St Faustina Medical Centre, Uganda

On the 12 December 2009 the St Faustina Medical Centre was officially opened in the small village of Lwoyo, Eastern Uganda. Two of our Trustees made the trip to Uganda to be at the ceremony where hundreds of children, villagers and local dignitaries celebrated with dancing and singing. The people of Lwoyo do not have the basic necessities of clean water or electricity. They live in mud huts with little in the way of clothing or bedding. They did not have access to local medical facilities until we were able to provide them with the means to build the new medical centre. Thanks to your generosity not only was it possible to build the medical centre but we could also provide solar-powered electricity and water pump.

The project could not have been completed with the invaluable assistance of Tim Beacon and his volunteers from MED AID. He not only sourced 99% of the hospital fixtures and medical equipment, including a full dental surgery, but also organised the collection and shipping to Uganda. Without doubt his involvement was integral in turning a dream into reality.

Staff Accommodation

In order to make the project a true success we have gone on to raise enough money to build staff accommodation so that the centre will have 24-hour medical cover. It also means that all requirements have been met for the operating licence to be issued.

Project Management

The total cost of this project (including all building costs, solar power and water, shipping of equipment and one year's payment of staff and medicine costs) was £56,288.
The project was divided into a number of phases and detailed cost estimates provided. Money was only given to cover the cost of each stage. On completion of a stage all invoices and photographic evidence of the work was received prior to commencement and release of funds for the next stage. The man in charge of overseeing the project (Father Silvester Bukenya) is currently based in the UK but made frequent trips back to Uganda to oversee the work – this made communication easy.

Ongoing Help Required

Father Silvester is currently in the process of engaging with the local Government to subsidise the costs of the staff and medicine. However, this will not cover their full cost and may take some time to come through. Whilst some of the local people will be able to make a contribution towards the cost of their care, the very poorest will find this difficult and so we would be grateful for any donations or fundraising activity that would help with the provision of these vital services. The monthly staff costs are: Midwife - £95; Clinical officer - £85 and Nurse - £80.
We cannot stress enough how important and life changing the centre is to this remote area of Uganda. Please help in anyway you can.