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Brochure - ENG language

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Fondazione Dr. Ambrosoli's Istitutional brochure in English language

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Investing in healthmeans investing in the

well-beingof every individual

and in the future of a country.

Health is a universal right.Providing professional health care means reducing and

preventing the spreading of diseases that are easily treated in developed countries as well as contributing to the

improvement of health and living conditions for every person.

It is our responsibility and our wish to perpetuate Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli’s memory and his medical and

missionary work, following the path he carved.

Through the support given to the Hospital and Midwifery School founded by Father Ambrosoli, we ensure people in

Northern Uganda access to health care services and promote medical and managerial training, so as to enable the Hospital

to achieve its future goal of full autonomy.

FATHER GIUSEPPE AMBROSOLI“Nobody ever left him with empty hands or a cold heart”

Giuseppe Ambrosoli was a doctor and people in Uganda called him ‘the saint doctor’.

He was born in Ronago to a well-known family from Como on 25 July 1923.He graduated in Medicine and Surgery at the end of WW2.Later on, he completed a post-graduate specialization course at London’s Tropical Disease School, while at the same time starting a journey of faith that led to his ordination in Milan on 17 December 1955.

In February 1956, Father Giuseppe was sent to Kalongo, in Northern Uganda, to work in a small local dispensary. Thanks to his dedication and his surgical and entrepreneurial skills, the small dispensary soon turned into a modern health care facility with over 300 beds, providing professional medical assistance for the local population and in particular for the weakest and most vulnerable groups, such as women and children.

During those years, Father Ambrosoli worked alternately as a doctor to help the sick, lepers in particular, and as a manual laborer and ‘entrepreneur’. One by one, the various Hospital wings were built and medical activity developed, also thanks to the numerous European doctors who moved to Kalongo to work as volunteer with Father Ambrosoli.

In 1987, the civil war that raged through the northern districts of Uganda led to the forced evacuation of the Hospital by the military, who gave Father Ambrosoli 24 hours to clear the hospital and take away the sick. After succeeding in finding a solution that would guarantee a future for the Midwifery School, in which he had believed so strongly, Father Giuseppe – worn out and suffering – died in Lira on 27 March 1987.

True to Comboni’s ideal, Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli lived for saving Africa through the Africans. The 32 years of missionary life spent by Father Ambrosoli in Uganda are the best demonstration that African people can be entrusted with full responsibilities.

After his death, the beatification cause for Father Ambrosoli was started and is still in progress.

HIS SUCCESSOR:FATHER EGIDIO TOCALLI

Father Egidio Tocalli, a doctor and a Comboni missio-nary, ran the Kalongo Hospital from 1989 onwards, ensuring continuity and efficiency of the services provided even during the long civil war period.Thanks to his commitment, the facility improved its capacity and service offering as well as the quality of medical services for patients.Father Tocalli’s work in Africa ended in 2009, but he still plays, together with the Foundation, an active role in the delicate phase of handover of the Hospital management to Ugandan specialists.

DR. AMBROSOLI MEMORIAL HOSPITAL“This Hospital represents a great opportunity for the entire population and this is the reason why it has survived civil wars”

The Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital is a private not-for-profit organization belonging to the Archdiocese of Gulu. It is located in Kalongo, in Northern Uganda, in the territory of the Acholi tribe: this is a very poor area, with few communication routes and no developed settlements. Founded in 1957, the Hospital has always played a central role in the development of an area inhabited by over 500,000 people, and today it is one of the major Ugandan health care centers in terms of number of patients treated.

Every year, the Hospital guarantees professional health care to around 40,000 people, of which around 50% are children under 5 years. Today, the Hospital has 302 beds and 6 wards: Surgery, Maternity & Gynecology, Pediatrics & Malnutrition, General Medicine, Tuberculosis, Private Patients.

The Hospital also includes an outpatient clinic, a clinical analysis and radiology lab, and two operating theatres, in addition to a pre- and post-natal outpatient clinic, a pediatric outpatient clinic with vaccination center and child growth monitoring unit, an outpatient clinic for HIV/AIDS patients and dedicated outpatient clinics for specific pathologies: mental disorders, epilepsy, tuberculosis. The Pediatrics ward includes a malnutrition treatment center.

98% of the staff working at Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital is from Uganda.

THE HOSPITAL FIGURES

• 213 staff• 302 beds• 6 wards: Surgery, Maternity & Gynecology, Pediatrics & Malnutrition, General Medicine, Tuberculosis, Private Patients

In 2013:• 19.294 vaccinations• 13.221 admissions• 31.225 outpatient clinic examinations• 5.312 prenatal examinations• 2.727 deliveries• 3.022 surgeries• 2.219 HIV patients treated

ST. MARY’S MIDWIFERY SCHOOL“Relying on specialized professional training as a primary element to offer new generations opportunities for future autonomy also in health care”

In 1959, two years after setting up the Hospital, Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli founded St. Mary’s Midwifery School to provide an effective and sustainable solution to maternity- and childbirth-related problems, one of the main causes of the high death rate in Africa.

The School, which offers two academic programs for midwives and charge midwives, operates in close cooperation with the Hospital, thus creating a virtuous cycle sup-porting medical training and activities. Today, the School is considered as a center of excellence in specialist medical training and for several years now it has been officially recognized by Uganda’s Ministry of Health as the best Midwifery Specialist Trai-ning School in the country.

