"I was sick and you looked after me."
Matthew 25:36

Uganda Trip - Jan. 2024

SLIDESHOWS     VIDEOS

Westminster Medical Missions 2024 Uganda Mission Team Report

On Saturday, January 27, 2024, our team of eight left for Northern Uganda for the 31st year of Westminster Medical Missions trips. The 2024 Westminster Medical Missions Servant team members were Dr. Bill Harden, Becky Harden, David Duritza, Cynthia Gary- PA-C, Sarah Rodes PA-C, Susan Alston, Liz Myers and Clyde Davis.

               

           

This year we again held a surgical camp and in total we contributed for 78 surgeries performed. We were able to give food bags to all patients in the children's ward (with toys/sweets) as well as the maternity, surgical and medical wards and the neonatal and nutrition wards. We even had time to paint fingernails. We bought and packed hundreds of bags of giveaway food that included handmade bags, sugar, beans, oil, posho and soap. A continued highlight was our daily hut visits. Hut visits included those needing clothing or food, those whose huts had been burned or in very bad need of repair or replacement; or orphans with no visible means of support except for their neighbors. We saw many cases of malaria.  We gave jerry cans filled with clean water and serving utensils when needed, clothing, medicine and blankets, homemade jump ropes, hats and money and as always rubber band bracelets. We not only gave bags of food to be prepared later, but food for immediate consumption such as breaakfast bars. At the end of each visit we prayed for each family.

 

                          

                  

   

It seems that each hut that we visited was in need of repair, replacement or they needed a hut of their own as only a neighbor was letting the family live in a very sub optimal environment. Several of the families that we visited had their huts burned and needed a new one built. The average cost of a new hut build was ~370,000 Uganda shillings (~$100).

                              

                             

                       

                            

                     

                  

                             

                  

                 

As always, the team did a great job riding in the back of the truck with much patience.

We went to a Babies home, a dispensary, the AIDS clinic as well as hut visits. We gave much needed medical supplies to the dispensary.

                                  

 With Susan and Liz's leadership we were able to hold a children's camp- All of our “treat bags” that numbered approximately 200 were given out as well as soccer balls and other treats.

             

                                   

                            

 

We thank each of you for your continued support. If God wills, our 32nd year for the Westminster Medical Missions Team trip to Uganda will be in January 2025. We ask for your continued prayers as we continue to do the work that we feel God has set before us.

 

Doctor Bill Harden, Team Leader