PARKINSON'S AS WITCHCRAFT?
CAN WE RID UGANDA
OF THIS SOCIETAL MYTH?
~bringing awareness and hope to those with PD~
again imagine...
In North America and Europe people with Parkinson's struggle with daily necessities. Cooking meals and doing laundry change as tasking abilities from how one did them before the disease.
Imagine having these same challenges in an area where your kitchen and laundry rooms are like these...and you have no access to medication.
We hop in the car to travel to our doctor or hospital appointment. We travel in relative comfort and safety.
Imagine balancing on a motorcycle with your Parkinson's...or having to trek through rocks on a trail to go to reach a medical facility. This is life with chronic illness such as Parkinson's in Uganda.
We walk into our hospitals the nonchalant expectation of upholstered chairs, efficient staff and sanitary conditions. Doctor exams are in private rooms with modern equipment and the hum of lights or heating /cooling systems.
Imagine overcrowding to the extent you may have to sit on the floor and your exam is done is a room that may have holes in the wall and you get to sit on a wooden bench while other people wander outside your open door.
donate to PARKINSON'S SI BUKO UGANDA ~PSBU~ PARKINSON'S SI BUKO USA ~PSBUSA~
a registered non-profit --- US tax-deductible donations
EIN# 87-3908503
Bringing hope to those with Parkinson's Disease in Uganda
the latest news from si buko
Day 3 April is Parkinson's Awareness Month
Mukono, Uganda: Parkinson's Si Buko 3-day awareness event for April.
St. Cyprian kids and attendees. Many demonstrations and the kids showing moves for those who have PD or other movement issues. Why, you ask, are there so many women? Where are the men? In Uganda, the men are the usual daily breadwinners. They cannot (will not) show their Parkinson's symptoms in the workplace. If they do, they can be exposed as touched by BUKO (witchcraft) and no one will want to work with them. After all, the majority of rural/small town people still understand PD to be contagious....but Si Buko is working on that!
2025 3-DAY PD EVENT in TWO TOWNS
We try to get something special going each APRIL for WORLD PARKINSON AWARENESS MONTH.
What a great deal of change since our first run in Mukono a few years ago!
Gifts and prizes for participants are eagerly accepted and we LOVE it.
Each T-shirt is a walking billboard after the run. Very social in nature, and loving to talk and get information, the owner will proudly explain why their shirt is important to THEM as a symbol of community involvement, and then go on to spread the message:
PARKINSON'S IS NOT WITCHCRAFT
Dispel Myths by Explaining Facts~
Remove the stigma of Parkinson's as Witchcraft; educate the public through a variety of awareness and information seminars
Train Healthcare Providers~
Hold medical conferences and distribute literature that allows for diagnosis, understanding, and common treatment of PD...one of the first to educate health care providers in Uganda.
Uganda's doctor-patient ratio is approximately 1:25,000...World Health Organization recommends a ratio of 1:1000 healthcare providers in uganda
Secure Access to Resources for Patients~
Our clinic & education help people with their PD instead of visiting ~yes~ the local witchdoctor. It's estimated that there are 3 million traditional healers (witchdoctors) in Uganda [1] but only 11 neurologists practicing in all of Uganda.[2]
As we grow, we hope to supply medication for clients...and must provide food to ensure the meds will work properly
[1] World Vision [2] Ugandan Ministry of Health