The new strain of Ebola aggravates the situation in Uganda. Given the lack of resources and the need to reinforce hygiene measures, the country has made drastic decisions for prevention. Borders have been closed and the use of masks has been recommended in the capital.
Amador Gómez, an expert in public health and epidemic outbreaks in Africa, denounces that cuts in humanitarian aid due to conflicts directly affect the population and that “30% of health centers do not have water.” He also highlights that “the hygienic conditions are excessively bad, therefore, the possibilities of putting hygiene measures and prevention measures into practice are very difficult.” As well as providing material or human aid, Florent Uzzeni – emergency coordinator for Doctors Without Borders – assures that “there are several large camps for displaced people where access to water and medical care is extremely limited.”
With more than 56% of the population underage, 25% of them out of school, and 34% of girls forced to marry before the age of 18, childhood is the most harmed according to the NGO Action Against Hunger. But there are projects like Babies Uganda that help the most vulnerable Ugandan children have a second life. Its president, Monserrat Martínez, tells us that it is as if she were a child at 32. The children go to school, they have their routines, they play, they also help at home and they are super happy. For her they are “a family, a little big, but a family.”
A peculiar family that was registered in 2012 when Monserrat Martínez traveled to the country and met a woman named Remy. “A Ugandan woman who was in a home with more than 30 babies and had to close it due to lack of funds. I told her to wait and not close and when I returned to Spain, that month, I sent 750 euros,” explains Monserrat.
Since then, the NGO has not stopped growing and creating different projects such as the Kikaya House shelter, where Monserrat ensures that children live in a safe environment and surrounded by a lot of love, a center for children with visual disabilities, several schools, an art center, a dental clinic or a primary care clinic.
