Uganda (part 2) Dr Lucy
We were blessed this week to meet with another On His Path project.
Dr Lucy is 30 years old. She is a very special lady. Her giant smile and crushing hugs warmly welcomed us to Uganda!
She was an orphan. Her dad died when she was little. Her mom when she was 13. She however, was a gifted student, who every year in school was #1 in her class. This provided the benefit of receiving full tuition for school!
She then, through scholarship, was able to attend medical school.
After graduating, Lucy went to work for the national hospital doing general practice.
While working she learned of a leadership fellowship that led her to the University of Iowa for a few weeks. God had a side trip planned for her. Through people she met, she travelled to meet John at MD. A wonderful partnership began at that point! Seeing Lucy’s deep faith and hearing her vision, OHP was on board immediately.
We brought 2 wheelchairs and 5 canes for her to use at the clinic.
Her vision was a clinic she had started in her little “town” where she lived. Not a town really…..a few storefronts surrounded by many shacks and more shacks scattered in the hills around the town. She wanted to provide medical service to the needy. Initially, it was a 2 room clinic. OHP provided funding for her to rent and renovate the building. Although still very small, her space tripled in size. She has a small lab, 2 tiny rooms with beds for overnight patients, a consultation room, and an examination room. The front counter is stocked with medicines for walk in needs.
Dr Lucy works Monday through Friday at the big national hospital until 3 . She makes only $250/month! Yes, no typo.. $250 a month! We figured that’s around $1.60 an hour. Thats not the end of the day…..
Every day Dr Lucy goes home to her little clinic and sees patients Monday through Friday from 4-8 or 9pm! And All day Saturday! This work is donated mission work. Not a paying job.
She does general medicine, family planning, and through all her work, she provides biblical counseling!
Her vision now is to further serve her local,and surrounding communities by having remote, 2 day, FREE clinics. They would set up tents, doctors from the hospital would donate their time and they would treat the people far from town. The VERY poor! Malaria treatment is the big item here. This and other general medical treatment. Her vision is to treat 1,000 patients per clinic; 2-3 clinics per year.
Needs uncovered at this visit.
1 A refrigerator, so she can store basic medicines at the clinic.
2 Possible financial assistance with the proposed clinics
3. We brought her 2 wheelchairs and 5 canes to use and distribute
After our visit, Lucy and her landlord of the clinic served us a meal! The landlady cooked it herself.
We ate at her home adjacent to the clinic. They wanted us to experience an authentic Ugandan meal. Did we ever! Fried chicken, Chipatti -a tortilla type bread, Matoke – a boiled green banana staple that resembled mashed potatoes, a goat stew, boiled kale, and a few other things I don’t recall. We were humbled by their generosity. The food was very good!
Lucy then took us deep in the hills to show one site where she wanted to do her first clinic. Extreme poverty was seen on that drive! The community desperately needs her!
She then proudly showed us her home, where we met her 7 year old daughter Hailey. (What a doll!). Lucy is a single mom who shares a remote home with another single mom with 2 kids. It was a very humble home without electricity or running water, but it was her home and she was very proud of It! We were very blessed to be welcomed into her home.
Although we never asked, we do want to follow up regarding Hailey. Dr Lucy works so hard serving the community and makes very little. But she SERVES with the most generous heart! We assume Haily is in school. We feel that we would like to find a sponsor for Hailey’s school expenses, just to bless her and Lucy!
We will always remember Dr Lucy and Hailey. We will continue to pray for her. We also pray she finds a good man for a husband who can help her in life and her mission!