ABOUT US

The Nakivale camp in Uganda is home to refugees from several African countries including Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo, Somalia, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Eretria and Senegal among whom we have a large number of people living with disabilities, albinism, chronic diseases and very vulnerable elderly people.
As in their countries of origin, these categories of people are victims of marginalization, contempt, stigmatization because of their state of disability that they are forced to carry all their lives on earth, The inadequacy of medical facilities in the Nakivale camp which are only two in number, one in Sangano and the other in Kabazana, it should be noted that these two medical facilities are very saturated and unable to receive all the sick since the supply is lower than the demand,
It happens that a sick refugee goes two days without being seen by the treating nurse. Also, it often happens that the appropriate pharmaceutical products for typical care of the patient’s complaint are lacking.
For people living with disabilities, it is an ordeal to spend a whole day lined up under the sun waiting for their turn to see the attending nurse. The same is true for people with albinism who spend hours under the sun without any protection against the sun’s rays, which is a real suicide for them. We must also talk about the cases of old people who suffer the same fate.
The Nakivale refugee camp is built on the edge of a mass of stagnant water full of mosquito eggs and cholera vibrio called Lake Nakivale, which also gave its name to the camp.
A large and wide marshy valley that relentlessly produces mosquitoes called Rwita crosses the Nakivale camp.
These marshy waters result in the constant proliferation of mosquitoes that are vectors of malaria. It is as if the refugees came to provoke the mosquitoes in their headquarters. Malaria is an endemic phenomenon in Nakivale that doubly affects the lives of vulnerable refugees.
It should be noted that the lack of drinking water and the poor toilets generally expose the refugees of Nakivale and more particularly those of children who are often victims of waterborne diseases and dirty hands. The case of typhoid fever, dysentery also became endemic in Nakivale thus contributing to the deterioration of the health of people living with disabilities, children and the elderly.
Almost all the schools created by the parents of students do not have toilets and water. The sanitation policy of school and public environments is completely absent. Several children do not finish the school year because of waterborne diseases and dirty hands contracted at school. The public markets of refugees and host communities do not have toilets.
Some refugees have set up health centers, but these health centers are very expensive and inaccessible for vulnerable refugees who receive barely 4 US dollars per month, hence 333 Ugandan shillings as a daily food ration for a refugee.
Thus, LAC Uganda through its assistance actions provides a response to some extent in the assistance to medical care to these vulnerable refugees. LAC Uganda also builds ecological toilets and descents in schools and communities in order to fight against waterborne diseases and dirty hands.