Uganda: The Very Young

From Uganda Photo Album

Two days ago, we spoke about the elderly in Uganda — today it is the very young.

While we were in the Tororo District we visited a medical centre in a very simple building a 45-minute drive by automobile from the town. As we disembarked from our bus we discovered that the centre had no doctor.

A single nurse provided help to mothers who give birth. The facilities in the centre were sparse. Old iron framed beds had thin mattresses and in some cases no sheets or blankets.

In the recovery room several men were recovering from simple surgeries. The medical centre did not have adequate space to provide a separate place for the mothers who were recovering.

As we left, we wondered aloud how life can be so unfair to mothers and children in conditions of extreme poverty.

2006 Uganda SCAW team