Project Africa 2020 In The Midst Of A Pandemic by Denis Lefebvre – December 2020

2020 has proven to be a difficult year due to the Covid 19 Pandemic which has gripped the world.   In previous years, we (myself, my father Eric, and other individuals from both the Warehouse of Hope and other organizations) have visited the on-going projects in Uganda at least twice a year.  2020 will be the first time since the conception of Project Africa that we have not had boots on the ground.  The Pandemic has made a difficult situation that much more strenuous and has increased the requests for assistance as life all around the world (especially the developing countries) has become much more difficult to navigate.  The Sisters of Mary have been our primary conduit by which we have developed a working program to help the people of Uganda help themselves.  The Sisters are strategically located throughout the country and are in a position to provide eyewitness reports of the day-to-day operations of our many projects.  We have been active in places such as Nyondo, Salalira, Gangama, Kangole, Tororo, and Magale just to name a few.  The schools, medical clinics, baby homes, and infrastructure projects which have been put in place in these communities only continue to operate successfully with the dedicated work of the Sisters, and the all-important financial support of our donors. 

Thankfully we have been able to provide financial support from our end, and for the most part our projects are continuing to operate and serve the people within the various communities. This year we are developing an educational program to address the medical requirements of our communities which are now having to add Covid 19 to the long list of diseases such as AIDS, Malaria, Yellow Fever, and Typhoid, just to name a few.  We have picked three candidates to support, who will be upgrading the medical degrees.  Dan Midyero is our senior medical staff member at Salalira.  We hope to upgrade his status to full Doctor.  Helen Barasa is also a staff member at Salalira and we hope to upgrade her status to Nurse/Midwife.  The third candidate is Sister Jacklyn Chikama who will undergo a three-year course to also become a Nurse.  These three individuals will work directly within the Sisters of Mary’s vast network of community assistance outposts.  The Pandemic has slowed the progress of this program due to the closing of many of the education centers within Uganda, however we are optimistic that this program will move forward and provide us with three qualified medical personnel.