Dr. Sara Sigalat March 3, 2010
My volunteer work began 4 years ago, while I was sent for my first delegation to Uganda in a project named: “Helping Hands Medical Fellowship”, supported by Brit Olam and GYPA. Since then I have not stopped finding ways to promote health education and giving medical treatment to those in need and have difficulty reaching doctors.
Brit Olam, an Israeli organization and GYPA (Global Youth Partnership for Africa), an American and Ugandan based organization are both promoting humanitarian activities and accessibility to health care and health education to those living on the margins of society. I have travelled two times now to Uganda to work on the Helping Hands Medical Fellowship project.
Brit Olam is also supporting, among others, an organization called Natan – an Israeli Coalition for International Humanitarian Aid. After the Earthquake struck Haiti, they quickly mobilized supplies and professionals to provide relief on the ground. So, on Febuary 4th, I found myself on a plane heading to Haiti to help however I could.
I was sent in the third delegation of Natan to the Island, 3 weeks after the earthquake measuring seven on the Richter scale and described as "the most destructive" of the past 200 years hit the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
Natan incorporates medical, social and humanitarian institutions so our delegation team included a medic, a psychologist, a social worker, a logistical specialist, and myself, the only physician.
In Haiti we settled in a refugee camp of 5000 people called St. Mary. We started to rehabilitate the people who were now all living in tents. We succeeded in opening a school and clinic, giving treatment as needed. People were suffering from much infectious diseases especially skin and wound infections. My experience working in Uganda in the past helped me a lot in giving quick treatment to the people in Haiti.
We had the chance to help a young boy, 5 years old, with a disease called mega colon. We arranged his operation for free, for which he waited for 2 years without enough money to do it.
I was working also in an orthopedic hospital, CTDI Hospital in Port au Prince. There I found many injured people with amputations, severe wounds and who were suffering also from post trauma problems.
It was very difficult for me to see the terrible injures among young children, teenagers girls and boys. Looking around, walking in the destructive streets, meeting in every piece of land people living in tents was a shocking experience for me, even though it was not my first time being and working in refugees camps.
I was glad to give help to those poor people, together with good people from other nations all over the world. It was a great honor for me to share my work with them and get to know that people are not alone in the world. We all have one another in such disasters, which we hope will never come again.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Don't Forget Us
Dr. Hanan Shabtai – Ra’anana, Israel
June 2009
When I decided to travel to Uganda, all that I knew about the country was more or less something I saw on National Geographic while eating a sandwich. And maybe something from the imagination of Stanley and Livingstone who looked for the source of the Nile there two centuries ago. In short, I had no idea that when I saw green mountains, gleaming lake waters, and above it the equator sun from the airplane, we had already arrived in Uganda. We met the local representatives that came to greet us at the airport. A bit curious. A bit worried. A bit hesitant. I did not know what was to be expected or what was exactly to come, even through we read the planned schedule in advance.
In the first two days of acclimating in Kampala, I was in a euphoria thinking that I came to save the country. In addition, the lack of basic resources that we witnessed, like water and food problems, did not really bother me and I did not pay much attention to them. We went around Kampala, and I actually grew to like the noisy city so alive and colorful. On the second morning when Henry (the GYPA Social Worker) gave us a tour of the slums of Namuwongo, I was in a dilemma. I could not have imagined the poverty and misery that we saw among the residents. The living conditions of the children in the area were really shocking. I was still under the mentality of just arriving and poured many questions on Henry: why, why, and why? He looked past me and spoke simply: We are in Africa.
