There has been laughter and hugging and stories. Some are stories of pain and fear – most are stories of hope and resilience. I am back in remote Uganda at this incredible centre of excellence in maternal and newborn health, Kiwoko Hospital. It is 27 years since I first drove the red dust road to reach here – a place that has uplifted my life beyond measure. Kiwoko is now a beacon of hope for mothers and babies living in poverty in low-resource settings globally and the centre of AdaraNewborn – our model of care for mothers and small and sick babies that is scaling into the public system at last.
The sun is rising and the monkeys are chasing each other on the roof. It rained hard in the night – a relief from the heat. I wake to the call to prayer and the sound of a community getting ready for another long day, pots clanging and kids laughing. It all seems as it ever was – except it is not.
This time, the size of the impending disaster is beyond words. The withdrawal in February of committed funding to low-income countries from USAID – 40% of the world’s total humanitarian aid – looms like a spectre at the door. PEPFAR is shuttered – the global supplier of critical, life-saving antiretroviral drugs for HIV. In remote communities with widespread HIV transmission, after years of turning the tide, it seems there will be no swords and no shields for the battle going forward. How long will the supplies of ARVs for HIV clients last? Nobody knows. A few months maybe. Families are sharing meds to make their supplies last –dramatically impacting their viral load. How long will the supply of TB meds, condoms, antimalarials last? How do they get ready for the likely return of mother-to-child transmission of HIV – unseen in the sites we work in for at least a decade? Will we see more unsafe abortions? Yes. More teen pregnancies? Yes. More death? Yes.
Will they face it with super-human courage? Yes. Will the teams here manage with compassion, excellence and magnificence? Yes. Do they need our support more than ever? Yes.
The conversation over dinner moves from global and national politics to a staggering story of siamese twins being born and lost after hours of heroic efforts to save them – with the mother at least saved – I want to weep as they speak of the pride of saving her. One life at a time. We move on to hilarious stories of bats, rats and cockroaches. There is laughter, there is friendship, and there is resilience. I watch them and I am in awe.
We have been working side by side with this remarkable community through many crises – Ebola, COVID, hunger, unrest – and more. But this – global abandonment. Impossible to comprehend.
The Medical Director, Dr Peter Serwadda reminds me – “Audette, there has forever been uncertainty.”
True. But there is one thing that IS certain. What is happening in low-income countries right now is a human catastrophe –and a global disgrace.
Every one of us has a role.
Stand. Up. For. Our. Neighbours. In. Faraway. Places.
