Sister Martina has been working in Saint-Francis Health Facility III, Arua district, for almost 10 years. A midwife by training she is very motivated to bring quality health care to her community. We spoke to her about the challenges the facility faces, her love for the job, and the changes she has seen over the years. « Even though work is not always easy I still love my job. »

I’ve been here since 2007. So almost 10 years now. I should really celebrate! Before coming here I used to work in Lira,Saint-John hospital. The difference between the two facilities very big. In Lira we were supported by many ngo’s and we had a very big HIV centre. Here we are situated in a place where we really needed to convince the population of the importance of health. People are just trying to cope in thispeasant community Before this health centre came in 2001 people died of preventable diseases. Especially in the beginning it was hard to convince people to come in when they were sick.

Stigma

Even today it can create problems because of the stigma connected to some diseases. We recently had a gentleman who tested positively for HIV. In the beginning he was taking his drugs, but after a while he stopped. He got sicker and sicker and only returned to our health centre when it was too late. He died last week.Fortunately some improvement has been made.

The sisters who founded this health centre also trained people in the community to become health assistants and nurses. This helped establish a relationship with the community.

Thanks to PNFP project and result-based financing we have been able to reduce our fees. This has made health care more accessible for the community. Still not all people can afford it. People here depend heavily on farming for their income but recently we have had a shortage of rain. This means people have no income and no money for health.

Proud of my job

Even though work is not always easy I still love my job.There is no better feeling than being able to help someone. When you can help someone come out of despair, that is just wonderful. God can do his work through us and through me. As a human being I’m able to help another human being return to his everyday life.

Big Dreams

I hope this facility can be converted into a health centre 4. If we offer more services people might believe more in the work we are doing. Now they get discouraged when they are referred to another hospital because we cannot handle the case. A lot of people cannot afford this, some don’t even have the money for transport.

People are also afraid to die in an unknown place. hey even say: ‘why do you want us to die in some strange place?”. I realize it will take more than just better equipped facility to convince people. We really need good community health workers. They should coordinate with community leaders, religious leaders and local political leaders. Everyone needs to come together.