WHO WE ARE
Our heart could be summed up in four simple statements:
TO LOVE
TO GO
TO SERVE
TO REFLECT Jesus Christ
Doctor Andrew and Anne Wright are the Australian founding directors of Yotkom Uganda. They have drawn a significant sense of life direction, motivation, meaning and purpose from their understanding and experience of the Christian faith, with a particular focus on the person and work of Jesus and what it means to be His disciple in the world.
Since 2001, Andrew and Anne found themselves being drawn or "called" to a medical mission in the developing world, specifically in the Kitgum District of Northern Uganda. Their first visit to the region was life changing and moving as they were confronted by a hurting community ravaged by 15 years of civil war.
Here are some of Andrew and Anne's reflections about what inspired them to start the Yotkom project:
It was sad to witness first hand the reality of war atrocities, high levels of infectious disease and the impact of HIV/AIDs on children and families. There was also a stark scarcity of trained medical staff to respond to this burden of suffering in sub Saharan Africa.
The Bible, the guide book for Christians, is full of teachings which challenged us to live out our faith by being involved in areas of social action and responding to injustice and the needs of our neighbours in the global community.
God's purpose and plan for Christians is to demonstrate LOVE for others and to be involved in what the Bible calls GOOD DEEDS (Hebrews 10:24).
The apostle James wrote that
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this - to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
(James 1:27)
There is clearly a relationship between FAITH and WORKS or ACTIONS.
As we delved deeper into the practical out-workings of our faith it led us into cross cultural health work amongst the Acholi community of Northern Uganda. Over several years we built strong trusting relationships with health professionals and leaders in the community. In 2008 an Australian/Ugandan partnership was formalised through the creation of Yotkom as a company limited by guarentee in Uganda. Yotkom became registered as a non government organisation with the primary purpose of improving access and excellence in primary health care to the community of Northern Uganda.
After initially working with other health facilities, funds were raised in Australia to build our own Yotkom Medical Centre which opened in October 2015. Through this process we have discovered the power of working in community to achieve a vision.