The Fourth Endangered My Life

By Shafic Mutegule

Mutesi Joyce (42) lives in Kavule Village in Namutumba District. A mother of six, 3 boys and 3 girls, she has been living with fistula for two years. Her fistula occurred from miscarriage complications right as the COVID-19 pandemic was just beginning. At the time, transportation and health facility access were severely limited.  

“I first got a miscarriage in 2017, and two miscarriages in 2018. These three miscarriages were fully managed by doctors through proper evacuation -- [the fourth] endangered my life.”

In early 2019, Joyce and her husband decided to try for another child, but unfortunately she experienced another miscarriage. This time she required immediate medical attention.

Shafic and Joyce at Namungalwe Health Centre 3 

“I was rushed to a nearby clinic in Namutumba Town [and] later on referred to Namutumba Health Facility. An evacuation was done by the doctor, and little did I know that my uterus was damaged during the evacuation process. I started feeling sick and [having] a lot of abdominal pains.”

After her dilation and evacuation (D&E), Joyce decided to return to the health facility for care and she was advised by the health worker that her uterus needed to be removed. While the operation was successful to fix her urgent health crisis, once home, she noticed that she was leaking urine.

 

This year, Joyce attended an event in Kavule organized by Uganda Village Project’s Fistula Ambassadors. Hearing her story, the ambassadors came to check on her at home. Upon seeing her condition they immediately referred her to Loy, UVP’s Reproductive Health Program Coordinator.

“I talked to Loy on [the] phone, [she] provided counseling and explained to me all the services that are provided by Uganda Village Project through the fistula program. This gave me some hope that I could get back to normal as I used to be.”

I first learned about Joyce during our regular Monday staff meeting when Loy shared her story. Inspired by her strength and resilience, I arranged a time to meet with Joyce before her surgery at Kamuli Mission Hospital.

We met at Namungalwe Health Centre 3 during the patient confirmation pre-screening. Despite her condition, she was so happy -- smiling and excited to be selected and confirmed among the fistula patients that were to receive treatment during the October surgery camp. I am grateful for the opportunity to have met her and learn about her life.

After pre-screening, UVP escorted Joyce and her caretaker to Kamuli Mission Hospital where she underwent her repair surgery. She is currently recovering safely, grateful that her suffering is finally over.

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Learn more about UVP on our website and please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. We provide year-round programming and education for HIV/AIDS, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, reproductive health services, and fistula repair surgeries. 

Serving Something Bigger Than Me

By Abby Kim

 

Mwasuze mutya oba mussibye mutya banyabo ni bassebo! My name is Abby Kim, and I am privileged to have been part of UVP’s 2021 intern cohort. 

Now back in the U.S, the small things—being able to charge my phone consistently, open the fridge, eat Pop-Tarts, and wear something besides long skirts or pants every day—have been mind blowing. But more than anything, adjusting to life without the daily presence of people I now call friends and family has been difficult. It amazes me to see how far we have come, and I want to share a few reflections about the journey. 

Through UVP, I met interns, staff, village members, and different people from all walks of life. I was inspired to learn how each was making a positive difference in communities across the world. One had a nonprofit in workplace safety, another was empowering youth with vocational training, and another started a secondary school. Even in the midst of  an evolving and challenging pandemic, the shared belief of giving back equipped us with the resilience and flexibility to push through.

During my time there, I was repeatedly struck by the impact a handful of community members can have on the health of a whole village when equipped with resources and a vision. While a big part of the internship was helping to organize testing and treatment days and providing manpower for projects like building Tippy Taps, I learned that our investment in influential community members, empowering them as ambassadors for health, was most important. After all, they know their communities best, and they remain in the village after interns leave. In class, we talk so much about the importance of sustainability in global health, and it was pretty neat to see it being lived out through UVP’s model.

