Who Are We?
Mwenya Uganda is a not-for-profit Non Governmental Organisation in Uganda, set up in 2010 in response to the extremely sparse and poor levels of dental and medical care in rural areas of Uganda. The organisation is made up of unpaid volunteers, a Ugandan team of doctors and dentists and a UK-based team of dedicated students. We work in areas that have very poor access to healthcare, striving to be culturally sensitive at all times.
Why Are We Different
Mwenya Uganda always works ethically, with the needs of Ugandan people coming first, every time. We are a Ugandan non-profit organisation, therefore we are not looking to instate Western values and methods in an African nation; our team in Uganda is made up of 100% Ugandan volunteers. The team in the UK work to facilitate the work of the team in Uganda through fundraising, publicity and equipment sourcing. Mwenya Uganda believes that this is the most efficient way to bring about positive, culturally sensitive change.
The organisation works to show the reality of the situation in Uganda, as a country full of culture, smiles and hospitality, yet also publicising the need for sustainable, efficient help. We believe health is not just about being physically well. We believe that health is also about mental, emotional and social comfort. For this reason our volunteering teams in Uganda include individuals from all professions, backgrounds and walks of life. All our volunteers have one aspect in common; they want to bring a smile (mwenya) to the faces of vulnerable Ugandans.
Mwenya Uganda is never happy to spend your donations on administration. We use the power of the internet, networking and a big ‘mwenya’ (smile) to source as many services and items for free. For example, we use travel forums to source people flying between the UK and Uganda to take equipment for us, rather than paying huge cargo transport costs. This philosophy is also carried out in Uganda. Our office in Mpigi, for example has been donated by a lovely lady who believes so passionately in Mwenya Uganda, she has offered us half of her dental clinic for free, as an office.
As a not-for-profit NGO run completely by volunteers, there are no salaries to pay. We rely purely on volunteers’ hard work; 100% of donations go straight to our projects in Uganda.
About Uganda
Uganda is a beautiful, landlocked country in eastern Africa with a population of over 33,000,000. It is bordered by Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Kenya, Sudan and Tanzania. There are many lakes and a number of National Parks home to a variety of plant and animal species. Independence from Britain was achieved in 1962. Since the 1990s relative stability and economic growth has been brought to Uganda through non-party and presidential elections.
Here are just a few of the shocking statistics that Mwenya Uganda is working to change:
- Life expectancy at birth for men is 49; for women it is 51
- 13.4% of children will die under the age of 5, 6% of whom will not see their 1st birthday.
- There are only 100 dental surgeons in Uganda – 80 of who work in Kampala. That’s 100 surgeons for nearly 34,000,000 people.
- A woman will have on average 6.7 children in her lifetime.
- The adult HIV prevalence rate is 5.4%, the fourteenth highest in the world.
- Literacy is 66.8% and the average child will leave school aged 10.
- 35% of Ugandans survive on less than one $1 a day (2200 Uganda shillings). Most private dental clinics in rural areas charge between 8,000-10,000 Uganda shillings to extract a tooth. This amount is what many people in rural areas in Uganda use for their survival for at least a week, others a month.
See the World Health Organisation’s full report here
There is a huge lack of research on dental services in Uganda. Mwenya Uganda will record all findings and publish them on the website in order to highlight the need for dental care and education.
Team Uganda
The team in Uganda is made up of over 100 part-time volunteering members. Out of these 100 members on our books, we have around 10 regularly active executive members who run the organisation on a day-to-day basis. Together, the team are donating their time and skills - alongside their jobs - to improve the health and wellbeing of many Ugandans by running the Mwenya Uganda projects. The Ugandan team are at the heart of Mwenya Uganda, their extremely hard work, dedication and innovative ideas are what drive Mwenya Uganda forward.
