About

The Bududa District

The Bududa District is prone to severe mudslides. In 2010, the worst mudslide in Uganda’s history swept away the main health facility serving Buwaali and several other sub-counties in the region. The slide also destroyed three villages and killed hundreds of people.

The health facility was never rebuilt and now people must walk several hours for health care or use their meager resources for transport. During the rainy season, March to November, when over 70 inches of rain falls and rivers are swollen and bridges washed out, transport is often impossible.

Imagine being a women in labor having to walk miles through hills, with elevations up to 5,900 feet, and torrential rains to reach a health facility where you can safely deliver. The lack of health facilities has resulted in one of the highest rates of deliveries unattended by trained medical personnel in the country.

Now there is a chance to bring much needed health services to the people of this beautiful region.

The Bukobero Community Health Centre

This new Health Center III will be located in Buwaali Sub County and accessible to the four surrounding sub counties. In this area, there are only two other health facilities serving 80,000 people and only one of those can provide maternity and delivery services.[1]

Besides maternity services, the 2,000 sq.ft. facility will provide primary care, HIV/AIDS testing, counseling, and treatment, vaccination programs, family planning, youth friendly services, and treatment for common illnesses such as malaria, respiratory infections, and diarrheal diseases.

A big focus will be on health promotion activities – helping people remain healthy.

Land has been purchased safely out of the slide zone and additional land has been donated for a road and future expansion. A “Community Based Organization” (CBO), a legal entity in Uganda, has been set up to own the land and operate the clinic. The CBO is comprised of elders, activists, and leaders, both men and women. Mobilizers are spreading the word to surrounding villages.

Road building and land clearing has begun and once construction starts, the community will continue to contribute. In-kind donations will include poles for building scaffolding, site labor, and supplying food to the construction crew, among many other things.

The CBO also knows the importance of sustainability and is making plans for income-generating activities to help support the clinic in the future. These potentially include bee keeping, a coffee cooperative, and an insurance program, among others.

The Need

Accessible health services are critically needed in Bududa. The health of women and children have been particularly affected.

49% of children under five years of age are stunted, almost twice the national average [2]. Poverty is not the only reason for stunting. Frequent infections early in life are also a risk factor [3] .
Only 24% of deliveries are in health facilities, risking the health of the mother and child [4].
Lack of access to family planning has resulted in a fertility rate of 7.2 births per woman compared with 5.4 nationally [2]. Women with five or more pregnancies are at much higher risk for maternal and neonatal complications.
43% of the population lives in extreme poverty, or below the equivalent $1.90 a day.
The high birth rate has put excessive pressure on the land, leading to deforestation and slides as population pressure pushes cultivation higher and higher.

The importance of youth friendly services

According to the USAID, the average Ugandan is a fourteen-year-old girl who has a one-in-four risk of becoming pregnant during adolescence. She will likely drop out of school before reaching secondary level [5]. 48% of the population is under age 15 [6].

Youth friendly services are critically needed in Uganda. These services are tailored to the specific emotional, physical, and health needs of youth. Even before the health center is built, the Bukobero Community Health Centre CBO is already leading in this area by developing a youth soccer club, for both boys and girls.

The Kuushu Rising Stars Football Club was started in 2018 with gifts from friends in the UK, two American sisters, and from community donations. It is providing positive activities for youth helping keep them in school and focused on their futures.

Sources

[1] Health Facilities Inventory, Uganda Ministry of Health, 2012.

[2] Uganda Demographic and Health Survey, 2016.

[3] Dewey, et al. Long-term consequences of stunting in early life. Maternal and Child Nutrition, 2011.

[4] Bududa District Local Government Statistical Abstract, 2012.

[5] USAID Uganda Country Development Cooperation Strategy, 2016-2021.

[6] World Population Prospects: The 2017 Revision, United Nations.

Bukobero Community Health Centre

Your Health, Our Mission