Finally, I learned how Okuseka (laughter) truly surpasses all cultural and language barriers to bring people together. Whether it was at every snore and fart completely audible in our small house, when men in the village offered land and marriage proposals, when we demonstrated how to use female condoms, or when we attempted to dance with the kids… we could not go a day without laughing. It is these moments of laughing together, sitting around supper and chatting about our childhoods, cheering for our village soccer team, and watching beautiful sunsets which I will cherish forever.

This summer was a powerful confirmation of how I want to spend my life—serving something bigger than me alongside people who share the same vision and can teach me along the way. I am deeply grateful to the UVP staff, to all my fellow interns, to our Village Health Team members, and most especially to my Buyubu Family for all the laughter, lessons, and accomplishments of this past summer.

As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words...so here’s a short video summarizing our time in Buyubu Village. Enjoy!

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Learn more about UVP on our website and please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. We provide year-round programming and education for HIV/AIDS, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, reproductive health services, and fistula repair surgeries. 

The Bold Decision

 

By Harriet Nakayiza, HIV and Malaria Program Coordinator

 

Rachel is a jolly, ambitious, open-minded young lady from Idinda and a single mom of one. Here at Idinda Health Center II, we are sitting together under the cool shade of a tall tree discussing her journey, her challenges, and how she first got involved with UVP. 

As a young pregnant person, Rachel had to balance pending motherhood, schooling, and family responsibilities, while also navigating social stigma around her pregnancy. In fear of being seen pregnant, Rachel avoided antenatal care, and didn’t consider going for an HIV test to confirm her status before giving birth.

Rachel first met UVP during one of our adolescent reproductive health sessions for youths in 2019. She heard about our programs on the radio and was excited to learn of an upcoming event that she could attend. Despite all of her other responsibilities at home and in the garden, she always made time to attend these sessions and even took a keen interest in leading a few activities!

Through her involvement with UVP, she learned about an upcoming HIV-malaria community outreach event, where we offer testing, treatment, and health referral services. Feeling ready to know her status, Rachel signed up for testing and learned her test results were negative.

“I knew I had to gain [the] confidence to make a bold decision to take the [HIV] test, but the fear in me couldn’t let me do so. But this time ‘round, I had to overcome the fear…”

Rachel feels empowered now that she knows her status. She was scared to find out, but now she’s prepared to take good care of own health, and is eager to support other young people in finding out their own status. There is often a great deal of stigma and fear around HIV in the village, but with Rachel as an ally, we can help reduce these concerns and ensure more youths receive proactive HIV testing. Twekembe! -- working together for a healthier Uganda.

 

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Learn more about UVP on our website and please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. We provide year-round programming and education for HIV/AIDS, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, reproductive health services, and fistula repair surgeries.

Meet the Twins!

By Morgan Feldt (International Internship Coordinator) and Shafic Mutegule (VHT-Intern Coordinator)

 

Hello! Morgan and Shafic here, or better known as “the Twins.” Together, we support and lead the intern cohort, providing oversight, direction, and guidance while the interns live and work in their respective villages.  

 

We believe that working with a cross-cultural team is a great opportunity to learn from one another. It can be humbling, as well as humorous, to explore our different cultures and find common ground. In fact, learning new things together is one of our favorite activities. Morgan, who is a sweets connoisseur, introduced Shafic to the American art of roasting s’mores and enjoying milkshakes. Meanwhile, Shafic has taught Morgan how to do all matters "Ugandan style,” which includes eating large meals, dancing to Ugandan music, and bargaining at the market.  

 

Throughout the internship, our responsibility is to work closely to manage five teams of 24 interns in five villages. Our day-to-day work is to ensure all teams have the tools and resources to reach their community members and thrive in village life. Since our interns are required to work in cross-cultural teams, we feel it is important to model how to do this effectively ourselves.   

 

We love being “the Twins” and have fully leaned into this joint persona. Most days you’ll find us working together, laughing with and at each other, listening to music, and -- of course -- drinking milkshakes.