Sempa Jamiru Yahaya (aka. Jhon) Dentist Jhon is the beating heart of Mwenya Uganda. Jhon works as a full time dentist in a private clinic. Alongside his fulltime job, he established NGO Mwenya Uganda which started life as just an idea. He’s motivated hundreds of people to believe that they really can help others in their own country. Jhon grew up in traditional bush house that he built himself, with no electricity. Fortunately, he was sponsored through school, he then worked night shifts at a petrol station to fund his dentistry studies during the day. He is now a fully qualified senior dentist and hopes one day to go back to university and become a lecturer. Jhon’s energy for Mwenya is limitless. He is well known for refusing to sleep until all Mwenya Uganda work has been completed for the day! Through Mwenya Uganda, he aims to use his skills to help people who are particularly vulnerable to poverty, for example, orphans, the elderly and disabled people. Jhon loves working with other professionals from around the world who have a common goal of improving health, education and social issues in Uganda. Jhon’s sheer determination and unending enthusiasm is what drives Mwenya Uganda. He says, Mwenya Uganda “is making a great difference since it is made up of professionals in all sectors”. |
Jamal Rashid Management Representative for Quality Management System (ISO 9001) at Kakira Sweets and Confectionary. Jamal has been on many personal journeys through Uganda and East Africa to discover how people around him live. Since the age of 16 he has been curious to understand the circumstances of many Africans. During his travels, he has voluntarily lived in a refugee camp and visited many hospitals. These experiences showed Jamal that many people in East Africa live in terrible circumstances. He believes that everyone can significantly help others if they pull together from different professions and backgrounds. Mwenya Uganda’s all round scope is why he is such a dedicated volunteer. He says “Mwenya’s point of difference lies in the hopes of its Volunteers who deliver whole-heartedly and diligently towards a brighter future for people in Uganda.” Jamal’s previous volunteering experience, rational thinking, enthusiasm and big smile are hugely beneficial to Mwenya Uganda team. He is volunteering as the General Secretary. |
Dr. Seremba Elvis Doctor Dr. Elvis has worked in community outreach programs as well as clinical settings during his professional life as a Doctor. He led the formation of Double Cure HIV/AIDS voluntary group, where he carried out home visits to people affected by HIV/AIDS. Having studied clinical medicine and community health, Dr. Elvis realises that the people of Uganda need support beyond HIV/AIDS. He thinks that Mwenya Uganda is the only way to reach out to the many communities who are much underserved with medical care at the moment. He is particularly interested in finding ways for Mwenya Uganda to become more sustainable, socially, economically and environmentally. Dr. Elvis will be dedicating his clinical skills to serve Mwenya Uganda as the programme’s director. |
Mubiru Rashid Counselor Originally trained as a teacher, Rashid joined Mwenya Uganda to help within the education projects. Now, Rashid volunteers on the ground in Mpigi with Jhon on a daily basis to make sure that Mwenya Uganda’s projects are efficiently and effectively implemented. Rashid is always willing to speak out for those who do not have a voice. He is helping Mwenya Uganda in so many ways, from representing Mwenya Uganda on the radio, to cutting down trees to make a dark house to grow mushrooms! Rashid has very high hopes for Mwenya Uganda and believes that the organization can continue growing to make huge differences to the lives of people on the ground in Uganda. Rashid recently retrained as a counselor and so is now also able to offer free counseling services as part of our mobile clinic program. |
Christine Nabaggala Office Secretary and Director of OVC project Tina has recently graduated in Development Studies from Msamizi Training Institute of Social Development. She is now volunteering full time in the Mwenya Uganda office in Mpigi. She’s dedicating her time as the office’s secretary so that she can help people who are in need of Mwenya Uganda’s services. Tina has also completed counseling and guiding training which qualifies her to counsel orphans, people with HIV and those with family issues. Tina was motivated to start volunteering for Mwenya Uganda as she has seen many people living in difficult situations. She is particularly motivated by helping orphans and vulnerable children, so is therefore also acting as the director of our Orphan and Vulnerable Children project (OVC). |
