Kisiizi Hospital

Kisiizi Hospital was founded in 1958, at the instigation of the Church of Uganda, on the site of an old flax factory. The location was chosen because it was beside a waterfall that could provide electricity for the hospital. The first Medical Superintendent was Dr John Sharp, an Englishman who had grown up in the area and so knew its peoples and customs well. The hospital has continued to operate ever since, through the civil wars, atrocities and other strife that has afflicted Uganda from time to time.

In 1998 Judith Tuckey, a midwife and friend of Helen Smith, went to work at Kisiizi Hospital on a two year secondment. After a series of letters asking for advice about various medical matters, Helen thought of going to visit Judith at Kisiizi to help out for a few weeks. In January 1999, she found herself on a bus travelling across southern Uganda to Kisiizi, a remote and beautiful valley in the south-west corner of the country.

This first visit to Kisiizi proved to be a life changing event for Helen. She returned to Reading fuelled with a desire to support Kisiizi and other similar hospitals. The then Medical Superintendent, Dr Lionel Mills, explained the overwhelming need for support with running costs and out of that conversation came the philosophy behind Sponsor a Nurse, now Kisiizi Partners. The charity was registered with the UK Charity Commission in 2000, and has provided financial support to Kisiizi Hospital ever since.

The relatively weak value of sterling in recent years, coupled with the often high rate of inflation in Uganda, has conspired to make this a difficult task and, even with the support that we can send, the hospital struggles to make ends meet and employ sufficient numbers of skilled staff to deliver care to the large number of patients who come for help.

What we do

Kisiizi Partners supports Kisiizi Hospital and, occasionally, otherChristian hospitals in low and middle income countries by:

• Providing general financial support for staff wages
• Supplementing wages of key staff – helps retain key and experienced staff members
• Funding a package of essential provisions for staff
• Funding postgraduate training of nurses, midwives and other staff
• Funding disadvantaged student nurses in training
• Supporting the purchase of essential hospital equipment and medicines
• Equipping wards
• Funding the building of hospital facilities and staff accommodation.