 

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Learn more about UVP on our website and please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. We provide year-round programming and education for HIV/AIDS, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, reproductive health services, and fistula repair surgeries.

Under the Moonlight

 By Josephine Asio, Former HIV and Malaria Program Coordinator at UVP

Wilson’s story is being shared with his consent. 

 

Moonlight events bring HIV testing and counseling to community members who cannot attend typical HIV outreach due to work demands. The events get their name because they are conducted in the evening under the light of the moon and held at trading centers to target a population at higher risk of contracting HIV.  

 

Moonlight events, as well as regular HIV/STI counseling events, help to decrease stigma associated with HIV infection. UVP staff educate communities on the options that are available for HIV treatment, and make connections to local facilities where HIV positive individuals can obtain antiretroviral treatments. 

 

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the President of Uganda implemented a curfew to encourage citizens to remain indoors and prevent further spread of the virus. The curfew has put a pause on moonlight events. Some people, particularly men, feel more comfortable testing for HIV at moonlight events as they believe the setting is more private. With stigma around HIV infection, a testing event may cause extra anxiety for men and women who want to know their HIV status. 

 

Wilson, a young family man with a wife and four children, admits to UVP staff that he would prefer receiving an HIV test at a moonlight event. With assurance, Wilson realizes that UVP is capable of providing privacy and upholding confidentiality even with day-time HIV testing. Wilson received a test and was happy with the level of privacy upheld by UVP. He looks forward to moonlight events returning so that more of his friends and neighbors can access HIV services that don’t interfere with their work schedules.

 

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Learn about all the ways UVP fights HIV on our website. If you’d like to help men like Wilson, please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. In addition to supporting HIV/STI education and testing, UVP provides programs and education for clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, reproductive health services, and fistula repair surgeries.

A Powerful Influence

 By Tumusiime Loy, Program Coordinator 

 Hajara’s story is being shared with her consent.  

For years, Hajara has been a powerful influence in her community as a Fistula Ambassador. Two days each week, Hajara gives a health talk about obstetric fistula at the main hospital and two other health centers in Mayuge district. She actively seeks out women in her community who may be suffering from untreated fistula and encourages them to contact UVP for support.

In 2012, Hajara suffered from an obstetric fistula following the complicated and painful birth of her baby boy (her 5th child, after two sets of twins). After delivering by C-section, Hajara began to leak urine uncontrollably. She knew that her pain and other symptoms would not go away without surgery, but she remained skeptical that she would recover and be able to return to her daily activities. With the support of her husband, Hajara sought help from UVP. She attended a repair camp in Kamuli and had a successful repair and recovery in 2013. 

Following this humbling experience, Hajara felt as if she regained her dignity, empowered to help other women learn about the causes, prevention, and treatment of fistula. Hajara’s work as a Fistula Ambassador is guided by her passion and resilient commitment to her community and women in need. Any time a baby is born, you’re likely to find Hajara close by, checking in on the new mother.
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A special thanks to The Fistula Foundation for their support of UVP since 2013.
Learn about all the ways UVP fights fistula on our website.

If you’d like to help women like Hajara, please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. In addition to supporting fistula repair surgeries, UVP provides programs and education for HIV/STIs, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, and reproductive health services.

I Never Lost Hope

By Tumusiime Loy, Program Coordinator

Stella’s story is being shared with her consent. 

At Kamuli Mission Hospital, other patients crowd around Stella. Just 22 years old, she’s a survivor of sexual assault and rape, and a recovering obstetric fistula repair surgery patient. 

At the age of 16, while home alone, Stella was raped by multiple intruders. This traumatic event left her unable to control her bladder for months. At 19, Stella became pregnant and after a complicated birth that lasted for days, sadly, Stella’s baby passed away. To make matters worse, Stella developed an obstetric fistula. Her husband was not supportive and left her for another woman after realizing the complexity of Stella’s health concerns. An initial attempt at repair surgery failed, but Stella persisted.

