Engeye

The Engeye Health Clinic is a 501(c)(3) tax deductible, non-profit organization.

The Engeye Health Clinic [http://www.engeye.com] in Uganda is run by a small group of Americans and Ugandans, working to improve the living conditions and reduce the unnecessary suffering in rural Africa through education and health care. The entire clinic and two volunteer houses were constructed during the summer of 2006 at an estimated cost of $50,000. All of the funds came from the volunteer group’s personal monies and whatever donations it could collect. The Engeye Health Clinic’s founder, Stephanie Van Dyke, personally contributed the money that was left for her by her late grandfather to build the clinic.

Mission Statement

The official Mission Statement of the Engeye Health Clinic is: “To improve living conditions and reduce unnecessary suffering in rural Africa through education and compassionate health care. Implicit to every project that we undertake is the understanding that it will ultimately be sustainable with little or no outside assistance, and that it will be accomplished free of the imposition of any foreign social, political, or spiritual values."

History

The Engeye Health Clinic was established in 2006 by Stephanie Van Dyke, an Albany Medical College student, and a Ugandan citizen, John Kalule, in order to bring sustainable healthcare to Ddegeya Village, Uganda. A medical mission of volunteers took place in spring 2007 to open the newly completed Engeye Clinic. The volunteer group was composed of second year Albany Medical College students, Kim Robinson, Misty Richards, Evan Rodriguez, Stephanie Van Dyke, Brooke Richards, Lalithapriya Jayakumar, Julie Huynh and Jackie Schwartz, fourth year student Zoe Selhi and Sarah Levasseur, RN, Cynthia Hartman, Seth Edwards, a pre-medical student from St. Rose College, and two physicians, Dr. Bob Paeglow and Dr. Joe Murley. Dr. Paeglow, of Albany Medical College, was profiled in People Magazine in 2006 for his charity work and community involvement. Together with local nurses and translators, they provided medical care to over 750 community members who had never been seen by a health care worker. A nurse was hired to remain on board full-time after their spring break departure, and John Kalule, who leads the entire project in Uganda, is busy continuing upgrades to the site.

The spring 2007 visit marked the beginning of a sustainable healthcare system for the villagers. The next medical mission to the Engeye Health Clinic is scheduled for November 2007. While the primary medical students responsible for the rural health clinic -- Stephanie Van Dyke, Misty Richards and Brooke Richards -- are thrilled with their accomplishments, they realize that there’s much more to be done. Prior to their next trip back, they hope to bring electricity to the clinic and build and stock an on-site laboratory.

Despite the success of Engeye Health Clinic's maiden voyage, they were forced to accommodate an obvious deficiency -- the lack of a diagnostic lab to accurately identify the disease. With no advancements of medicine on hand, such as microscopes or rapid tests, during their spring 2007 Uganda mission, they were forced to make educated guesses based on a patient's visible symptoms and medical history. Malaria, STDs, AIDS and Tuberculosis appeared to be widespread. However, without any previous data, statistics for the region or diagnostic testing, they could not be certain what diseases are plaguing the village and causing so many deaths.

The addition of laboratory tests will facilitate better medical care and treatment. In addition to servicing the needs of Engeye Clinic, the lab will serve as a fund-raising tool because it will enable Engeye Clinic to run tests for other clinics, a luxury currently nonexistent in the region. The group is conscientious with regards to sustainability and is ensuring all their advancements will create a self-sustaining system. Currently, the small amount charged for each patient’s visit is enough to fund the purchase of new medications. The team has started both construction of the laboratory and wiring of the Engeye Clinic for electricity, and is confident that they will be completed prior to their next mission in November 2007. In 2008, they plan to add a trauma wing and dental and eye care units.

The villagers are thrilled and support the project whole-heartedly. They feel proud to have their village hosting the clinic and have shown their thanks in many ways, including festive singing and dancing. Many have commented that they’ve been asking for the angels to help them, and finally they have heard their calling. The U.S. medical students and Ugandan staff have a unique bond -- two worlds uniting, listening to each other and respecting each other’s differences, all in attempt to raise the standard of living in a region where it is currently unacceptable. They are a small group of Americans and Ugandans, working to improve the living conditions and reduce the unnecessary suffering in rural Africa through education and healthcare.

