Our second container shipment of the year is on its way to Uganda! Over the years, we have supplied short-term mission teams that work across the country but this month we sent our first 40' ocean-going container to Jinja, Uganda!
The story of this container has been two years in the making. A young boy named Patrick had been suffering from an undiagnosed heart condition in his hometown of Jinja.
Whisper's Magical Children's Hospital
, the local hospital in Jinja,was not able to provide the necessary medical treatment. The Louisville chapter of the national nonprofit
Healing the Children
worked with
Norton Children's Hospital
to have Patrick flown to Louisville for treatment. Unfortunately, the condition had taken its toll on Patrick's small body
Photo courtesy of Whisper's Children Hospital
and he died soon after arriving in Louisville. Rebecca Dixon,
Patrick's host mom in Louisville, vowed that no child from Jinja should suffer from a lack of medical care.
Working with Debi McDonald, one of SOS's longtime partners and Executive Director of Louisville's Healing the Children chapter, Rebecca pulled together a coalition of advocates to send supplies and equipment to Whisper's Magical Children's Hospital in Patrick's hometown. As we loaded the container at SOS headquarters, it was a celebration and a recognition that one child's heartbreaking story can lead to the hope of medical treatment for an entire community. Members of the Greater Louisville Medical Society Alliance's mission team and Galen School of Nursing plan to make two medical mission trips to Jinja once the container arrives. We will be sure to update you on the stories of lifesaving treatment these supplies will bring!
SOS would like to thank
Mercy Health Anderson, Baptist Health Paducah, Norton Healthcare
and
Hardin Memorial Hospital
for donating the equipment that was included in this container.