She eventually received a phone call from a friend that would lead her to the UVP-supported Kamuli Mission Hospital. It was here that Stella received her second and successful repair surgery, and now she sits surrounded by friends and fellow survivors. 

“Sometimes when life becomes especially difficult, we wonder if everyone in the world has forgotten us . . . I never lost hope because I had always dreamed of living a positive life”.  

Stella is a beloved member of the UVP family and we look forward to her becoming a Fistula Ambassador when she is ready.
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A special thanks to The Fistula Foundation for their support of UVP since 2013.
Learn about all the ways UVP fights fistula on our website.

If you’d like to help women like Stella, please consider supporting UVP with a monthly gift. In addition to supporting fistula repair surgeries, UVP provides programs and education for HIV/STIs, clean water and sanitation, malaria prevention and treatment, and reproductive health services.

Serendipitous Encounter Leads to Life-Changing Procedure

by Tumusiime Loy, Program Coordinator

As we sit in the bright sunshine on the veranda outside the fistula ward at Kamuli Mission Hospital, Kevin’s excitement was palpable. She was proud to be selected to be interviewed, which made her more confident to share her story. With her husband, Daniel, nearby, Kevin tells me how she came to seek treatment for fistula.

Kevin was just 17 when she first became pregnant and, in the tradition of her family, she delivered the child with a Traditional Birth Attendant (TBA). After delivering, Kevin was in a great deal of pain and the herb bath the TBA prescribed was not providing any relief. After several months, the pain subsided, but she was still leaking urine. When Kevin and Daniel sought advice from TBA, they were told that is just a consequence of childbirth. Knowing in their hearts that there was a better answer, Daniel and Kevin decided to deliver at the health center for their second child. While Kevin and the new baby were recovering, there happened to be a UVP Fistula Ambassador, Jackie, sensitizing a group at the health center. After the presentation, Kevin approached Jackie and the two discussed Kevin’s symptoms, and Jackie suggested they keep in touch.

Months later, Jackie went to visit Kevin and talked about the upcoming fistula treatment camp. With the TBA’s advice that this was simply a result of childbirth ringing in her ears, Kevin was reluctant to attend the camp. It wasn’t until Daniel said he would escort her and act as her attendant that she committed to seeking treatment.

Now, after a successful surgery, Kevin is so grateful for that fateful day at the health center. If it weren’t for the Fistula Ambassador, Kevin may have never learned about fistula and could still be suffering. She and Daniel are both appreciative for the services provided to them and vowed to continue sharing their story with others who needed education about preventing fistula.

Special thanks to The Fistula Foundation for supporting UVP's fistula program! If you would like to learn more about all the ways that UVP fights fistula, please visit our website.

The Brave Month

by Harriet Nakayiza, Program Coordinator

Seated under a cool mango tree at Bugono Health Centre IV, this is where Kasita found out her status. She’s a shy, kind young lady, only 19 years old. She’s also living with HIV.

So many times Kasita had seen and participated in UVP’s sensitizations for HIV, but never sought HIV testing for herself. Since she never felt ill or with a history of sexually transmitted infections, Kasita didn’t think an HIV test was necessary, but she always had a little fear that the test might be positive. This month she was brave.

When she first found out about her status she was frightened and upset. “Usually fear is the beginning of all troubles,” she said. “But with time, we adjust, we seek help, and we live a healthy life.”

As Kasita looks to the future, she is confident and hopefully. Her 8 month old beautiful baby girl needs her, and she is committed to taking her antiretroviral therapy (ART) “until the end end of my life” as she would say. 

Kasita also learned a powerful lesson: HIV is not only transmitted to people with multiple partners. This is the type of misinformation that continues to perpetuate stigma for individuals living with HIV. 

Through UVP-led community sensitization, more women like Kasita (and her husband too!) are able to know their status, seek life-saving treatment, and undo harmful myths to live a happy, healthy life.

