ST. HELIER, JERSEY (ANS) -- Dr. Francis Omaswa, one of Uganda’s top cardiac surgeons, recently flew to the beautiful island of Jersey to thank volunteers who had come over to his country to build an operating theatre at the hospital where he worked and also helped with two other projects.

Dr. Francis Omaswa pictured at Government House, Jersey (Photo: Dan Wooding)

The respected medical leader, a graduate of Makerere Medical School in Kampala, Uganda, a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and founding President of the College of Surgeons of East, Central and Southern Africa -- took time out of his busy schedule to speak at the Jersey Overseas Aid reunion that took place from August 28-29, 2010 in Jersey.

The wonderful time of reunion brought together hundreds of people who, over nearly four decades, have taken part some 100 mercy trips many of which were organized by local politician, Jean Le Maistre, for the Jersey Overseas Aid Committee.

In an interview on the Saturday at Government House in St. Helier that kicked of the weekend of celebration, Dr. Omaswa gave some background to his long career.

“I'm a cardiac thoracic surgeon trained in the UK -- in London and Liverpool -- then I worked in Kenya when Idi Amin was still in Uganda then went back to Uganda to work in a mission hospital,” he said.

“When I returned to my country after Amin had fled first of all to Libya and then to Saudi Arabia, I had my first exposure to the Jersey Overseas Aid program. It was while at the N’Gora mission hospital in 1984 that a team came to construct an operating theater in that hospital and in honor of that we called one of the hospital wards, ‘The Jersey Ward.’

“After Uganda settled down a bit more, I went to the university teaching hospital at the Makerere Medical School in Kampala and eventually became the Director General of Health Services in the Ugandan’s Ministry of Health in Uganda. From there I got another appointment to be a special advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) and was the first Executive Director of the Global Health Workforce Alliance that WHO had in Geneva.”

Dr. Omaswa then revealed that he so respected the work of his friends in Jersey that he had “cancelled another important trip” so he could attend the weekend.

“Dennis Troy was the person who led the first team that I referred to earlier and then he came back again two more times to that area hospital where I was working. They later built another clinic and a convent, all of which are functioning now and they also provided water supplies to the area.

“I feel that the people of Uganda really owe the people of Jersey a lot of gratitude and I'm here representing all of those who have benefited from the Overseas Aid Program.”

I then asked him he had been threatened during the terrible years of misrule from 1971 to 1979 when “President for Life” Amin and his thugs had murdered some 500,000 Ugandans, including an estimated 300,000 Christians.

“I was there in the country when Idi Amin took power but about two three years later I left to go to England to get my training, but I know so many colleagues even at that time who were killed or who had to escape. It was a terrible time for the country,” he told me.

He then spoke about the HIV/AIDS situation in Uganda.

“I must say it that it is still bad, but let me qualify that because at one time -- around the late eighties-early nineties -- Uganda's prevalence of HIV/AIDS was in some places as high as thirty percent and, on average throughout the country, eighteen percent,” the doctor said.

“But through very dedicated leadership by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, and others including many religious leaders, Uganda was the first country in Sub-Saharan Africa to demonstrate that prevalence of HIV/AIDS could be brought down to as low then as six percent from an average of eighteen percent in a short period of time. This was through a massive and vigorous campaign.
 

Dr. Omaswa thanking the people of Jersey as Jean Le Maistre looks on (Photo: Dan Wooding)

“So that's where we are with HIV/AIDS now. It's flattened out now people live longer because there are antiretroviral drugs but now, we believe, this also to some extent is causing complacency and prevention is taking a back step compared with treatment and we are worried about that and we need to go back to the drawing board and see how we can strengthen prevention on top of treatment.”

After meeting so many friends in Jersey from the various visits to Uganda, Dr. Omaswa spoke at a final event on the Sunday and played a glowing tribute to the people of the island for their dedication to help, not only the people of Uganda, but also for their “wonderful work” to so many others around the world.

Afterwards, Jean Le Maistre paid tribute to Dr. Francis Omaswa. He told the ASSIST News Service, “Dr Omaswa has been a true inspiration not only to the people of Uganda but in all the countries in East Africa. His influence has also extended throughout the world because of his work with WHO. He certainly has been an inspiration to all the Jersey volunteers who have had the privilege of working with him and we feel honored that he has travelled to join us in these celebrations.”

Dan Wooding, 69, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 46 years. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS). He was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC., and now hosts the weekly “Front Page Radio” show on KWVE in Southern California and which is also carried on the Calvary Radio Network throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK. Wooding is also a regular contributor to The Weekend Stand on the Crawford Broadcasting Network, and a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 192 countries. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, “From Tabloid to Truth”, which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel “Red Dagger” which is available here