Grace Aninge Director of Dental Project Grace Aninge is currently the Principal tutor at the School of Public Dental Health in Mulago Hospital. Mulago Hospital is the main public hospital in Uganda, based in Kampala and the only Dental School in Uganda. She is a Public Health Dental Officer, a Health Tutor, a Social Worker and a Vocational teacher by training. Grace has much experience working with HIV/ AIDS patients as a counsellor in one of the suburbs of Kampala. She has also led a group of dental students for dental outreaches in various rural communities of Uganda as an outreach co-ordinator at Dental school for ten years. Grace was one of Jhon’s teachers at university and they became good friends. Using her skills, together with all the Mwenya Uganda team, Grace hopes to create positive change for vulnerable Ugandans. |
Fred Kakooza Director of Community Health Project Fred was so pleased to join Mwenya Uganda because he had previously been a herbal medicine advisor in another project in Masindi. Tragically the Director of this project died at the age of 24. Fred has always wanted to continue her legacy. He says that Mwenya Uganda is so special thanks to “a committed founder (Jhon) who helps people with all his heart, no discrimination, 100% transparency and high quality services. He loves seeing people happier and healthier thanks to the combined efforts of the Mwenya Uganda team. Fred owns a shop in Mpigi town and he is also the manager of Lwaboojjo Fortune Hostel. |
Kabanda Mstapher Director of Youth Development Project Kabanda works in his family’s hairdressing salon which is located next to Mwenya Uganda’s office in Mpigi. He was inspired to join after he saw the Mwenya volunteers in high spirits after an elderly Outreach day. Kabanda’s involvement with Mwenya has taught him many things. It has highlighted to him the terrible situations that some people live in and how he and his fellow members and friends can help. He enjoys developing his leadership and organisational skills through his work with Mwenya Uganda, something that he would not have had a chance to do, if it were not for his involvement with Mwenya Uganda. He says he feels privileged to be a member of Team Uganda. He says Mwenya is different thanks to its transparency of everything done in the organisation, especially the use of funds. |
Dr. Sulaiman Kintu Dr. Kintu is a dental surgeon working at the Kiboga district hospital in Central Uganda. Dr. Kintu is interested in using his knowledge to help the needy and the vulnerable persons in his society. So, as Mwenya Uganda dental consultant, with all the other Mwenya volunteer teams he hopes to bring a smile to the needy and vulnerable. Dr. Kintu volunteers at Mwenya Uganda’s mobile clinics, in the dental team. |
Dr AJUNI PATRICK Medical Consultant Dr. Patrick currently works at Jinja Hospital, in the children’s unit. He is mainly involved with the care and treatment of children infected with HIV/AIDS. This has given Dr. Patrick the opportunity to meet many disadvantaged and vulnerable children. Since most of them are orphans, it is their grandparents, uncles or aunts who look after them, most of whom are very poor. Those who are looked after by their parents, the parents are HIV positive with poor health. This has motivated Dr. Patrick to take part in voluntary activities which aim at helping the disadvantaged and the poor. Working as one of Mwenya Uganda’s medical consultants, Dr. Patrick enjoys reaching out to vulnerable people and making them smile. |
Team UK
The UK team are all unpaid volunteers based in England. They are working to help facilitate the extremely hard working team in Uganda. This usually comes in the form of fundraising, publicising, sourcing and transporting appropriate equipment and dealing with all external enquiries. All the team are students or recent graduates who have extensive volunteering experience in sub-Saharan Africa. They are running Mwenya Uganda alongside their degrees or jobs, inspired by the ever dedicated and passionate Team in Uganda.