Kasita's story is being shared with her permission.
You can support young women like Kasita to know their HIV status by supporting UVP's HIV program!

The Key to Avoiding Malnutrition in Our Children

by Josephine Asio, Program Coordinator

On a hot afternoon in Irenzi, I meet Zubra while collecting house-to-house surveys for the upcoming graduation of the village from UVP's Healthy Villages Program. When we get to the questions about family planning and contraceptive use, I usually try to separate the women from the men in hopes to get a more truthful answer. Many women do not tell their husbands that they are taking a contraceptive, so asking them such sensitive questions away from their partner allows them to answer more truthfully. When Zubra answered that she was taking a contraceptive with her husband standing nearby, it was evident that both husband and wife were together in planning for their family.

Within a few short months of marrying and moving to Irenzi, Zubra became pregnant with her first child at 19 years old. She wanted to wait some time before becoming pregnant again, but felt despair because she knew that contraceptives were the only reliable way to delay a pregnancy, but with the health center and hour away, she didn’t know how she could get there without telling her husband to ask for transport money. Then, her neighbor told her about UVP’s reproductive health program and invited her to the next outreach.

After six months enrolled in UVP’s program, Zubra decided to tell her husband. At first, he was mad, but took time to listen to Zubra. After a long discussion, he agreed to attend a UVP reproductive health outreach specifically for men. “He was convinced!” Zubra remembers the day when he returned from the UVP outreach well. Her husband had many questions about common myths surrounding contraceptives, but when he returned home, he now knew that contraceptives did not cause cancer, barrenness, or birth defects.

“I’m grateful for UVP’s support of family planning services, otherwise malnutrition will finish our children since we cannot prevent unwanted pregnancies yet at the same time we are not able to take good care of the many children we would produce without contraceptives,” Zubra says.

Support John and others like him by donating to provide contraceptives in hard-to-reach places - do your part to reach 50,000 people with health education and services in 2021! 

A Gift Received

by Tumusiime Loy, Program Coordinator

Judith and I cannot sit inside her rented one-room home on the edge of Iganga Town because the day is too hot, so we sit on the veranda on a woven banana fiber mat.  I came to meet Judith several months ago when one of UVP’s Fistula Ambassadors contacted me about a potential fistula patient. That’s what brings me here today: to hear Judith’s story.

With the passing of her father, her entire family began to struggle. Judith could no longer attend school because her family could not afford the fees; even food became scarce for the family of seven children. At just 17 years old, and against her family’s wishes, Judith married Seifu. She couldn’t see any other way to support herself and no longer wanted to feel like a burden to her family. For a few years, things were fine.

 Then, a friend told Judith that she should stop taking her contraceptive because it would cause health issues and keep her from having children at all. Shortly after, at 22 years old, Judith became pregnant with her first child. She stayed at her family’s home in the village while Seifu worked to make accommodations elsewhere. Finally, at nine months pregnant, Seifu came to help move Judith to their new home. About two hours after arriving to their new home, Judith went into labor. Since this was during the lockdown in 2020, transportation was very difficult, so Judith remained in the village in labor for two days, receiving help from neighbors. Finally, Judith delivered a stillborn baby and immediately began leaking urine.

 “I was advised to leave her and marry another woman, but I didn’t listen because if it weren’t for me Judith wouldn’t have gotten fistula,” Seifu says solemnly. As a school teacher, Seifu’s salary disappeared over night when the government closed the schools, which put them in a tough financial position. He resigned himself to helping her get healed and began reaching out to every person he knew to see if they could help. Then, a friend directed him to UVP and Seifu received the gift he was looking for. He accompanied Judith to the fistula camp where she received a successful repair surgery!

Despite being a rather quiet person, I can tell she is still extremely happy, floating on cloud nine after her successful fistula surgery. Judith recalls, “I used to use three bars of soap per week washing because of the leaking, which is very expensive, especially when Seifu wasn’t receiving his salary.” At the end of her story, I notice that several of her neighbors have gathered around to listen. Judith says that she doesn’t mind the crowd because every person who hears her story is one that now knows about the mystery of fistula and how it can be prevented.

