by Jenny, DTS Student
Kampala, Uganda
Read about Jenny’s first visit to the public hospital.
A week after my heart-breaking visit to the public hospital in Kampala, Uganda, my team leader said she had good news for me.
“When we go to Ray of Hope ministry, they have one spot for someone to shadow nurses at a private hospital,” Elizabeth said. “I thought of you right away. Do you want to go?”
Of course I did — especially because of how we had discovered Ray of Hope Mini
stry several months earlier. Our team had been praying about what we should do in Uganda, and the phrase “Ray of Hope” came to mind. I didn’t know what it meant, so we Googled it, discovered the organization in Kampala, and set up ministry times with them. Ray of Hope Ministry works with the local church and ci
ty officials to advocate for the needy and HIV affected families of Kampala.
The following day, I toured the Ray of Hope Medical Centre. I interviewed the director about what it takes to run a medical centre in Uganda. After that, I worked with the director of Loving One by One on a mobile medical team. I took vitals of about 270 people!
I LOVED it!
I really feel so passionate about nursing and I cannot wait to start school and gain more experience to walk out what God has planned for my life! When we left the clinic we headed out to the private hospital in Kampala to pray and to hand out candy and biscuits to the children.
This hospital was vastly different from the public hospital we first visited in the beginning of January. Here the patients pay for their stay and I noticed the diffe
rence right away. While I was there, I saw one doctor and several nurses working with patients (I saw none at the public hospital). Also it was very clean, and medicines were readily available and being distributed appropriately to the patients. Some patients even had their own room.
I felt relieved to know that some people could get care at a safer hospital, but I couldn’t help but think of the patients in the public hospital suffering, simply because their family couldn’t pay for their health care. It still breaks my heart and I think it always will.
I feel like this whole outreach, and even before we came to Uganda, God pointing me very clearly what to do with my life. I’m so excited!
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