1. Background: Why this individual project is important:
Help send an African student to medical school! Uganda has only 1 physician for every 100,000 patients while in the United States there are 28 doctors for every 100,000 people. Patrick Otim is a Sudanese refugee living in Uganda. He wants to become a doctor and has the qualifications to do it, he just needs the tuition.
2. Who we are asking you to support:
I met Patrick Otim through my sister, Amy, who was working with Doctors Without Borders, in Uganda in 2002. Patrick was a young refugee whose family had escaped the brutality of war in the Sudan by fleeing to Uganda. While Patrick had a great aptitude for school, he did not have the funds to pay for his secondary education. That is when I stepped in and helped him complete high school. Patrick earned the 5th highest score in his region on the national education tests. His high school teachers have remarked on his great interest in and aptitude for science. He was respected and liked by his fellow students despite the fact that he was not a Ugandan. He was a leader in many clubs and a student counselor responsible for the guidance of his younger peers. Patrick has always shown great concern for his community and his family and so it was no a surprise when Patrick wanted to become a doctor.
In October 2005, Patrick started medical school at Kampala International University. He has now completed his first year and received excellent marks including 3 distinctions in computer science, applied chemistry and medical physics.
Patrick has 3 and 1/2 years more years of medical school to complete. The cost for tuition, lab fees, room, and board, books, computer access and printing is just over $5,000 a year. We are raising $17,500 total to help him finish school (see budget for full cost breakdown).
Lastly, I just wanted to give a big cheer for the company World of Good for the $1 for $1 match up to $10,000 that they provided. Their generous support has been invaluable. I went to their store over the holidays and ended up getting some beautiful bamboo serving plates to give away as gifts. Please check out their website (link at upper right hand side of this page). And thank you all for you participation in this project.