Project Orphans Uganda's save expectant mothers campaign commended

LUWERO - Zirobwe residents have commended Project Orphans Uganda for its campaign to reduce maternal deaths through free medical services to expectant mothers.

The campaign, which benefits residents of Ntawawulwa and neighbouring villages in Zirobwe, Luwero district, targets attracting mothers to the facility where they offer free services and discouraging them from delivering with Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).

It is said majority of expectant mothers in the area are compelled to seek services from TBAs due to lack of nearby health facilities. Many others deliver by the roadside and in banana plantations while walking long distances to give birth in health facilities in Luwero town.

A newly born baby at Project Orphans Medical Centre.  (All Photos by Eddie Ssejjoba)   

A midwife attending to a newly born baby.

They in the process either die in labour, lose their babies or get life-long complications like fistulas because of injuries due to poor handling during birth.  
 
But the organisation set up a birthing centre at Project Orphans Medical Centre, which offers free maternal services to all expectant mothers, including caesarean section and other surgeries.    

The residents have also applauded the founders of the mother organisation, Project Orphans in USA, for organising annual medical camps at the Pearl Village, located at Project Orphans in Zirobwe, where medical workers diagnose, treat and make referrals for various ailments at no cost.

Dr. Ernest Elotu showing the dental room, one of the facilities in the new wing.

In addition, the project has injected money to fund various projects, including a nursery and primary school, a training centre for teenage mothers, plus sponsoring over 100 needy children to attain secondary and university education. 

Ibrahim Musoke, 76, said his family was entirely dependent on the project where they get free medical treatment, clothing, food and free education scholarships for all his children. He said many mothers who used to walk long distances to Luwero to deliver and others who risked delivering at unqualified medical personnel git a big relief when the projects started free services. 

Another resident, Majidu Ssengonzi, said he had moved to various medical centres without much help until he visited the facility where he received surgery for an abdominal complication.

Sarah Sanger, a co-director at Project Orphans, remarks.

His neighbour, Pio Kagaba, 75, said during a recent medical camp at the facility, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and has been receiving treatment since. “Without this facility, I would not be here by now; all the treatment has been free,” he said.

Wilberforce Kiryowa said his son, John Ssenkula, was diagnosed with a defect in his heart and was referred to the Uganda Heart Institute in Mulago, where he was sponsored for a heart surgery.

“My son was stunted, and although he was eleven years old, he looked like a four-year-old, but after the heart operation, he regained his growth and is recovering steadily, thanks to Project Orphans,” he said.

One of the employees, Sylvia Nambooze, said all her five children were put on full education sponsorship, and in addition, she was offered a job after she lost her husband.

Sylvia Nambooze said all her five children were put on full education sponsorship by the organization.

The project is headed by Pastor George Sanger and his wife, Sarah Sanger, who in 2018 set up the first medical facility a year after their establishment to offer free medical services to mainly pregnant women, many of whom died at the hands of TBAs. 

The residents made the remarks on Friday last week following the commissioning of the newly extended maternity ward, general wards for in-patients offering free medical services.

The management has installed modern medical equipment like an ultra-scan, theatre, dental care and others, where they offer free surgeries and make referrals to Bombo Military Hospital and Mulago National Referral Hospital, where they transport their patients at no cost. The facility also continues to support referred patients until they complete their treatment.

Dr. Ernest Elotu, the in-charge of the Project Orphans Medical Centre, said that many patients cannot afford to meet medical treatment.

“We receive between 350 to 400 patients with mild to severe cases of malaria, women seeking to deliver, some having obstructed labour and extreme bleeding, diabetes, hypertension and other complications,” he explained.

He said the management started a campaign to discourage mothers from going to TBAs by offering them free Mama kits and free surgeries.

He explained that the campaign is still ongoing because many mothers still turn up with obstructed labour from TBAs. 

A pregnant mother waiting outside one of the new facilities.

Pastor Sanger said there were plans to install an X-ray machine and work with Government departments like the Probation and Welfare office in Luwero, which admits mainly vulnerable school children who conceive, helps them deliver and trains them in life skills like bakery, tailoring, hair dressing, among others.

The project also offers free nursery and primary education to children of the sponsored teenage mothers.

He explained that the project’s original mission was to start a birthing centre for the many mothers who used to seek services from TBAs, where he said they lost their lives and developed complications.

The facility has since been expanded due to congestion as patients filled up their small wards seeking free treatment.

Dr. Ernest Elotu attends to patients at Project Orphans Medical Centre.

According to Pastor Sanger, the facility receives over 2,000 patients every year, mainly old women, mothers and children, some of whom have been sponsored to receive more advanced treatment in referral facilities.

“We spend over sh1b every year on construction and extending other services like sponsoring vulnerable children to receive secondary education,” he explained.

The project also started Faith Elementary School in Lunyolya, Kalagala sub-county, where they offer free education to poor children.