 Ruth Lambeth: Programmes' Co-ordinatorDentistry Student at Bristol University The director of the UK side of Mwenya Uganda, Ruth first volunteered in Uganda in 2008 and fell in love with the country. Ruth met Jhon and the Ugandan team at Double Cure Clinic on her return to Uganda in the summer of 2010 and this was when the idea of Mwenya Uganda was first discussed. Since her return, she has recruited passionate and dedicated volunteers to help drive Mwenya Uganda forward. By combining her academic and organisational skills, and her passion for Uganda, Ruth is working to make a long term improvement to dental and medical services and education in Uganda as the UK volunteering team's Programmes' Co-ordinator. |
 Elizabeth Bailie: Fundraising and Publicity Director
French and Geography Student at The University of Exeter Elizabeth has volunteered in an orphanage in Kenya and in Madagascar on sustainable development grassroots projects, such as latrine construction, building fuel efficient stoves, tree planting and community mapping with the Malagasy NGO, Azafady. Since her first trip to Madagascar, Elizabeth has been passionate about promoting and taking part in ethical and sustainable projects in Africa. Elizabeth has been appointed the role of Fundraising and Publicity Director. Having worked as a door-to-door charity fund raiser; she is excited to put her experience and passion for African culture into practice to make a real, sustainable difference to people in Uganda. |
 Laura Cuddon-Large: Treasurer
Recently Graduated Medical Science Student at University of Leeds Since volunteering in rural areas of Madagascar and Kenya, Laura has been compelled to help make a positive difference to the healthcare in rural areas of Africa. She feels that helping Ugandan people to help themselves, by improving health and education, is a huge step to reducing the numbers of people in absolute poverty. Having previously worked as a Health Care Assistant at Jersey General Hospital and as a Project Assistant in a bank, Laura is keen to combine her skills in both areas to help Mwenya Uganda as the UK volunteering team's Treasurer. |
 Katie Bishton: Secretary
Dentistry Student at Bristol University Katie had always felt drawn to African culture, having previously visited parts of northern Africa and also having links with a family in Kenya. Her heart was particularly softened by the enthusiasm and compassion of the people in Uganda who are desperate to make a difference to the quality of the lives of others around them. Katie’s motives for becoming a dentist have always been in terms of using her skills to help others, both physically and psychologically. After travelling to Uganda to complete her university elective in 2012 with Mwenya Uganda, Katie is excited about what the future holds for the organization and hopes she can use her role as secretary to help make its future as sustainable as possible. |
Our Aims and Objectives
Mission
Our mission is to improve health in Uganda by providing free, good quality and long term dental and medical treatment, combined with providing basic levels of education to the poorest and neediest areas of Uganda.
Primary Aim
Our primary aim is to improve health in the most vulnerable areas of Uganda. By providing a free, mobile healthcare service, we will establish community based clinics to provide medical and dental examination and treatment to the most needy. General health education workshops will be run alongside the clinics.
Primary Objectives
- To offer a mobile outreach service offering free dental and medical treatment to the needy, disabled, very poor and the elderly.
- To provide dental and medical health education to the communities of Uganda, highlighting the causes of poor health and encouraging people to change their behaviour to reduce the high rates of preventable diseases and illnesses.
- The UK volunteer team will work to provide the team in Uganda with suitable equipment to carry out their clinics to the best of their ability.
- The UK volunteer team will raise funds for the costs involved in running the clinics.
- The UK volunteer team will aim to visit Uganda on a regular basis to provide help and support to the Ugandan team by working at clinics themselves, so that they can improve the service for the patients and also the volunteering experience for others.
- Giving community dental and health education to Ugandan people by use of different mediums such as films, music, TV, radio and drama.
- Providing Primary and Secondary school based education on oral and general hygiene.
- To maintain records of common dental and health conditions in each geographical region, so that preventative action and education can be improved.
- To set up a volunteer scheme in Uganda where students and professionals from around the world can be united with the common goal of improving health in Uganda.
Secondary Objectives
- Establish permanent medical and dental facilities in areas of greatest need.
- Establish a training institute or school for dental nurses and hygienists so that dental services in Uganda can be improved.
- To improve the lifestyles of those living with HIV/AIDS by campaigning drug companies for affordable treatment and educating children about the risks and raising awareness of the HIV/AIDS.
- To promote and improve on games (especially Rugby) and sports in Uganda especially for orphans and children.
- To establish permanent centres to improve the lifestyles of those most in need for example: orphanages, rehabilitation homes for street children, elderly catering centres.
- Carry out and participate in community based health care programmes in Uganda.
- Participate in programs that fight and prevent epidemic diseases such as malaria, T.B, AIDS and others in Uganda.
- We hope to inspire professionals from other countries to establish similar organisations across Africa under the Mwenya Uganda umbrella.
Vision
We hope to see significant improvements in the health, education and care of people in the most vulnerable areas of Uganda by carrying out our primary and secondary objectives.
