The Rotary Club of Havant working with the Rotary Club of Jinja
to help the Paediatric Hospital of Jinja, UgandaThe
paediatric hospital in Jinja has the same problems as hospitals all
over the developing world. The main problem is lack of funding. Many
children are admitted with malnutrition, most have malaria and
intestinal parasites. Some have TB and other serious diseases such as
AIDS and cancer. The Rotary Club of Jinja has a large garden in the
hospital grounds where club members grow food to feed the children.
One
of the hospital’s problems is lack of space and beds. During the day
time, as many patients as possible move back out into the grounds of the
hospital where they sit or lie on the grass with their families looking
after them until they are called for treatment. This is because parents
have to care for their children during the day time and having so many
people in congested wards makes it impossible for medical staff to
examine and treat the children. There isn’t room for chairs so parents
have to sit on the beds with their children who are often as many as 3
to each bed. Consequently, mattresses wear out very quickly and patients
have to lie on bare bed frames or be turned away. Children return to
the wards to sleep at night.
These PVC
covered mattresses are roughly £10 each. Some children are admitted as
patients because they are so malnourished that they can no longer eat
ordinary food. Some have malnourishment in addition to another illness.
They need easily digestible, high protein food. Fish protein enriched
soya flour porridge is fed to these children. It has a good balance of
protein and carbohydrate to promote recovery. This flour is roughly £1 a
kilogram.
The Rotary Club of Jinja
identified mattresses and high protein soya flour as priorities and
communicated this need to the International Committee of the Rotary Club
of Havant, UK. John Kirkwood, past President of the Jinja Club sent
photographs he had taken of patients, families and conditions in the
hospital. Havant Club members then agreed to buy 50 mattresses and 500
kilograms of flour. The money has been sent to the Rotary Club of Jinja
and when photos of the new mattresses etc. are received they will be
posted on this page.
Photographs taken in Nalufenya Children's Hospital
Child patients with their families during the day time, they Two seriously ill children with intravenous drips - in the
have to rest outside to ease congestion in the wards. same bed A mother is breast feeding her child who is a patient whilst Look in the background of this photo to see beds without she looks down at the other child sharing the bed. mattresses Mother with her child who has a fluid shunt See beds without mattresses behind this
in her head seriously ill child A little boy receiving a blood transfusion. The A little girl who has measles. She is isolated
child in the bed behind him is on a saline drip in a tiny four bed ward. 
Rotarians John Kirkwood and Dr Lawrence. See beds This poor little child has an abdominal tumour which was
without mattresses in the background. probably neglected due to the fact that most children have
swollen tummies due to worms or malnutrition. The Tubercolosis Ward. You can see parts of all 3 of the Some of the packets of fortified food which is mixed to a
beds and thus work out the total size of the ward. Uganda formula specified by the hospital's nutrionist before being
is 16th in the world for countries with the most TB. fed to malnourished children Some of the mattresses arriving at the hospital. They are Yet more of the food bought with the donation from the
plastic covered, high density foam. Each mattress bears Rotary Club of Havant, arranged and delivered by the
the name of the two Rotary Clubs. Rotary Club of Jinja
William Okello - Chair of International Projects, on the Rotary Club of Jinja's President Petronella Lujwalla giving
right is brilliant at arranging everything and supplying some of the food to a mother of a child suffering from
photos so that we can see the results malnutrition. Some of the food will be given to parents in
out patients and some used to feed inpatients. Another great project completed through the two Rotary Clubs working together to improve
the lives of poor disadvantaged people. 