Namutamba Rehabilitation Centre – standing up for, and standing with, those with disabilities

21km from Mityana township, and about 5km from the Nkuru Business and Vocational Training College that John Njendhayo has built and set up, in the heart of rural Uganda, lies the Namutamba Rehabilitation Centre (NRC), a rehab centre with vision.

NRC’s focus is providing a range of medical and para-medical inputs for children living with disabilities, and despite the predominantly low-tech resources, plus negligible government support, they really are achieving great things.

The staff team comprises a nurse, a physio, a primary teacher, someone with occupational therapy experience, two matrons (one day, one night) and a number of ancillary and admin-related staff.

The children come from all over Mityana district, and are predominantly too poor to pay for their treatment. But this isn’t a deterrent to the staff – they treat every child to their best ability for the medical and associated needs that the child has, and they trust and pray that the money will come in from donors to pay for it – and it does! Such faith.

Chatting with the staff, I was asking about the types of diagnoses that the children have that come to NRC, and also the obstacles that the staff face in reaching the children in the first place. Their responses were not that surprising but at the same time it was sad to hear just what a massive mountain each of the children have to climb, for no reason of their own.

The main diagnosis that NRC deals with is osteomyletis – a bacterial bone infection (I think) that can lead to destruction of the bone, deformity, awful pus-filled wounds that don’t heal, and associated infections as a result of all the above. Apparently by the time the child is brought to the Centre for treatment they have usually had the osteomyelitis for a long time, been seen by several witch-doctors, been ostracized by the community because of their suppurating, stinking wounds, and been hidden away as no-one wants to know them.

Other diagnoses include talipes, cleft-lip, cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus. Nothing unusual there, but what was noticeable was the lack of resources to deal with the psychological scarring that so many of the children are trying to cope with. The Centre staff know that this is an area that they aren’t very well-equipped in, which is good, and they’d like to get better skilled in being able to deal with this side of things, but seeing that, and the small range of orthotics, walking aids and other appliances, it was a big reminder of just how massive is the gap between health care for the have’s and have-not’s: both at an individual level within country, and at an international level between rich and poor countries.

The list of obstacles that the children have to overcome, with their parents on their side if they are lucky, are similar to those found in many countries around the world:

·      Stigma associated with the disability

·      Children being hidden away from the public eye, out of shame, and also out of fear of what the repercussions might be from others, due to the range of myths and mistruths associated with disability

·      A common belief that disability is the fault of the parents - a punishment for past wrong-doings

·      Parents who disown their child, for a range of reasons, all of which are very sad and can relate to the survival of the rest of the family, remarriage and non-acceptance by the new spouse, poverty…..

·      Community disowns the family

·      Witchcraft which is often the first port of call for treatment of the child, and which in itself can lead to a lot of extra problems, as well resulting in an acute diagnosis becoming chronic and much harder to treat.

NRC is planning not just to continue to provide incredible services to the children in its care, but also to expand its services to include giving attention to the psychosocial side of things, as well as parent support groups, and increasing and ongoing community activities to break down the myths and mistruths associated with disability.

With my ex-physio head on, and my recent insights gained as a JIGSAW Thornbury Trustee, I can safely say that their plans are no small ask by any standard; but in faith the team are moving forwards towards their dreams, and I wish them all the best.