Reducing Infant Mortality in Uganda

Project Overview

Atangi Health Centre is situated in Kangura village, 300 km East of Kampala, the Capital of Uganda, about 20 km From Tororo the nearest large town and 10 km from the Kenyan border.

The nearest health facility was 16 km away, and other than a few motorcycle taxis, there is no local transport, leaving pregnant women having to walk down tracks to get treatment. This has meant that perinatal complications and mortality is high. The local community, comprising 8 villages, decided to attempt to provide a local facility to address the problem.

In 1997 land was donated by the Church of Uganda, following which a Community Self Help Project delivered 3 basic buildings over the following years. These were built by the unskilled locals, using donated materials. 

 Basic Facilities Urgently needed Upgrading

The rooms were equipped with very basic equipment and an electrical supply recently added. However there was no running water and only primitive pit latrines.

This basic facility serves a population of over 15,000 people. The facility needs to provide adequate care for and average of 650 mothers per year and 30 births per month. 

The need for this project to upgrade the exixting facilities was identified by the Rotary Club at Port Bell, outside Kampala, who will oversee the project as  International Partners.

 Project Objectives

1.Provision of basic medical diagnostic, monitoring and treatment equipment.

2.Install water harvesting and storage systems with a backup to a local reservoir.

3.Install appropriate facilities for the disposal of human waste and for hygienic practices.

4.Reduce the current malaria infection rate of 50%

5.Provide advocacy and prophylaxis against child pregnancies

Most of our Rotary Club support is aimed at local community needs. 

However, one of the strengths of Rotary is the ability of this International Organisation to collaborate on a national and international level, to meet the needs of projects in countries where little support is available.

Rotary has "Seven Areas of Focus" in deciciding Projects to Support, of which Maternal and Child Heath Care is one.

The Atangi project is one such example where the Rotary Club of St. Ives has collaborated with multiple other national and international Clubs to support the project outlined above. This collaborative scheme is further enhanced by Rotary International which matches the combined funds raised by individual Clubs, so doubling the available resources. 

Applications are carefully vetted, and assistance is provided to applicants to ensure that the project is organised in an optimal fashion. The project is then carefully supervised and supported, where necessary.

We will provide periodic updates on this project.