We arrived in Kiboga. The hospital looked like a nice and organized building from the outside, but this was not what was happening between its walls. The place was not up to any Western standards that we know. In the beginning, I asked not to understand, and of course I did not reconcile with what I saw and felt, but my feelings changed so much and I understood along the way. We began to work in the hospital in the beginning as two residents coming for the first time to work, but very quickly, we learned that much depended on us. We decided where and how to work, and they expected us to come and help. How much desolation we discovered around us, suddenly I opened my eyes and saw around me the eyes of poor parents holding their children and babies in their arms in such bad situations and begging in silence for us to save them. Men and women lay on dirty, worn out beds burdened with their pain without calling out. In the hallways, tens of AIDS patients wait in their line. All this on the first day I was there. I worked 30 years in the sick funds in Israel, and never saw hardship like this. During the week when we began to travel to villages that we were meant to work in, I started slowly to understand the background and the reasons for the people’s feeling of desperation. I asked a lot of questions to our driver, about the way of life, about the administration, leaders and economics – in short, I tried to understand, because the whole time I was there, it was hard to reconcile these good, simple people’s sad situation that came to ask daily for our help. It’s the hardest when you feel that cessation of power. One day, I came to the hospital in the evening. A local worker approached me and asked that I go with him to the adult department. Lying there was a young man of 16 in a coma. His parents stood beside him. They looked at me desperate hope. “Here is a Mazungu (foreign) doctor, he of course will save our son.” I checked him and found him burning up (with fever) with signs of severe Meningitis. I asked to begin treatment immediately. There was no catheter and no fluids and not all the medicines were available. I asked the parents to buy what they could in the small pharmacy across from the hospital. They returned only with some of the medicine. I asked for oxygen – it was finished. In the morning, the boy died. I saw the father. He looked at me with a kind of dry smile trying to say to me thank you for trying to help, and I thought, God, his son this moment died and finds time to thank me! This is Africa. We can’t understand it, but maybe we can do our best to help in everything connected to medicine. It is not easy to be in this country whose poor sanitary conditions are under every standard known to us. The food is not what we expected and even the drinking water needs to be boiled. The potential to get sick exists and therefore, it is important to be in a good physical situation. Before the trip, I read and re-read everything related to tropical diseases and was also guided by Prof. Eli Schwartz in Tel HaShomer Hospital in Israel, but I learned the most from the locals and especially Abdul, Wilson (World Vision volunteers and graduates of our Village Health Team), and the hospital staff. From their wealth of experiences, they know how to direct us toward the right goals. As time went on, and we gained experience, we began to show them interesting points and they loved to learn from us. The medical supplies and especially the medicines that we carried with us to the villages were not always enough, or we could not find them in the medical supply store in Kampala, but we always managed to find a way with what we did have as there was no other option.
In the end, when we were leaving and saw the sadness in the people's eyes, we began to understand how important we are and Abdul told us so as well. “Doctor, we love and appreciate you because you came here and saved us and we will not forget you. But, Doctor, please tell them there in your country not to forget us.”
What Uganda Means to Me
Dr. Sara Sigalat - Haifa, Israel
It is difficult to summarize the experience I had in Uganda in a few sentences. But I can say definitely that
The simplicity and the joyfulness of the people, especially in the villages made me think a lot about our life. In our country we are always busy, running from one thing to another and have no time for ourselves. People always have a lot of complains, especially in medicine. They demand unnecessary tests and it's difficult to satisfy them.
In Uganda you won't hear any complaints. People accept what they get happily. They are truly ill and need a lot of help. Therefore, it was quite an experience for me to work with such people and I learned from them that we don't need much in order to be satisfied.
Working in
In one case: A woman, 43 years old came to me and said her belly becomes bigger and bigger from one day to another for the last three years. I checked her on a bench and I was astonished to find out that she had a huge tumor in the abdomen, and I was the first person, who checked her. I thought it was myoma- a benign tumor in the uterus. It took me and my other doctors' colleges a lot to persuade her to go to the hospital and make the operation. But at last she was convinced and did it successfully. Without us, the tumor would have grown more and more and could have pressed on another significant organs and the end would have been tragic.
Since I was there two years ago, I am trying to do anything to help those people in
I have returned twice to Africa and each time gave me more satisfaction than the other. I feel I know more about tropical disease and I grew more efficient on each visit so people can get more from me.
I am waiting for the next time that I work and help there.
I think that every doctor should do it once in his life, because this is true medicine.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
What is the Helping Hands Medical Fellowship
Mission
Since 2005, the Global Youth Partnership for Africa has organized the Helping Hands Medical Fellowship program in Uganda. Now entering its 5th year, the Global Youth Partnership for Africa and Brit Olam seek to send 8 Israeli medical professionals (Helping Hands Medical Fellows-HHMFs) to Uganda in order to continue delivering primary health care and related health education training for adults, children, and families living in Uganda, thus, ultimately improving quality of life for those in need. The Israeli medical professionals work in active partnership with the local
health centers, communities and District authorities in delivering primary health care and related training programs within the rural Kiboga District.
History
HHMF began in 2005 when Jeremy Goldberg, Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) Founder and Director, and Rebecca Wolf, a past participant and volunteer of GYPA, then called Project Namuwongo Zone B, organized a staff visit to Uganda. The idea was to create a unique opportunity for Israeli physicians to use their skills and expertise to improve lives in Uganda. In its first year (July 2005 – August 2006), HHMF operated as a partnership between GYPA, the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) and the Kairos Medical Centre in Namuwongo, Uganda and the program sent 6
delegations to Uganda.
