As Jamie’s Fund draws to a close we have been reflecting on the wonderful way that Jamie’s life has touched so many others in the UK , Uganda and beyond. When Jamie died in 2011 our lives became unrecognisable, everything looked different and the sadness and pain was overwhelming. Yet even in our darkest hours […]
Five of the Jamies Fund trustees headed for Uganda in mid-September for a Professional Development workshop for 30 Mental Health Staff from our partner hospitals across the country. This was followed by visits to some of our partner hospital. Travel was much easier than it was early last year, when there were the Covid restrictions and […]
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that 1 in every 8 people in the world are living with a Mental Disorder. (This includes everything from Depression and Anxiety, through Substance Misuse and Neurodevelopmental Disorders, to Bipolar Mood and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders, and Psychosis.) 80% of these people live in Low and Middle Income Countries. Yet despite […]
Ewan and I first came to Kumi Hospital in 2018. We met Amuron, then a general registered nurse. This year she graduated as a psychiatric clinical officer, having been sponsored by Jamie’s Fund, and is taking the lead in the development of mental health services in Kumi Hospital. Having been impressed by Amuron’s lovely warm […]
When we visited Uganda early in 2022, we heard many concerns about suicide and attempted suicide being on the increase across the country. Often it was thought that the impact of Covid 19 and the associated lockdowns were behind this. Staff in many hospitals spoke of the fear, bereavement, poverty, losses and disruptions to normal […]
It is probably true to say that even as recently as 2012 most people in the UK were not particularly aware of mental health as a significant issue. Although it has been part of life for many families for years, even in the UK, mental illness and mental health care is usually low in the […]
One of our partners in Uganda sent me a link to this 10-minute video on Youtube. Mental illness in Uganda: millions abandoned without diagnosis, drugs or support. It was shown on Channel 4. https://youtu.be/jT7kFaTuDZY I have just watched it and it describes all too clearly how difficult it is for people to access mental health care in […]
Mukono is about 30 miles west of the centre of Kampala and is more or less a suburb. The Church of Uganda hospital is a busy hospital providing care to the town. During the pandemic times were hard, with everyone having less money and avoiding coming to hospital if they could, which reduced the hospitals income. The […]
World Mental Health Day this year is celebrated on the 10th of October. The theme is ‘Make Mental Health & Well-Being for All a Global Priority’. At least one in eight of us around the world is affected by mental health issues, and in some countries it will be many more than that. In recent years we […]
As the world woke up to the threat of Covid in early 2020, many countries closed their borders and locked down, in an effort to protect their citizens. Uganda was one of them. The economic impact of very hard lockdowns was much worse for the poorest of that country, than the effects of the virus […]