This week we hear from Namaara Michael, who provides outreach services to the communities in the villages in the catchment area of BCH.

‘My name is Namaara Michael and I am a community nurse at Bwindi Community Hospital.

I have worked at the hospital since July 2019. Prior to starting work I studied at Uganda Nursing School Bwindi. 

My job involves providing community outreach services to people living in the catchment area for Bwindi Community Hospital.  The community department visits each village in the catchment area every 3 months. Batwa settlements are visited more frequently, with visits every month.  A large part of my activities is providing child and antenatal healthcare. The community team immunises all children under 5 years of age and screens them for malnutrition. We educate parents about nutrition and healthy diets. For antenatal care we screen all pregnant mothers to identify those with high-risk pregnancies.  We provide education to pregnant women, discussing birth preparedness, hospital deliveries, good nutrition and danger signs in pregnancy.

The community nurses are also responsible for chasing up clients from hospital services who have been lost from follow-up and helping them to re-engage. We also identify gender-based violence in our communities, linking victims to counselling or other relevant authorities.   We provide screening and enrolment into care of clients with mental health problems, especially those with epilepsy, alcohol and substance abuse, depression, and schizophrenia. 

I like working at Bwindi Community Hospital becauseI was brought up in the Bwindi area, and I like serving my local population. It makes my work very rewarding.  I especially enjoy ensuring that needy people such as the Batwa can access quality services.  The community department does great work helping to improve the health of the local community, particularly the Batwa population. 

There is good co-operation between staff members at BCH. All the staff at BCH are equal and there is not segregation between staff, this means they are able to promote unity between staff.  Staff all work in line with the vision of the hospital and want to continue to improve the services provided by the hospital. Staff at the hospital value sports, which helps to bring people together and relieve stress. I also enjoy working here because it is near my home and I can be involved in many community activities outside work. 

There are challenges to delivering healthcare in this area.  Difficult access due to mountainous terrain and poor-quality roads makes it challenging to access patients, in particular during the rainy season.  Many of the clients live in poverty and are not part of eQuality insurance scheme, so they cannot afford to access many of the facilities and services at Bwindi Community Hospital. 

In the future I would like the hospital to become a regional referral hospital and to be able to provide more specialist services, so that people do not have to travel such long distances. I also hope that the breadth of training that is provided at the nursing and medical science school will be increased to include laboratory, dental, radiography, and community health training programmes. 

My favourite thing to do outside of work is play football. I play for Bwindi Community Hospital football team. I also enjoy my missionary work at St. Luke Chapel which includes preaching and involvement with the fellowship. I grow various crops such as bananas and coffee, and rear animals including goats, cows, poultry and rabbits. Outside of work I also enjoy socialising with my friends and relatives. I am due to complete my nursing diploma extension course in June this year.  Next, I would like to study a BSc in nursing specialising in community or public health.  I would also like to start my own charity which can help disabled children with cerebral palsy, to increase their quality of life. ‘

REACH Bwindi is currently piloting a twinning project between individuals or organisations and individual villages in the catchment area of BCH. The aim of this project is to support the essential work of the BCH community outreach team in making healthcare accessible to all by bringing it into the villages in the catchment area of BCH, some of which are isolated and very hard to reach. Monthly donations will contribute to these outreaches providing maternal and child health, HIV/AIDS and chronic care services and education. Keep an eye on our ‘Ways to support us’ page for more updates.