Uganda In Need Of Your Help

It is a scene foreign to American hospitals: a prematurely-born infant revived by emergency resuscitation, but nevertheless dying afterwards as the hospital's sole oxygen tank was used in an alternate surgery. According to an e-mail from UConn nursing graduate student Maryam Banville, the tragedy is just one of many stemming from a lack of resources at the Vrika Hospital in Fort Portal, Uganda. It is at this same African health clinic that UConn nursing graduate student Jaime Kezis is working tirelessly to acquire funds and supplies.

In an e-mail to Nursing 270 student Jen Long, Kezis stated that she has worked at Vrika Hospital eight months, her stay projected to last a total of one year. Experiencing firsthand the dire poverty of the third world country, Kezis wrote an e-mail to UConn nursing instructor Lisa-Marie Griffiths explaining the hospital's unacceptable conditions. Griffiths, as well as her Nursing 270 class, were compelled by Kezis' accounts and are asking for UConn students to donate money and supplies to aid in the hospital's crisis.

The Uganda Project has a target shipment of six boxes, each costing about $100 to send. According to the Uganda Project Web site, many of the supplies needed are commonalities in America, including Tylenol, blankets, sheets, pillows, plastic bed covers, first aid basics, flashlights with batteries, as well as various other household items. Fortunately, most of the items are easily supplied by local hospitals, leaving the remaining $600 needed for shipping.

In response, students have been collecting donations in the Student Union in the main hallway near the graduate and commuter lounges. Aid in the form of cash and money orders made out to the U.S. Postal Service are accepted and essential to the success of the Uganda Project. Students may also contact Griffiths or a Nursing 270 student to inquire about additional ways to help Kezis' clinic.

In her e-mail, Kezis explained her interest in Africa came from a visit to a close friend in South Africa. Deciding to return, Kezis was opposed to anything but volunteer work.

"I felt that going there to get a job wasn't appropriate because I'd just be taking money away from a country that was already lacking," Kezis said.

In the end, Kezis volunteered with the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB). The group treats patients in numerous Third World countries, supporting all religious denominations despite its name. When the CMMB offered Kezis positions in either Kenya or Uganda, Kezis departed to Uganda on a "gut feeling."

Working as an assistant nursing supervisor, Kezis described her role as primarily administrative. Her role is loosely defined, changing day to day. Kezis listed teaching classes, implementing new practices, and overlooking the wards as a few of her most common responsibilities.

"I'm very glad I came here," Kezis said. "[But] my first six months were rather lonely … now [the people] trust me and I know who to trust and have my own little family here."

Yet Kezis' satisfaction has not gone untested. She describes the sheer depletion of resources as "frustrating" in that they greatly hinder her dail activities. Many issues are simply unable to be dealt with given Uganda's extreme poverty, causing many problems to be out of Kezis' hands.

"Sometimes I feel useless and sometimes I feel useful," Kezis said. "It all depends on the day."

Nurses and doctors at the clinic must often resort to un-orthodox methods of treatment, utilizing what little they have. Various procedures including surgeries must often be done by flashlight, due to a lack of electric generators, according to Banville.

Kezis pointed to malaria as the clinic's most common illness; with 50 to 70 percent of Vrika's patients diagnosed with the disease. Pneumonia, meningitis, AIDS and tuberculosis are also prevalent in a substantial number of patients.

"Uganda is an underdeveloped country that struggles to provide basic human services which we take for granted," Banville said.

Banville expressed admiration for individuals like Kezis who struggle under such adverse conditions, describing her as "dedicated and willing to put herself on the front line."

Yet despite her efforts, a large portion of the Vrika Hospital's future rests in the hands of UConn students. The Uganda Project comes as an invaluable aid program with the potential to inject much needed funds into an ailing clinic.