I am an orphan who was educated by my uncle. I completed O
level in 1997 and A level in 1999. I was not able to raise money to attend university,
and so I decided to enrol for a 3-year diploma course in Clinical Medicine and
Community Health which I completed in 2003, graduating as a clinical officer.
I chose to do a degree in palliative care because my mother
died of Karposi’s Sarcoma and my father died of Creptococcal meningitis and
HIV/AIDS in 1995. I attended to both of them, witnessed their painful terrible
death without any painkillers. I was 15 years old at the time.
As I was the eldest in my family, I took over the role of
caring for them until they died. At that time, there were no Anti-Retrovirals,
so I just used to give them local herbs. I prayed to God to make me a health
worker in future so that I could manage patients with severe pain like my
parents had. When I heard about the palliative care degree, I said this is what
I asked God when my parents were in agony with pain and that’s how I decided to
study for this degree.
I started working in 2004 as a clinical officer in Kamwenge District,
in Western Uganda. In 2005 I had the opportunity to attend a six-day health
professional course workshop on palliative care at Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU).
That was my turning point. I picked up an interest in learning more about
palliative care. Following this training, I did a nine-month Clinical Palliative
Care Course (CPCC) at HAU (now Diploma in Clinical Palliative Care) in 2007.
After the CPCC I graduated as a morphine prescriber. I
started prescribing morphine for palliative care patients in the rural district
where I work. I used to walk distances of 5-15kms on foot to visit patients,
sometimes I would use a bicycle. In 2008, Dr Lou Millington and Dr Anne
Merriman helped me to purchase a motorbike, which helped me a lot in home
visiting though I had to use my salary to buy fuel and service the motorbike. I
was relieved that I could now visit more and more patients than before.
In 2011 I heard a former CPCC classmate that Makerere
University had advertised for the BSc in palliative care. I applied and was admitted.
I did not have fees for the course in spite of the strong desire to become a specialist
in palliative care. Dr Anne Merriman was very helpful in looking a sponsor for
me after I explained to her during a mentorship session, while shedding tears
that I did not have funds for the tuition and I wanted to study. Dr Anne was my
mentor – I am very glad that she secured sponsorships from her friends, and
that is how I managed to study.
I work in a rural area where there is no electricity and
internet, roads are poor and so is the telephone network. This used to force
me, while studying the degree course to travel to Mbarara which is 100kms from
my working area to access internet services. Sometimes I would sleep on the way
whenever I failed to get taxis to bring me back home.
During the lecture sessions I did not know much about
computers, so my class mates helped me a lot. Dr Lou had given me an old laptop
which helped me to do my course work. I was friendly to all my classmates and I
would initiate discussions almost every day during face-to-face sessions at the
institute.
Out of that struggle I managed to get a first class degree.
I would not have imagined that a villager, a poor person like me who was so
disadvantaged could get a first class degree. I felt so happy and so proud. I
thank my lecturers, mentors and funders for my achievement. Above all I thank
God.
I am now a palliative care specialist, though my appointment
is as a clinical officer. I pray that in future the government will appoint
palliative care specialists into the national healthcare system. It’s painful
to graduate and remain at the same salary scale, but that’s what is happening
currently.
The folks at HAU raised funds for my 3rd year
tuition and also purchased for me a new motorbike which I bought last year
around May 2013, because the one I got in 2008 it was already old. I am so
grateful to them for their contributions.
Finally I thank Dr Anne Merriman for having been a good
mentor, and my lecturers for their efforts in teaching us.
Now that I have a first class degree, I wish to study a
masters and a PhD in palliative care, although I do not have money to sponsor
myself at the moment.
I want to continue with palliative care work and establish a
good palliative care unit, and to tell other health workers about palliative
care. I also want to be an advocate for palliative care to government so that
it can be budgeted for and be included in the national priorities.
I have passion for palliative care – that is my driving
force.
Find out more about
the degree in palliative care on the website of Hospice Africa Uganda.
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