How One Girl’s Healing Inspired a Clinic—and a Community

While most 10-year-olds are playing and having fun, Moreene was suffering. She was dealing with intense pain as well as being excluded by her community. Moreene had an open fistula in her cheek because of a tooth infection that had gone untreated for many years. This was extremely painful for Moreene, and it was causing her jaw to lock up so that she couldn’t eat. As a result, she was also suffering from malnutrition, and in addition to all of this, she was seen as a social outcast because of her condition.

A OneWorld Health volunteer team in her home village saw Moreene and referred her to the Masindi-Kitara Medical Center (MKMC), OneWorld Health’s permanent medical center in Masindi. Word of Moreene’s case traveled back to the states, and Dr. Josh Farrar, a founding board member and ENT/Plastic Surgeon, flew over to perform the first operation on Moreene with assistance from the Ugandan medical staff.

Over the next few months, Moreene endured three more operations. She spent many nights at the in-patient facility as her healing continued, and she became part of the MKMC family. Seeing the need in Moreene’s community, OneWorld Health expanded services to Bulima, and the people of Bulima refer to the medical center as “Moreene’s clinic.” This beautiful young woman is now living a healthy and vibrant life thanks to the medical care she received from OneWorld Health’s volunteers and staff.