A Visit to Hospice Africa

Abstract

As we arrived at Hospice Africa headquarters in Kampala, Uganda on 7 September zoo6, it had not occurred to me that a hospice would be so lively, especially near the close of the workday. But that was before we had met "Dr. Anne" and "Dr. Jack," our hosts and before reading the literature placed in our hands immediately upon arrival, including Hospice Africa's I3th Annual Report for 2005 and Strategic Plan for zoo6-zoi describing their approach as not only "holistic, but vigorous." This we can see. Dr. Anne greets us warmly, introduces us to Dr. Jack and others in the administrative area, and apologizes as she bustles off to another meeting. Dr. Jack settles us in a circle of chairs in a lounge that has offered hospitality to hundreds of visitors before. We learn that the term "hospice" is rooted in "hospitality." Hospice Africa also views its patients as guests. After a brief orientation, Dr. Jack leads my two colleagues and me on a tour. A project at Makerere University has brought me back to Kampala, just as we send to press this issue's article and commentary on palliative care thus an opportunity to see Africa's model hospice in operation. My two Swedish colleagues, intrigued by my plan to visit the hospice, have come along. One is an accountant who has volunteered his services to a hospice in his home community in southern Sweden. We arrive in Makindye, about a 2o-min drive through heavy traffic from our last meeting of the day at Makerere University. We have entered a community so determined and adept at social marketing that every element of the environment "speaks out" about relieving misery of unnecessary symptoms and pain associated with