Acholiland

 

Jim and I are living in Acholiland.  This is Northern Uganda: Gulu town to be exact.  St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor (say, “la-chore”) is on the road to Southern Sudan.  Below is a summary of both Gulu and Lacor hospital I was given by the course instructors prior to coming here (I can’t take credit for the site description and am too tired to write it out in my own words…)

I'm working on a few more blog entries including uploading some photos and hopefully videos.  Perhaps I'll have those up in the next few days.  Apwoyo!

Gulu, Uganda

Gulu town is located approximately 200 miles north of Kampala, the capital city of the East African country of Uganda. It is the provincial capital and an economic and social hub for the entire sub-region of Acholiland, which is comprised of the northern districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Pader and Amuru.  For over twenty-two years, Acholiland has experienced the scourge of war carried out between the Ugandan military and an insurgency that came to be known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).  The population of Gulu town was approximately 40,000 people until 1996, at which point the war escalated and a policy of forced displacement was enacted, causing thousands more to migrate into town.  In 2002, estimates were that the population in Gulu town was over 120,000.  For nearly twenty years, Gulu town has largely been immune to the physical violence of the war yet it feels its impact through migration and the saturation of international humanitarian agencies.  Today as relative peace pervades the area, Gulu town is home to countless international NGOs operating in the region, the strong presence of religious infrastructure such as the Catholic Archdiocese, the military base of the Ugandan government’s counterinsurgency efforts, and the intellectual and cultural life of Gulu University. 

Lacor Hospital

St. Mary’s Lacor Hospital is a 480-bed non-profit Catholic hospital located just outside of the town of Gulu, Uganda.  Originally started as a small dispensary in 1959, the hospital has grown into a large referral hospital for all of Northern Uganda and a teaching hospital for Ugandan residents and medical students from Gulu University School of Medicine.  The hospital operates medical, OB/Gyn, surgical, pediatric, and malnutrition wards.  In addition to providing tertiary care services, the hospital operates numerous outpatient clinics that aim to provide preventative care for a wide range of conditions.  The hospital averages 600 inpatients at any one time and approximately 500 outpatients are seen each day.  The hospital staff number approximately 1,000.  In addition, the hospital operates three community-health centers in outlying, rural sites.  With the return of relative peace to the region in 2006, increased efforts have gone into expanding community-based healthcare.  Funding for the hospital comes from the Ugandan government, private external donors, and foreign government support.  The hospital aims to provide quality, accessible healthcare to all, with a special focus upon disadvantaged populations.