By Cassie Pontone | Social Media Manager for the US
The number of newly diagnosed tumors in pediatric patients is on the rise. In the last six months alone, 86 new cases of pediatric cancer have been reported at St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor in Gulu, Uganda. Our partners at St. Mary’s and the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI) continue their endless work to support children battling cancer in the surrounding areas. UCI recently finished constructing their new oncology center in Gulu, and in a mere matter of months, the Center will open its doors to the public and provide treatment for countless children newly diagnosed with malignant tumors. This new facility will work alongside St. Mary's Hospital Lacor & Soleterre to offer as many children as possible the lifesaving treatment they need.
Soleterre’s Rainbow Family Home continues to work with St. Mary's Hospital Lacor to provide pediatric patients and their families with additional support. Since 2022, we have increased our capacity to host 38 additional children and family members, increasing the number of beds available to accommodate a total of 76 additional guests. In times of great need, we have built in the capacity to host an additional 8 guests, maximizing our potential impact without sacrificing our commitment to individualized comfort and care.
In the past 9 months, we have hosted 192 children and their caregivers at Rainbow Family Home. These children spent an average of 47.5 days with us while receiving treatment at nearby St. Mary's Hospital Lacor. During their stay, all guests receive 3 square meals a day. What’s on the menu? A balanced diet rich in micronutrients to ensure that our young guests are recovering their strength throughout their ongoing treatment. Together with nutritionists at St. Mary's Hospital Lacor, our staff is involved with each of the children’s caregivers, offering more in-depth sessions on how to best meet the nutritional needs of their loved ones throughout cycles of chemotherapy. These sessions are tantamount to guaranteeing that families are prepared in the long run to continue supporting the needs of their children as they develop.
Beyond our walls, our team is dedicated to changing the way society views public health and raising awareness for pediatric cancer. Engaging with local radio stations, our team broadcasts weekly sessions together with staff from St. Mary's Hospital Lacor. We’ve even partnered with Hiccup Circus, an association based in Kampala that has a lot of experience with “edutainment,” providing educational content though means of entertainment.
Our team is also working to find an effective nexus between western medicine and traditional practices. In 2022, our we embarked on a qualitative research project focused on cooperation with traditional healers. The findings of this project were later shared with the medical staff of St. Mary's Hospital Lacor as a series of recommendations. The outcome of this cooperation is a new training module which incorporates traditional healing practices and medical procedures to better equip primary medical facilities to care for their patients while respecting community leaders. This act of purposeful inclusion is meant to ensure the accountability of traditional healers and bridge the gap between cultures.
Most importantly, Soleterre remains dedicated to the psychological wellbeing of everyone we have the pleasure of meeting. With one full-time psychologist employed at the Rainbow Family Home, they are working together with a clinical psychologist at Lacor and part-time consultant to be able to assist family at the Home as well as those at the nearby pediatric oncology wards. They are working with children and caregivers alike, responding to the needs of the communities they serve. In 2022, Soleterre began partnering with the Psychology faculty of Makerere University in Kampala to apply for internship grants, to support Soleterre’s work with the children of Rainbow Family Home from April to June earlier this year.
Our team has been able to support 77 children and 116 caregivers in the area through a mixture of individual and group therapy sessions. Our psychologist has even hosted play therapy sessions for an alternative take on mental health and support. Although these sessions are carried out in person, our staff psychologist is also available remotely to assist those who have returned home to their communities for continued treatment or who have transferred hospitals for more specialized care.
We are so proud of the families we have met at the Rainbow Family Home and in the pediatric oncology wards of St. Mary's Hospital Lacor. Their sacrifice is monumental and their strength continues to inspire. Thanks to our stellar staff and generous donors, Soleterre continues to sustain family homes in 7 countries, including Uganda, where we can support children diagnosed with cancer and their families to make it through each day.
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By Cassie Pontone | Social Media Manager for the US
By Cassie Pontone | Social Media Manager for the US
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