Al Jazeera story on CURE Uganda
Al Jazeera’s Malcolm Webb filed the following video report on hydrocephalus treatment at CURE Uganda.
http://www.aljazeera.com/video/africa/2013/04/20134202059507460.html
Posts Tagged CURE Hydrocephalus
A week together in Uganda
Editor’s note: The first CURE Hydrocephalus Care Coordinators training was held in September of this year in Mbale, Uganda. Phil Hudson, one of the participants, wrote about the experience in a previous CURE Blog entry. Below, Jim Cohick shares the experience from his perspective.
Seven Care Coordinators joined together with four members of CURE International US office for a week of training during the last week of September. We converged upon CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda in Mbale, the epicenter for the CURE Hydrocephalus Surgeon Fellowship Training program. Each of the surgeons with whom the Care Coordinators work were fellows who had previously received their training in the endoscopic techniques in Mbale. One of the major aspects of our time together was to introduce the Care Coordinators to the database system for tracking and reporting patient care data. John Kleinschmidt, our CURE colleague who created the system, came to train everyone on its functions. Read the rest of this entry »
We were an interesting group
The following note was from the first CURE Hydrocephalus Care coordinator training held in September 2012.
We were an interesting group. Eleven people from seven countries on three continents, born into seven ethno/linguistic groups, coming together in a country none of us was from for a single purpose: To learn about and share in the ministry to families of children with hydrocephalus in our respective countries.
We met for the first time in Kampala as we waited for the last member of our cohort to arrive. It was Sunday morning and various degrees of jet lag and travel weariness were put aside as we gathered together for a short time of prayer and sharing. Just beginning to learn one another’s names but united in focus, we packed our luggage into the bus and began the five-hour drive to the CURE Hospital in Mbale. Only three of our troop had been to Mbale before, so the sights and sounds were fresh and different. Read the rest of this entry »
World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day
Today is World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day, a day set aside to draw attention to the plight of children with these conditions and their need for medical care. Untreated, hydrocephalus is a fatal condition where excess fluid accumulates around the brain. In many cases, children with hydrocephalus face rejection from their family and their community. Hydrocephalus is a treatable condition, however, and the CURE Hydrocephalus program seeks to expand access to treatment through the training of neurosurgeons and the establishment of treatment centers in the developing world. CURE Children’s Hospital in Uganda is the site of much of this training and performs hundreds of ETV surgeries to treat hydrocephalus each year.
CURE is grateful for the opportunity to bring healing to kids with hydrocephalus and honored to participate in World Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus Day. In fact, in Uganda, children who have been treated for hydrocephalus at the CURE hospital in Mbale will be participating in an exhibition marking the day. Read more about this event in the press release from CURE Uganda.
You can make a world a difference to a child with hydrocephalus. Your gift in any amount will bring a child’s treatment closer to funding. In fact, if just 35 people donate $50, a child’s hydrocephalus treatment will be fully funded. In honor of this day, will you make a donation to help save a child’s life?
Dr. Ben Warf named MacArthur Foundation Fellow
CURE International is proud of the accomplishments of Dr. Ben Warf, the former founding Medical Director of CURE Uganda who serves today as the Medical Director of our CURE Hydrocephalus program. This week, the work of Dr. Warf was recognized by the MacArthur Foundation, who named him a MacArthur Fellow and awarded him a Genius Grant. This recognition is well deserved and will bring needed attention to the important work Dr. Warf continues to do to research the causes and improve the treatment of hydrocephalus. Congratulations, Dr. Warf!
Bracelets for a CURE
Eliot Jace Jackson was born June 10th, 2011. Unbeknownst to his parents, he had hydrocephalus, a life-long brain condition that effects an estimated one to two out of every 1,000 people worldwide. Soon after Eliot was born, his parents heard about the work CURE International is doing in Uganda to treat children with hydrocephalus. Their hearts broke at the realization that parents just like them in the developing world lose their children to hydrocephalus at alarming rates.
In December of 2011, the Jackson family started a donation page for CURE Hydrocephalus with the goal of funding five brain surgeries by Eliot’s first birthday. In May 2012, The Asher Foundation, also a supporter of CURE Hydrocephalus, came alongside the Jacksons and launched a line of bracelets to help raise money for Eliot’s fundraiser.
This new line by Asher Bracelets is called Eliot’s First Birthday. It is made up of three different bracelets, Eliot, Nashville and The Jackson 6. The sale of these bracelets benefit CURE Uganda by going into Eliot’s fundraiser to pay for the five surgeries. The bracelets can be purchased at the Asher Foundation website: http://theasherfoundation.
The value of additional information
My wife’s sister spent a semester abroad when she was a junior in college. Ann minored in French and she lived and studied in Besançon, a town south of Paris. During the months Ann was there, first her parents and then my wife and I visited her. During our visit, Ann took us to a restaurant that she had been to during the visit with her parents. Because I could not read French, Ann helped me navigate the menu. She pointed out an appetizer that her dad had gotten which I decided to try.
When the first round of food was delivered to our table, my selection for an appetizer looked like a 5″x5″ cube of Vaseline with an egg, pieces of ham, celery, and other items suspended within the translucent cube. I decided to try it, and it tasted an awful lot like… a cube of Vaseline with an egg, pieces of ham, celery, and other items. Trying not to show visible signs of disdain, I said, “Boy, Ann, this really does not taste that good.” She then replied, “Yeah, my dad didn’t like it either.”
That is when I learned the value of additional information obtained from a good follow-up question: after finding out what my father-in-law had ordered, I should have asked if he had liked it. Read the rest of this entry »
CURE in the News: Week of May 6, 2012
CURE Niger
“Niger replaces Afghanistan as worst place to be a mother” from Mission Network News
CURE Hydrocephalus
“ETV program at Muhimbili Orthopedic Institute is going well” from IFSBH
CURE Afghanistan
“Cure International’s hospital in Kabul” (photo) from The Baltimore Sun.
“Afghanistan no longer worst place for mothers – report” from AlertNet
“Afghan girls” (photo) from Reuters
Hydrocephalus at CURE Uganda on Kenyan Television
Recently on Kenyan television, this report was filed regarding the story of 3-year-old Milan Ochieng, a boy from Kenya whose father works for a telecommunications company in that country. Today, Milan is healthy and happy, but as an infant, his life was threatened by hydrocephalus.
His family crossed the border into Uganda to pursue the specialized treatment that CURE Uganda and the CURE Hydrocephalus program provide. For those who have never seen African television or who are interested in this issue, it’s a real treat to have this available on YouTube.
Picture of the Week: Hydrocephalus training in Uganda
Dr. Patrick, from Malawi, and Dr. Diallo, from Mali, with Jim Cohick, are in Uganda for training on hydrocephalus treatment.
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