Until 2012, 1200 midwives graduated from St. Mary’s Midwifery School; through their professionalism, they have contributed to disease prevention and treatment and wo-men’s training, not only in Uganda, but also in many other countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.

THE NORTHERN UGANDA

The civil war that lasted over 20 years has been responsible for 100,000 deaths. 30,000 children were kidnapped and forced to become child soldiers; 1,600,000 people were deported to refugee camps, where they had to face intolerable living conditions.Life expectancy is below 54 years: diseases that can be easily treated in the developed world exact here a very high toll in terms of human lives lost.60% of the population lives on $1 per day.Over 50% of the population is below 15 years of age.Physician-to-population ratio: 1:12,000.In the Hospital’s catchment area:• maternal mortality rate is 310/100,000 deaths per births;• infant (under 5) mortality rate is 275/1,000 deaths per live births.

DR. AMBROSOLI MEMORIAL HOSPITALFOUNDATION“Save Africa through the Africans”

The Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital Foundation was established in 1998 by the Comboni Missionaries and Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli’s family to ensure continuity of service and a future for the Kalongo Hospital and the Midwifery Training School he had founded back in 1957.

The Foundation provides financial resources and managerial skills with the aim of helping the Uganda-based Hospital achieve its future goal of full autonomy.The Foundation supports a non-welfare aid model which invests in the human capital as an essential element to guarantee a sustainable development of both health care services and managerial skills.

Moreover, it promotes partnerships with Italian and international not-for-profit institutions, agencies, and organizations for the execution of specific projects.

The Foundation is a member of the Hospital’s Management Board.It carries out an intensive fund raising activity, organizing and promoting several actions aimed at raising awareness of the Kalongo initiative and finding new supporters.

Thanks to the funds raised, the Foundation provides:

• resources to cover the Hospital’s basic requirements - wages, fuel, medications, medi-cal supplies -, as this is essential for the running of daily hospital activities;• managerial, medical and technical staff trai-ning, in order to make the most of local resources with a view to future autonomy;

• resources to support the activity of the Midwifery Training School - also through school grants -, so as to reduce the maternal mortality rate and contribute to the improvement of wo-men’s living conditions.

THE COMBONI MISSIONARIES

Daniele Comboni (1831 - 1881) was canonized by Pope John Paul II.When he was 23 years old, he travelled to Africa, where he lost his heart to Nigrizia. In 1878, he was consecrated Bishop of Khartum, while drought was tormenting Sudan. Comboni died in 1881, weakened by fevers.Today, around 4,000 Comboni missionaries work in the Centers for the defense of human rights worldwide; they give special attention to young people living in city suburbs or rural areas, to their education and professional training. In modern times, they embody the love for missions and the great ideal of Saint Daniele Comboni: «Save Africa through Africa».

VOLUNTEERS IN AFRICA AND ITALYThe work started by Father Giuseppe Ambrosoli has developed and grown over the years thanks to all those who have supported it through contributions and personal commitment: institutions and organizations, but also professionals and young graduates who work as volunteers at the Hospital.

The Foundation acknowledges the value of, and promotes, volunteer work as a source of development and a valid instrument for transferring knowledge and know-how. The cooperation of doctors, managers, engineers, electricians, carpenters and all those who over time have unfailingly put their skills and professional knowledge at the ser-vice of the Hospital, has enabled the development of the facility and improved the quality of its health care services.

All this has been achieved also thanks to the work of many volunteers based in Italy, who every day put all their passion into the creation of events and the execution of activities to promote the Foundation and raise funds.

WHY SUPPORT US“Mission is not the work of solitary navigators”

In northern Uganda, having access to health care services means having an opportunity for the future. A facility that can guarantee professional medical care in a context characterized by extreme poverty represents a real possibility of survival for hundreds of thousands of people.

In a country where people’s spending power is virtually equal to zero and public money is limited, significant financial resources are needed to ensure service continuity and a high quality of the services provided.Only 10% of current Hospital costs is covered by patient fees, whereas the funds earmarked by the Ugandan government account for 25% of the Hospital’s revenue. 65% of financial requirements are covered by donations made by individuals and international organizations.

During the civil war, several international organizations donated funds conditioned upon the execution of specific projects, which have mostly been completed by now.

Also thanks to the Dr. Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital Foundation, the only permanent partner of the Hospital, over 40,000 patients are treated every year, of which 70% are women and children with no means of subsistence. Every year, 150 young women can get into the Midwifery Training School programs.

HOW YOU CAN HELPBank transfer (Credito Valtellinese)

Fondazione Doctor Ambrosoli Memorial Hospital KalongoIBAN: IT 25 M 05216 10900 000000000750

SWIFT CODE: BPCVIT2S

Online donation through Visa or Mastercardwww.fondazioneambrosoli.it

Make a legacyA legacy or a donation of remembrance is true

belief in the future of the people of North Uganda.

Thank you!

Fondazione Dr. AmbrosoliMemorial HospitalKalongo (Uganda) - Socially Useful NPO

[email protected] Fondazione Dr. Ambrosoli

www.fondazioneambrosoli.it

Registered OfficeVia Roncate, 4/B22100 Como Italy

Operating OfficeVia Ippolito Nievo, 10 20145 Milan ItalyTel. no. +39 02.36558852Fax no. +39 02.36555617