Uganda Medical Project

Posted by Bill Bourlet

Vasant Lakhani went to India then on to Uganda to form this project. He comes from Uganda and knew this would be welcome. He hosted this camp for two weeks. Money was an issue so he put an advert in the paper in the U.K. and raised 3,000 GB Pounds, then another $2,000 from his own rotary club, with more donations coming from the participants themselves. In total he raised $13,500. If you wish to go on the trip to make a difference you have to pay your way, which costs about $5,000 each then you have to donate $500 for medicines. We took 4 doctors and had the local Member of Parliament come to the opening ceremony.

We set up 4 tents and people started to line up from 6.30 am in the morning. Local nurses came by bus from miles around. Sometimes they were late. The Doctors tested for diabetes, HIV, then checked people's teeth. We had one dentist, but there were so many people all the could really do was extract. We have been offered $20,000 to help set up a mobile dental clinic. We gave away 2,500 pairs of glasses. Mostly readers. Each doctor saw an average of 70 maybe 80 patients a day. We had 2 pharmacists This year we hope to have pharmacists from Boston who has just graduated from college. We also provided food, which was hosted by the local Rotary club. The population of Uganda is about 30 million. It will cost about $16.000 to $18.000 to put on the camp this year. Would you like to go? The local Rotary club there is the NYTIL JINJA club. August 2010 is the one we are planning for now. The location is beautiful right on Lake Victoria. The political climate has vastly improved in Uganda and safety is assured for everyone. Mary Watson thanked our speaker.