Daily Monitor
Saturday December 19 2020
Summary
In their religious formation, nuns take three vows, poverty, chastity and obedience. Dr Priscilla Busingye’s life is a clear expression of all three.
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Dr Priscilla Busingye heads the association of obstetricians and gynecologists of Uganda (AOGU) but at 14, she dropped out of school because her father feared that she would get pregnant and he would miss the cows that would constitute her bride price. And now, she has won the $500,000 (Shs1.8 billion) L’Chaim prize to build her dream medical centre.
As I sit under a tree in the green square outside Radio Sapientia, I ponder on the woman I am about to meet. I expect a high achiever oozing haughty confidence, ready to reel off the dos and don’ts of making it in life.
Ugandan OBGYN Is First Woman to Receive $500K Medical Prize to Build Facility for Rural Poor
Ugandan OBGYN Is First Woman to Receive $500K Medical Prize to Build Facility for Rural Poor
The African nun has served for nearly two decades in rural parts of Uganda, delivering dignified healthcare for women as Rwibaale Health Center’s only OBGYN. The country consistently ranks in the bottom 30 countries for maternal and newborn deaths. Estimates show that 1 out of every 49 women in Uganda will die from childbirth complications.
The funds will allow affordable maternity care to the rural poor who would otherwise not seek it because of overwhelming expenses. C-sections for some cost a year’s worth of income and most women do not give birth in a hospital.
Dr. Priscilla Busingye has a God-given passion to improve maternal health across Uganda, particularly in rural places where women often can’t get specialized care and dignified treatment.
For years, Busingye would wake up before 6 a.m. for morning devotions and mass before heading to work at the maternity ward. As a nun and a physician at a rural hospital, her work was both rewarding and rigorous. She would set alarms on her phone to remind herself to pray for strength and energy throughout the day.
Now, as the president of the Association of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Uganda, Busingye is training up the next generation of specialists in the Ugandan capital of Kampala.