Following successful completion of HHMF Year 1, GYPA received follow-up funding to commence Year 2(December 2006 – August 2007) and Year 3 (September 2007-August 2008) programming. During Years 2 and 3, GYPA built a partnership with Brit Olam, an International Israeli-Jewish Volunteer Movement headquartered in Tel-Aviv. Clinical work was conducted in and out of health centers in Namuwongo while also expanding into rural outreach clinics. In addition, GYPA staff and HHMFs coordinated health education and prevention initiatives in Namuwongo through which a core group of Namuwongo youth was organized and trained on various health issues.
These youth gained valuable skills for educating others and with the HHMF carried out various preventive health clinics within the community. In years 2 and 3, 7 doctors had travelled to Namuwongo for HHMF.
At that point, GYPA and Brit Olam decided, the clinical work in Namuwongo was reduntant and it was time to make a shift, beginning our rural HHMF program for Year 4. While maintaining weekly health training programs and a clinic in Namuwongo, HHMF began focusing on treatment and training in the rural Kiboga District, where HHMFs held outreaches in previous years. This move to the Kiboga district has been a positive one as HHMFs have built a strong relationship with World Vision's offices there as well as the District Health Authorities. It is clear that there is an
enormous need for health care in many remote areas, which the district does not have the resources to provide on its own. At the same time, we have found that there are many people eager to join in the newly established Village Health Team training courses.
Upon conclusion of Year 4, 4 delegations (7 doctors and 1 nurse) will have participated in our project in Kiboga making a total of 17 delegations and 32 fellows over the last four years of HHMF. In Year 4, more than 3000 people were treated by HHMFs, 30 people were trained in the Village Health Team program and another 30 are in currently being trained.
Since 2005, the Global Youth Partnership for Africa has organized the Helping Hands Medical Fellowship program in Uganda. Now entering its 5th year, the Global Youth Partnership for Africa and Brit Olam seek to send 8 Israeli medical professionals (Helping Hands Medical Fellows-HHMFs) to Uganda in order to continue delivering primary health care and related health education training for adults, children, and families living in Uganda, thus, ultimately improving quality of life for those in need. The Israeli medical professionals work in active partnership with the local
health centers, communities and District authorities in delivering primary health care and related training programs within the rural Kiboga District.
History
HHMF began in 2005 when Jeremy Goldberg, Global Youth Partnership for Africa (GYPA) Founder and Director, and Rebecca Wolf, a past participant and volunteer of GYPA, then called Project Namuwongo Zone B, organized a staff visit to Uganda. The idea was to create a unique opportunity for Israeli physicians to use their skills and expertise to improve lives in Uganda. In its first year (July 2005 – August 2006), HHMF operated as a partnership between GYPA, the Israeli Medical Association (IMA) and the Kairos Medical Centre in Namuwongo, Uganda and the program sent 6
delegations to Uganda.
Following successful completion of HHMF Year 1, GYPA received follow-up funding to commence Year 2(December 2006 – August 2007) and Year 3 (September 2007-August 2008) programming. During Years 2 and 3, GYPA built a partnership with Brit Olam, an International Israeli-Jewish Volunteer Movement headquartered in Tel-Aviv. Clinical work was conducted in and out of health centers in Namuwongo while also expanding into rural outreach clinics. In addition, GYPA staff and HHMFs coordinated health education and prevention initiatives in Namuwongo through which a core group of Namuwongo youth was organized and trained on various health issues.
These youth gained valuable skills for educating others and with the HHMF carried out various preventive health clinics within the community. In years 2 and 3, 7 doctors had travelled to Namuwongo for HHMF.
At that point, GYPA and Brit Olam decided, the clinical work in Namuwongo was reduntant and it was time to make a shift, beginning our rural HHMF program for Year 4. While maintaining weekly health training programs and a clinic in Namuwongo, HHMF began focusing on treatment and training in the rural Kiboga District, where HHMFs held outreaches in previous years. This move to the Kiboga district has been a positive one as HHMFs have built a strong relationship with World Vision's offices there as well as the District Health Authorities. It is clear that there is an
enormous need for health care in many remote areas, which the district does not have the resources to provide on its own. At the same time, we have found that there are many people eager to join in the newly established Village Health Team training courses.
Upon conclusion of Year 4, 4 delegations (7 doctors and 1 nurse) will have participated in our project in Kiboga making a total of 17 delegations and 32 fellows over the last four years of HHMF. In Year 4, more than 3000 people were treated by HHMFs, 30 people were trained in the Village Health Team program and another 30 are in currently being trained.
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