Our trip to Uganda has been in the works for several years, but it took the prompting of our close partner Naomi Muganwe to make it happen. Naomi runs Mercy Care, which is a center for children with special needs in the Bududa region. The center has also become a source for education and supplies for people with albinism, and was the site of the first International Albinism Awareness Day celebration in June of 2015.

Naomi has the energy of five people, and a heart to match.  Her passion and dedication brought us to Uganda, and we were thrilled to hold our first skin clinic at her center in March. She rallied volunteers, reached out on a radio program and what we thought was going to be one event for @ 100 people quickly became four events for over 400 people, in three different locations with three dermatologists. By the end of the trip, we had educated almost 450 family and community members, screened 230 people with albinism for cancer, performed 41 cryosurgeries — and distributed hundreds of pounds of supplies. We also linked several albinism advocacy groups and visited with our scholarship students, but that’s a story for another post! Thank you to Naomi, who is truly an angel.

Naomi educating a father and his daughter about skin protection and albinism.