Bwindi Community Hospital & Nursing School

Uganda

 AKP Project Since 2004

 Category:

education75  health75

AKP helps train nurses to bring health care to dozens of Ugandan villages

Overview

A perpetual shortage of nurses has had a serious effect on the impact of the Bwindi Community Hospital, a facility that literally began under a tree a decade ago and, with the help of AKP and the Sanctuary Gorilla Forest Camp, has grown to a 112-bed facility providing health care for 40,000 patients annually. The dedicated staff also sends outreach teams to surrounding villages to ensure all people have access to health care and health education. Nurses are scarce in the region largely because they train in the capital city of Kampala and, after a year or two of rural living, return to their families in the city.

Today, the Uganda Nursing School Bwindi invests in promising local students who will be the region’s future health care workers. Since one in three students can’t afford to pay the $750 annual tuition, AKP and A&K guests have come together to provide scholarships to ensure the success of the school. In turn, this ensures that the people served by the hospital and surrounding villages have access to certified nursing school graduates who are from the region, speak the local language and understand local customs.

Visit This Project

Visit the rural village of Bwindi to see how the community has partnered with A&K Philanthropy to grow a remote medical outpost into a thriving health care oasis serving 100,000 Ugandans. After a tour of the children’s ward and maternity wing, meet the local nursing school’s students and explore their learning lab, gaining insights into their training and inspiring personal goals.