Festo’s Story

This is the story of Festo, a 10-year old boy from Mbarara District.  Festo lived alone with his mother – his father and two brothers had already died from malaria.  To his mother’s great concern, Festo too began showing signs of malaria – fever, dizziness, vomiting.  His mother treated him for four days with chloroquine tablets from a local pharmacy.  When he didn’t improve, she switched to herbal remedies.  Festo continued to worsen for another 10 days, and eventually fell into a coma.  His mother panicked, and neighbors built a stretcher and carried him to the local hospital. 

Because Festo hadn’t been under a doctor’s supervision, his simple malaria had become complex malaria, bringing with it heart and liver problems as well as respiratory infection.  Festo should have been places in an intensive care unit (ICU), but no ICU existed at the hospital.  Festo’s chances of survival were not good, but doctors and nurses worked tirelessly for three weeks to save him, and miraculously, Festo improved, came out of his coma, and was able to go home, though not without suffering some problems that may follow him for the rest of his life.

Compounding the trauma that Festo and his mother endured during this ordeal is the fact that Festo’s mother didn’t work during the entire time that he was ill - it’s customary in Uganda that one parent stays with a sick child the entire time.  Since Festo’s father had died from malaria, Festo and his mother had no income for over a month. 

Consider this story, and then multiply it over ten thousand times, and you will start to get a picture of a year in Mbarara, Uganda.  The difference is that in this case, Festo survived.  Most children in this situation do not.

What will Holy Innocents Children’s Hospital mean to children like Festo?  It will be a place that all children from Mbarara will be able to go for treatment, with doctors and nurses specially trained to provide appropriate therapies for children, including therapeutic measures to help children breathe, rehydrate, receive oxygenation therapy, and so on.   Holy Innocents will help thousands of children like Festo live, get effective treatment sooner, and recover more quickly.

To help us help children like Festo, click here.