Foundation sponsors another promising medical student

The Chalker Foundation for Africa has agreed to sponsor another talented medical student called Vicent Bakyenga, of Uganda. Vicent was a medical student at Kigezi Int. School of Medicine based in Cambridge, UK. He was chosen as one of only two scholarship students from Uganda. His intention is to become a neurosurgeon in a country that has under ten such people in the whole country. Mid-way through his studies the University closed its programme and Vicent thought that he would be unable to finish his studies. Finally, he was accepted into the Medical University of Lodz in Poland. He was told that he was to receive a loan to sustain him during this time, however, due to administrative errors the loan company declined to grant his loan for the last academic year. Vicent says that he felt hopeless at this point. He contacted the Foundation to ask for help in completing his course.

Vicent recalls that when he was young he saw a man come into a health clinic he was volunteering in with head injuries who was allowed to bleed to death and was told that there was no point in taking him to a hospital because there were no neurosurgeons to treat him. There are still thousands of tragedies such as this every day. However, Vicent says that his dream is to return to his family in Uganda and practise medicine when he is qualified. He says that in addition to practising himself, he would like to act as a trainer to fellow doctors when he returns.

Vincent made the following comment:

“In my view, Africa has always been 'playing catch up' in many areas for a long time. Governments and development partners are now starting to invest in infrastructure and making drugs available to all thanks to the Millennium Development Goal targets.  However the emphasis must remain in greater investment in training highly qualified health workers if the African health care system is to rise up to the task of providing quality health care for all and essentially saving lives.”