The entire clinic and two volunteer houses were constructed during the summer of 2006 at an estimated cost of $50,000 by The Engeye Health Clinic’s founder, Stephanie Van Dyke, her parents, Gary Arnold, who led the construction efforts and is the father of a fellow classmate, several other volunteers and at least 50 villagers. An inheritance from her grandmother was Stephanie’s gift to the project and her parents helped supply the remainder needed. Upon returning to the States after building the clinic, Misty Richards and Brooke Richards, two fellow medical students, joined in the efforts and the three comprise the board of directors for the non-profit organization.

Stephanie met and befriended John Kalule, the primary Ugandan partner leading the project, while volunteering in Uganda in 2000. The word Engeye means "white monkey" in Luganda, an official language of the country, and is John's family clan name. The team realizes their responsibility. They understand the fact, and do not take it lightly, that whatever they do, or don't do, will directly influence the villager's well-being. Everybody realizes that without good health, the villagers will never begin to overcome the poverty of their country.

On August 13th, 2007, the Engeye Health Clinic was awarded the prestigious Points of Light Award [http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/dpol/winner.cfm?AwardNum=3528] and on August 26th, 2007, and in conjunction with the Portland, Oregon website design firm Green Tangerine Media [http://www.greentangerinemedia.com] , the official Engeye Health Clinic website was launched in an effort to increase awareness of Team Engeye's mission and upcoming return to Ddegeya Village in November.

Current Priorities

Nabukenya Susan's Story

Team Engeye, Choose A Need, Dr. Bob Paeglow, and Dr. Hoehn have combined their efforts in hopes to make a better life for Susan Nabukenya.

Small children learn early on to keep their distance from the intensely hot open hardwood fires that many rural Ugandans use for their daily cooking.

At the tender age of 11, sweet, shy Susan Nabukenya had a close encounter with her mother’s cooking fire that changed her life in one horrific instant. Earlier that day Susan had splashed kerosene onto her dress while helping fill the lanterns that Ddegeya Village homes utilize for light. Her mother was far too busy to stop and wash her dress. There were g-nuts and plantains to harvest, water to retrieve from the village well, a baby to nurse, and goats and chickens to feed. So Susan went about her duties helping her father at his place of business and the kerosene stain was quickly forgotten.

Later that day, as her mother cooked beans and rice for the evening meal, Susan came too close to the fire and her dress ignited instantly, covering her body with burns from her chest to her toes. After some time a skin graft was performed to save her leg, and the remainder of the burns were left to heal on their own with no medical oversight.

The graft never healed correctly and Susan, now 14, has had to endure an open wound on her leg for four years. She can’t run and play like her friends, has missed much of her schooling, and is in constant pain. She had to quit school because her ability to walk was so severely impaired.

Susan's mother died shortly after the accident, and now she lives with her grandfather who is paralyzed and is of little help physically or financially. Team Engeye would like to bring Susan to America to put an end to her suffering and allow her to resume a normal life.

Susan has been accepted to Shriner's in Boston and will be arriving to start her journey of healing on May 12th, 2008.

And Choose A Need has partnered with Engeye on this exciting event and is donating the entire amount needed for Susan and John's airfare. To visit Choose A Need, please visit: http://www.chooseaneed.org

Now our primary fundraising task to ensure the success of Susan's visit is to raise enough for her hospital stay. If you can, please donate.

Electricity

The Engeye Health Clinic is currently functioning without electricity. Candles, lanterns, and flashlights provide the only illumination after sunset or on dark days.

The acquisition of electricity would be invaluable. In addition to making day-to-day functioning of the clinic less problematic, it would allow us to perform surgeries.

There are now estimated to be fewer than 10 surgeons available to the inhabitants of a country of over 25 million people, and those are prohibitively expensive.

The nearest power pole is less than 30 meters away, and the cost of electrifying the clinic building would be less than $10,000 USD.

The members of Engeye appreciate any help that you might be able to provide with this project.

References

# [http://www.pointsoflight.org/awards/dpol/winner.cfm?AwardNum=3528 Point of Light Foundation, August 13th 2007]
# [http://www.engeye.com Engeye Health Clinic Official Website]
# [http://www.greentangerinemedia.com Green Tangerine Media]