Hands Reaching to Uganda team 2018

We are taking a two week mission experience in Nyapea Uganda to undertake a few projects which were begun by our efforts during our last visit in 2014.  We plan to visit the Konga School in Nyapea, which is an elementary school serving a large geographic region comprised of many villages.   They are requesting our help with a solar project, and our team is conducting an analysis to determine how we can help them have electricity in some of their school buildings.  We plan on developing some projects while at Holy Family Hospital in Nyapea as well, such as improving their emergency services response field units.   Nyapea hospital receives over 3,000 patients in the outpatient department on a monthly basis. It also attends to over 1000 children and handles 956 deliveries each month.   This is the only large hospital in the area covering over 250,000 persons in the district.


Our team is led by Jen Drees, an EMT and youth minister at Church of the Incarnation in Mantua NJ.  She is joined by Elly Drees who begins her first year at Rowan University in a double major of Elementary Education and Writing with a certificate in Special Education.  Chris Mellish, a paramedic with Inspira MICU and Supervisor at Gloucester County EMS, brings his expertise in prehospital care with an interest in emergency medicine in austere environments.  Lisa Johnston is an EMT with GCEMS and is making her first international mission trip, hoping to spend time in both the school and hospital projects.   Hannah Borochanter answers the call to take her first international mission trip, looking forward to spending time with the kids at the school and sharing her faith.  This is Jen's fith trip to Uganda, and the first for the other four on the team.

We have decided to pool our fundraising efforts because of the many smaller expenses which frame this trip as well as broaden our communication with many our of acquaintances.  We will also be conducting medical supply and over-the-counter medicine drives to help with patient care at the hospital.   We are a faith based mission group desiring to follow Christ and make friends (and renew older friendships) on this trip.