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<\/a>Dr. Christine Ondoa<\/p><\/div>\n
The person in charge of health policy for the entire country of Uganda is the Honorable Minister of Health, Dr. Christine Ondoa.\u00a0 Hand-picked by the president, she is relatively new in her post; young, very bright, very dedicated, with an extensive background in malaria intervention and community health.\u00a0 Dr. Ondoa really wants to get something big done; she wants to eliminate malaria in Uganda.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there are many forces set against her.\u00a0 Undeterred, and with the support of the president, Dr. Ondoa has brought in major partners to design and implement a long-term strategy against malaria.\u00a0 These include both the Global Fund and Pilgrim Africa.<\/p>\n
I had been scheduled to meet with the Honorable Minister last week, but an emergency cabinet meeting intervened.\u00a0\u00a0 However, we learned Monday night that she could see the senior leadership team on Tuesday at 4 p.m.\u00a0 So William and I got on the road from Soroti at 6:30 in the morning, a day earlier than originally planned, to drive the seven long hours to Kampala.<\/p>\n
The meeting takes place in one of the board rooms of the Protea Hotel, where Dr. Ondoa is already attending another conference.\u00a0 I had met her once before, at a Pilgrim fundraiser in Seattle, and she is as gracious as ever, asking me to sit at her right hand.\u00a0 After an opening prayer, and the usual ceremonious introductions, I am expected to speak first for the team.\u00a0 I am not as conversant with the current state of the partnership as I should be; I am frankly confused, but I don\u2019t want to sound confused.\u00a0 Our plans had been to start in conjunction with World Malaria Day on April 25th<\/sup>, part of why I chose this window in my calendar months ago.\u00a0 But that launch date was suddenly postponed, and we haven\u2019t heard much since. I understand we have been chosen as lead partners for the Northeast (the regions of Teso and Karamoja), but I am not really sure how much of our four-prong protocol we\u2019re expected to implement, and I am aware we have serious limitations on our own capacity, caused by a sudden change the Global Fund made to the terms of their grant.\u00a0 I know there is, somewhere in the background, a lot of talk about bed nets, about 21.5 million of them, from different suppliers, enough for the entire country, but I am not sure how this is supposed to happen, or when, or what our role is to be in it. \u00a0So when I open my mouth, it feels a little like walking off a plank.<\/p>\n In a sort of roundabout way, I convey our sincere willingness to help in any way we can, and gently suggest it would help us a lot to know what we might be doing and when.\u00a0 When I finish, I inwardly hope I haven\u2019t been too direct; as I have suggested in previous posts, group discussion in Uganda has an intentionally polite and formal quality, and nothing would be more ill-mannered than an American-style \u201ccut to the chase.\u201d\u00a0 So when the Honorable Minister smiles broadly, I am relieved.\u00a0 She then responds.\u00a0 For the next half-hour she gives a lucid, transparent, detailed and sometimes moving description of the challenges she is facing, both within her ministry and from outside.\u00a0 Her intelligence, deep Christian faith, clarity of heart and determination are compelling.\u00a0 She asks above all for my prayers.\u00a0 And then she comes to the piece of information we have been waiting for.<\/p>\n