Judith's story is being shared with her consent. You can provide life-changing treatment to women like Judith by supporting UVP’s fistula program. You can change a life TODAY.

The Power of Relationships

 by Harriet Nakayiza, Program Coordinator

I’m sitting outside of Nawansiinge Health Centre II in the grassy area because the all the seats in the waiting area are occupied. Nurse Betty told me that if I wanted to meet with her, I would have to wait until she had finished serving all the patients. So, I wait.

Nurse Betty is a dedicated government health worker; she arrives to the clinic early and continues to take patients long after most of her colleagues leave for the day. Each health center has targets to reach – a certain number of HIV or malaria tests to conduct each quarter, and it is clear that Betty is committed to reaching those goals. Today, I’m here to introduce UVP to her and request any supplies she can provide. Nawansiinge Health Centre serves UVP’s 2020 villages, so it should be fairly easy to gain her assistance in providing supplies for the upcoming HIV outreach because it will directly benefit her catchment area.

When she finishes with the last patient, I formally introduce UVP’s work to Nurse Betty. She admits that she has not heard of UVP, but seems very interested in our work. We discuss at length our mutual mission of delivering health services in communities that need it most and the challenges of that endeavor: long distances to travel, unmaintained roads, and a lack of funding for such outreaches. Our mutual passion for the work is evident, which is why I was surprised that she didn’t immediately provide supplies – she said she needed to speak to her supervisor. Understandably so, I think to myself.

True to her word, Nurse Betty calls me back the next day to tell me that her supervisor has approved for Nawansiinge Health Centre to work with UVP by providing supplies and health workers to conduct HIV outreaches. Although Nurse Betty was not familiar with UVP’s work, her supervisor was and expressed great interest in working with us. It is this moment that I realize the power of a relationship – UVP works with many health centers in the area, and health workers collaborate frequently. Because of our deep relationships both in villages and health centers, the supervisor at Nawansiinge Health Centre II knew about UVP and trusted us. To us, trust is the highest compliment.

If you, like UVP, think relationships are important, either schedule a call with the Executive Director to chat about UVP happenings or become a monthly donor with UVP so you can build a lasting, sustainable impact in Iganga!

The Success of the Tippy Tap Campaign in Kinu

 by Shafic Mutegule, Program Coordinator

Amina greets us as we approach her home in our collective green shirts (we look so smart!). She is sitting beneath the mango tree, watching the children play while taking a well-deserved break after working all morning in her garden. Her feet are dirty, her eyes sparkling, and she wears an easy smile; she is grateful for our visit.

I’ve visited Amina a number of times throughout the two and a half years UVP has worked in Kinu. During those first visits, Amina and I discussed the importance of a proper latrine, so, when I returned a few months later, I was impressed to see the beginnings of a new pit latrine at her home. Now that the latrine is finished, we were there to talk about a tippy tap.

As we begin telling her our visit was regarding the “Tippy Tap for Every Household” campaign, Amina admits she already knew the purpose of our visit! Earlier in the week, VHT Sarah told Amina we were coming to visit households to help construct tippy tap handwashing stations for those who wanted one and Amina was likely to get a visit. As a result and much to our surprise, Amina already had the wood ready to construct a new tippy tap. So, that’s exactly what we did.

After constructing the tippy tap, I asked Amina why it was so easy for her to install a tippy tap at her home. She told me that during UVP’s time in the village, she had learned so much about handwashing, proper latrines, and other sanitation facilities from UVP staff that it was an obvious next step after she completed the improvements to her latrine. She was just waiting for the right time. “The education from UVP has been so helpful, especially during the pandemic,” Amina reflected. “UVP shares not only how to wash hands for better health, but why, which is really important to me. Thank you to UVP!”

Visit our website to learn more about UVP's many WASH activities!