Uganda (CURE//MNN) — The CURE Children's Hospital of Uganda has done
precisely what it was supposed to do since the idea was planted over ten years
ago.
Since then, it has grown and evolved. Executive director of the
facility, Derek Johnson, says the success of the mission in Uganda has surpassed
everyone's expectations. The statistics for the last decade alone are
staggering: 40,000 children seen, nearly 10,000 life-saving surgeries provided,
and more than 8,000 people with a closer relationship to God.
When you add in the advancements made toward the treatment of hydrocephalus,
the impact CURE has made has laid the groundwork for a long life in Uganda.
However broad the vision started, 2011 proved that it's time to think even
bigger. CURE is out of room, and the
needs continue to grow. They are doing what they can with the team
they have: one neurosurgeon, two operating rooms, and 42 beds, but they need
more hands.
CURE is taking steps toward accommodating growth. Dr. Peter Ssenyonga is returning to the team
after having finished six years of neurosurgery training in South Africa. For
the first time in six years, there will be two full-time neurosurgeons on
staff.
They've also begun the expansion project at the hospital. With funding from
the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program under USAID, they're adding a
ten-bed intensive care unit (ICU), another operating room, and expanding the
outpatients department.
CURE Uganda is building so they can deliver the highest quality care for some
of the most vulnerable children in East Africa. Despite the excitement of the healthy growth,
the team also leaves a lot of room for
God to work, often in unexpected ways.
Referring to some of the children that he treats, Dr. Mugamba often talks
about leaving room for God to come in and move and perform the miraculous. Some
of the babies that come through CURE'S doors are in such poor condition that
even the most talented and experienced neurosurgeons shudder.
However, day after day, child after child, miracles are happening. Children
without good prognoses go home only to return several months later, laughing,
crawling, and playing. Time and again,
the team has seen what happens when they let go and God does the rest.
Says Johnson, "As I moved through the hospital this morning, amid the
hustle and bustle of our usual workday, I noticed one of our nurses quietly
praying with a mother and her baby. That is us intentionally allowing God to
come in." As CURE starts the
next decade of outreach in Uganda, Johnson adds, their team will "continue to
keep eternity in focus, our expectations high, leaving room for God to come in
and move as He wishes."
