These are the words of some of our mamas when talking about their tiny babies born at 1kg or less in one of the poorest countries in the world. What an immense privilege it is to be part of their journey to becoming a mama, to give them hope and to give these tiny friends a chance to grow and become someone.
Eastern Uganda has a population of over 4 million people. There is one main referral hospital in the region, in Mbale and our neonatal unit is at the centre. Despite its challenges and the often overwhelming numbers, it is the people that run the ward that touch the lives of these tiny babies every day. Not only are they the ones to provide medical care, they are also teachers. Whether they are training staff from other health facilities during their placements in the neonatal unit or teaching on our newborn care training course out in the district hospitals, our clinical trainers never stop their work.
One of the key aspects of care for a baby that is born early is to teach the mother (or father, sister, auntie, grandmother) how to look after their baby. By involving them in the day to day care on the ward, not only does it relieve a small proportion of the work for the nursing staff, it also gives them hands on experience of caring for their newborn. Whether it is feeding expressed brest milk with a spoon, keeping the baby warm in kangaroo care or looking out for danger signs that might represent a problem, every day is a learning opportunity.
We can sometimes focus too much on the formal training courses that we run in other health facilities and forget that every day, with every encounter our team on the ground is sharing their knowledge, experience and skills. We are grateful to them for the wonderful work they continue to do.
We are asking you to remember that none of this is possible without your support. Your donations provide a salary for our neonatal clinical officers, without whom, the neonatal unit would be overwhelmed. In these difficult times we are asking you to consider providing regular support to our clinical training team with a small monthly donation.
We hope to hear from you soon.
Thank you
