the most joyful and appreciative
people that I have ever met. At each village we were met like rock stars
by throngs of cheering, jumping children screaming over and over:
“Bazanga, Bazanga” which means white people. At one village of mud
walled huts with thatched roofs, I asked Fr. George, one of our native
priests, what the people thought of Americans. His quick and sincere
reply was that their definition of Americans is “white people who bring
us strong medicine because they love us.”
Fr. Joseph takes a turn breaking ground. Fr. George is to the right
in gold vestments. Metropolitan Jonah is in the background.
in gold vestments. Metropolitan Jonah is in the background.
Upon my return home, of
all of the sounds and sights of this trip there was one thing that I
could not get out of my mind. If I close my eyes even now I can plainly
hear one of the interpreters telling the triage nurse: “He knows that he
is filled with worms because he can feel them moving around.” I was
appalled. I knew that there were tablets that could effectively deworm a
person. And for want of a few pills this horrible condition existed in
most of the people we saw. I could not get the wonderful people of
Uganda out of my mind. I kept up an email correspondence with Fr. George
and we discussed building a clinic in Akonyibedo village. If Archbishop
Jonah, Metropolitan of all Uganda, gave his blessing I would try to
raise the funds and Fr. George would oversee the construction. In June
of 2012 we received permission.
Our first large donation was from
the Tampa Bay area Pan-orthodox vespers’ charity collections. The
Orthodox Clergy Brotherhood of Greater Tampa Bay voted to donate the
entire collected amount of $6,500 to the clinic. My own parish of St.
Philip the Apostle has been most generous in its collective
contributions as well as understanding as to the amount of my time
necessary for this project. To ensure the operation of the clinic once
it is opened, St. Philip parish has committed to paying the nurse’s
salary for two years. Our parish in Jacksonville, St. Justin Martyr, has
committed to paying the lab technician’s salary for the same period.
In
December of 2012, I was once again among the people of northern Uganda
whom I have come to know and love. We met with the Metropolitan to give
him an interim report, a bank account was opened, plans approved and job
offers extended to and accepted by a nurse and laboratory technician to
staff the clinic. Construction has now begun. Fr. George tells me that
every day people come from all around to see the progress and that many
tears of joy are shed. Our long-term plan is to provide running potable
water from a deep well. This will be very expensive. Likewise we hope to
build staff quarters so that the nurse and lab tech can be on call
afterhours. Finally our plan is to build a birthing facility in an
attempt to reduce the infant mortality rate. To do this we need your
help. Please click on the “Donations” button at the top of the page.
God bless you.
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