April 2015 Update Greetings to our beloved supporters and friends! Thanks to your generosity and encouragement, we have already accomplished a great deal in the first three months of 2015. We hope this report will uplift you because these things could not have been done without you. With love, Sarah, Dr. Moses, Dr. Wilfred, Dr. Robert, Remmy and Francis World Spay Day Thanks to a grant from Humane Society International, we held a massive World Spay Day free clinic at our home in Gulu on February 24. A total of 401 animals were treated and an amazing 93 surgeries were performed by our 3 veterinary surgeons, Dr. Moses Migadde, Dr. Wilfred Opira and Dr. Robert Omara. Remmy also held washing and grooming demonstrations and a fundraiser selling pet supplies, books and BIG FIX Uganda shirts. Serving Animals in the Villages From January to March, we held 13 free veterinary clinics in the villages. 1,710 animals received vaccinations, de-worming, flea/tick treatment, and general health assessments and their guardians learned to groom and bathe their dogs. We performed 186 castrations, 55 spays, and 13 other surgeries for a total of 254 surgeries.
Launch of our Story Book Uganda s first animal kindness story book in English and Lua (the local language) was published and officially launched at a ceremony in Gulu in January. Adongpiny & Tam-pira: Best Friends Forever tells the story of a woman and her dog whose bond transformed the way animals are perceived in their village. The Gulu District head of education (DEO) commended The BIG FIX Uganda for creating this important educational tool for children. The Comfort Dog Project The Comfort Dog Project is East Africa s first Animal Assisted Intervention Program which uses the healing power of dog companionship as part of psycho-social rehabilitation of war trauma survivors. The BIG FIX Uganda was very pleased to launch this project in fall 2014 under the direction of Community Psychologist Francis Okello Oloya. Francis held community meetings and participated in regular radio broadcasts to sensitize people about war trauma injuries and to talk about the healing power of dog companionship. 12 individuals were selected to be paired with comfort dogs. These dogs were all obtained from homes where their living conditions were not good. They were rehabilitated, temperament tested, and placed with their guardians. In January, the entire team and our volunteer dog trainer from the U.S., Andrea Kennedy, launched the intensive CDP training activities. The dog-guardian teams now meet once a week for group training sessions with their canine companions and Francis and Remmy regularly visit each of the teams at their homes. The guardians also participate in group and individual counseling. The dogs are healthy, happy and contributing positively to the quality of life of their guardians. We look forward to the graduation activities in June, when the teams will be demonstrating their obedience training and maneuvers.
Working to Build for our Future Animal Kindness Club Leadership Training In January, The BIG FIX Uganda hosted a training day for 34 of our animal kindness club leaders. The day long program included presentations intended to empower the leaders with ideas for activities to be carried out with their club members. The club determined to be most active during 2015 will receive a field trip for its members. It was a wonderful day of fellowship and sharing of ideas to help animals. In the fall of 2014, The BIG FIX Uganda was greatly blessed by the acquisition of 4 acres of beautiful, fertile land in Koch Village near Gulu town. This is the future site of Uganda s first free veterinary hospital, a veterinary laboratory, an education center and our team housing. In January, we met with a team of young designers and began development of the floor plan and cost estimate for building our clinic. The next step will be to apply for grants to fund construction which we estimate will cost about $40,000 USD. We would welcome help in the fundraising effort from anyone interested! Contact Sarah at SAS4Dogs@wildblue.net The Pollination Project awarded a $1,000 grant to Francis and The Comfort Dog Project. This helped greatly to facilitate placement of the first 12 dogs and to cover the initial training costs. The BIG FIX Uganda team carries its entire mobile veterinary clinic (including a tent, surgical table, supplies and equipment) along with two vet surgeons, a vet assistant and our humane officer on two motorbikes. Most of the villages we serve cannot be accessed by another other type of vehicle.
