This week we hear from Maneno Jackie who has been working at BCH for the last five years.

‘My name is Maneno Jackie. I am not married (yet!) but I am hoping to get married soon! I am from North West Uganda, at the Albert Nile. I have been an enrolled nurse at Bwindi Community Hospital (BCH) for 5 years and they have been the best years of my life. I am currently studying for my diploma in nursing.

I love working at BCH because BCH provides me with an opportunity to serve the people with a lot of joy, and that is fulfilling to me. I can empower individuals, families and the community to take charge of their health through health promotion which in turn improves the health of the community. Working in paediatrics allows me to connect to my own inner child, but most importantly gives me a chance to improve the neonatal survival rate at BCH. One of my favourite things is teaching mothers how to prepare nutritious meals so that their children will not suffer from malnutrition. I also enjoy educating mothers about ways to prevent illness in their children, which we do for every family when they are being discharged from the ward. The best thing that I have experienced at BCH has been meeting lots of new people from all walks of life, from across Uganda and around the world.

It was challenging when I first starting working at BCH as there are more than 56 different languages in Uganda, and I speak 6 of them, with the exception of Rukiga, which is the local language in Bwindi! So, it was really hard to communicate with patients but luckily I have now learnt the language!

The biggest challenge for young people in our local community is that they lack access to people who can empower them and give them a sense of direction. They don’t have a lot of experience of the outside world, which means it is difficult for them to compete with their peers.

I hope that in the future BCH will become a model hospital for Uganda. I hope to become a degree nurse so that I can help patients at a more advanced level if given any opportunity.

Outside of workI love singing, and doing Jackie adventures such as going hiking. I also really love teaching Sunday School.’

If you would like to know more about what REACH Bwindi is doing to support the Paediatric nursing team please get in touch: reachbwindi@gmail.com