Children's Health
Kaguta lives with his father and brothers and sisters in the town of Kanyashande near Bwindi. His mother suffered from terrible mental health problems after his birth, and he came to the Hospital severely malnourished, 
weighing just 2.5kgs (5 lbs) when he was six months old, and was close to death. Slowly we nursed him back to health, keeping him on our nutrition program for 60 days while we taught his Dad and his eight-year-old sister how to feed and care for him properly. After four weeks he began to smile, and after six weeks he started to sit up. He suffered from pneumonia and diarrhoea, but we were able to treat him and continue his rehabilitation. Now he is a happy and thriving infant living at home and being seen every month in the Children's Ward malnutrition follow-up clinic.
weighing just 2.5kgs (5 lbs) when he was six months old, and was close to death. Slowly we nursed him back to health, keeping him on our nutrition program for 60 days while we taught his Dad and his eight-year-old sister how to feed and care for him properly. After four weeks he began to smile, and after six weeks he started to sit up. He suffered from pneumonia and diarrhoea, but we were able to treat him and continue his rehabilitation. Now he is a happy and thriving infant living at home and being seen every month in the Children's Ward malnutrition follow-up clinic.The Problem
In rural Uganda one in every seven children dies before the age of five. Bwindi would be no different if it were not for the work of this Hospital. Until recently malaria was the biggest killer of children, and the Hospital saw at least one death a week from the disease. But a huge mosquito net campaign launched by the Hospital has resulted in more than half of the local population now pro- tecting themselves by sleeping under nets, and admissions with malaria have drastically reduced. We have not seen a death from the disease at the Hospital in more than two years now. Children in this area still suffer from malnutrition caused by a lack of protein, pneumonia, diarrhoea, HIV and tuberculosis.
There are too many accidents and burns from the open fires that families use for cooking, and newborn babies are particularly vulnerable to infection. Most families cannot afford the costs of adequately feeding and getting medicines for their children.Our Services
Robert is the nurse in charge of probably the nicest children's ward in all of Uganda, with brightly coloured paintings on the wall and a fun environment for children to play and learn as they recover. His team provides quality treatment in a facility with 28 beds for sick children and a clean and warm unit for newborn babies. Outside the ward is a children's play area and a kitchen and demonstration garden where mothers (and occasionally fathers) can learn skills that they take home about how to grow and cook a balanced diet for their children. Specialist clinics are held each week for children with long-term diseases.
How you can Help
Bwindi's child health services get support from The Eurochange Charity in the UK and TOUCH Uganda in the United States but there is a lot more that we can do. Adding the money spent on staff, drugs, electricity and other supplies it costs about $30 a day to keep a child in Hospital. The average family in Bwindi lives on about $1 a day and has seven children. They do contribute a small amount, but the local community cannot afford the full costs of care. Each month we see more than 500 children in our outpatient department and we admit more than 80 to the ward. The average child with malnutrition stays for more than two weeks, and the total cost of providing all of our child health services is $130,000 a year. Any contribution, however large or small, will go directly to helping those most in need.