The Challenges The Work Load. You have seen the lines of people at our field clinics and you have seen the numbers of animals we serve. Given the demand for our services, it was necessary to add a second vet to our full time staff. We now have full time in Gulu Dr. Moses Migadde, Dr. Wilfred Opira, Mr. Remmy Mukulu (Humane Officer) and Mr. Francis Okello Oloya (Comfort Dog Project Coordinator). Dr. Robert Omara will work in Gulu on rotation. The increased staffing means we need more funds to keep things going. Our current operating expenses are about $4,500 USD per month. Power. Electricity supply in Gulu is sporadic at best. This means at times it is not possible to use our computer, to charge our phones, and most importantly to keep our vaccines without acquiring ice. Since the power outages occur throughout Gulu town, it is difficult to find ice available to buy in town. It has been very challenging and time consuming to preserve our vaccines as a result of these power outages. We need to raise money to purchase a commercial freezer and a generator, which we estimate will cost approximately $2,000 USD. Water and the weather. Another challenge has been water. While our house is plumbed for water, there is often no municipal water available during dry season. We had no running water at our house/clinic for most of January, February, and March and had to pay villagers to carry jerry cans of water to us from the community borehole. Another challenge during dry season is that it is very hot and dusty, meaning that people must walk and wait in the heat when we have village field clinics. At the end of March, the rainy season began. This means we now have running water. However, the days are often plagued with torrential rains, rendering field work impossible and roads impassable. The Blessings Our heartfelt thanks to our dear friends who provided financial support to us during this quarter: Kelsey Bock Nina Forrest and family Mariann Goldeen Lisa Grusis Julia Hanebrink Ellen Hatfield Tricia Hepner John Hinton Andrea Kennedy Erica & Enjay Santos and family Calli Taylor Angela Vera Ellen Waggoner Also thanks to our Beloved Anonymous Donor in Northern California who is generously sponsoring The BIG FIX Uganda s month of June activities. We also are deeply appreciative of Humane Society International Worldwide Veterinary Services/Mission Rabies Providence Health & Services Project V.E.T.S. Global Links MedWish International Ventura Veterinary Hospital All those who donated veterinary textbooks For our library in Uganda. And SNIP International for donating 2 new cat traps for our Trap-Neuter-Return program. Illnesses. All our team members have been sick with malaria or other ailments. Francis was just diagnosed with Typhoid. Remmy was in a motorcycle accident in February and sustained an injury to his leg. But our team members continue to work diligently and always manage to bounce back.
Our Supply Room is Stocked! Thanks to generosity of Providence Health & Services, Global Links, MedWish International, Brothers & Brother Foundation, Kruuse, Dr. Carmen in Spain, Project V.E.T.S. and Worldwide Veterinary Services, we received many supplies during the past year which help us to serve many more animals. In January, Sarah and our volunteer Andrea completely organized our storeroom after a local craftsman built us shelves where everything is now neatly organized and ready for use. Dr. Wilfred and Remmy Travel to the U.S. for Training The BIG FIX Uganda is very proud to be working with MISSION RABIES, the innovative and effective organization which has become one of the world leaders in controlling rabies through vaccination and sterilization programs. MISSION RABIES has generously been working with us to undertake dog population surveys in Nwoya District, where there have been many reported cases of rabid dogs and human deaths from rabies. In May, Sarah and Dr. Wilfred will be traveling to Malawi to volunteer with the Mission Rabies vaccination campaign in Blantyre in preparation for Uganda s first mass vaccination campaign we hope will be held this summer in Northern Uganda. We received such an incredible opportunity, thanks again to Humane Society International, which granted Dr. Wilfred an internship at Halifax Humane Society. Dr. Wilfred had the opportunity to receive additional spay/neuter training from HHS Veterinary Director Dr. Shelby Wolfe and from Dr. Kerri Zavota of Redinger Spay/Neuter Clinic in Daytona Beach, Florida. He also spent time with HHS animal control officer Toni Contarino and was able to attend HHS s major fundraising event, Mutt Strut. Everyone at HHS was so kind and supportive of Dr. Wilfred and we look forward to their ongoing partnership and friendship. Dr. Wilfred and Remmy were also supported by Humane Society International in attending the 2015 HSUS Animal Care Expo Conference in New Orleans, March 30-April 2. They thoroughly enjoyed the conference, learned many new things and made great new friends.