April web

CHURCH
Secretarial students attend lecture at the technical school
A laboratory technician at work at st. Mary’s health centre IV. Kasaala
and many were dying because of lack of
treatment until Reach Out Mbuya HIV/
AIDS initiative came to their rescue. HIV
treatment and palliative care are the latest
to be integrated into services offered by
St. Mary’s Health Centre and HIV is not
an emergency in the parish anymore like
it used to be. Okwir said this has been a
great contribution by the parish.
The elderly of Kasaala have not been
left out. The Parish opened up St. Vincent
De Paul Kateyamba elders’ home to
cater for the elderly in Kasaala parish and
neighbouring sub-parishes. This home is
mainly for the elderly who do not have any
known relatives.
They are given shelter, meals, clothing
and medical care. The care taker of the
home, Nalwoga Magrette said the home
was opened 20 years ago and they have
taken care of so many elderly people,
unfortunately they have lost 24 people in
the past. She said the elderly are brought
in from the nearby villages. She added that
people usually contact Fr. George when they
realise an old person lacks family members
and when they are sick.One elderly man
who identified himself as Petro Machumi
said he was brought to the home from
Butuula village when he was sick, and had
no one to take care of him. He added that
he had a back problem but now he feels
better because he is taken to the hospital
and given food.
While Philemon, another elderly man
staying at the elders’ home said he came
in from Tanzania as a youth after Idi Amin’s
regime. He was brought to the home when
he was sick. When he recovered, he moved
to Kenya and returned to Kasaala as a
worker, but now that he is old, he has no
one to look after him.
However, the Parish has also registered a
number of challenges that they are battling
with. Even with the available schools, the
Parish priest revealed that the people of
Kasaala do not attach value to education.
He also noted that the high level of
drinking is killing marriages in the parish.
Besides, HIV infections are still very high in
the parish and the laziness of the people
in Kasaala has led to shortage in food.
He noted that the parish has no income
generating activities making it hard to run
some of their activities and projects.
Fr. Jjumba added that when he reached
Kasaala parish, Fr. George Previdi who
was the Parish priest then was fully funding
four schools in the parish. He would
provide school fees for every child, lunch,
teachers’ salaries and all requirements of
the schools. He also said that Fr. George
would contribute Ug shs 500,000 towards
children’s lunch in 199 schools and also
take care of orphans in those schools.
Sadly, there is no more funding.
Consequently, Fr. Jjumba has decided
that all the private schools in the Parish
should take charge of all their expenses by
collecting school fees from the children,
while the remaining few schools have been
fitted within the parish budget.
APRIL 2020
21