Her retirement plan: Bringing medical care to teen moms in Uganda

May 4—Retired nurse from NH making a difference in Uganda

HOPKINTON

It's about 7,000 miles from this central New Hampshire town to remote villages in Uganda. For Sandy Fisher, that journey feels like fate, even divine providence.

Retiring after 35 years in nursing, including two decades as a maternity nurse, Fisher could have embraced her newfound leisure time. Instead, she felt called by faith to do more.

With support from her friends and community, Fisher has established medical outpatient clinics in Uganda, caring for teenage mothers and their babies.

For her, it's simple, she said: "God is love. We're there to give love, give support."

Fisher had long been active in her church, Contoocook United Methodist. She got involved in mission work, be it with migrant farmers in Maine, hurricane survivors in New Orleans, and impoverished residents in Haiti and Nicaragua. When Fisher retired at 59, she and her husband, Steve, bought a camper and traveled the country, finding ways to volunteer wherever they went.

In 2019, they went to Uganda for a safari. They also visited nearby villages, where residents work as cooks and guides for the foreigners who come to the mountains to trek.

The trip was a turning point, motivating Fisher to combine her experience in medicine with her passion for helping those who need it.

Starting small

Students in those villages don't have textbooks; everything is taught on a blackboard, and the children copy their lessons into notebooks, Fisher said. So missing four or five days a month for menstruation puts girls at a disadvantage. Her first project involved making reusable sanitary pads for teens to help them stay in school and keep learning.

Back home, Fisher was working with African refugee families who had settled in Concord. That's how she met John Runezerwa, who had fled war and massacre in the Democratic Republic of Congo, arriving in the U.S. in 2007. "He always called me his American mother," she said.

When Runezerwa left his homeland, Fisher said, "He made a promise to God that he would return someday to help the children."

Three years ago, that promise came due — just as Fisher was approaching age 70.

"I started thinking about what I could do to make a difference for people in this world," she said. "I decided what I wanted to do is work toward improving prenatal care."

Runezerwa, who by then had moved with his family to Texas, started a nonprofit aid organization called Evone Ministries International, named for his firstborn child, who had died of malaria at the age of 2. He contacted Fisher, who traveled with him to Ruboni, Uganda, where she introduced him to the villagers she had met on her previous trip.

They set about opening an outpatient clinic where pregnant girls ages 12 to 17 can receive medical care free of charge, before and after they give birth. They work with a local doctor named Mark Kinene, who had been providing for his sisters since his own father died when he was a boy.

Now that's what he does for the girls who come to the clinics, Fisher said. "He's a big brother to them all," she said.

Their plans were put on hold during the pandemic. But after the government-imposed lockdown lifted on Jan. 1, 2022, they opened their clinic the very next week.

"The first day there were 10 girls," Fisher said. "The next day, there were 40 that showed up."

A doctor and two midwives run prenatal and postpartum clinics every two weeks, providing physical exams and lab tests, and educating the girls about basic hygiene to prevent infection during birth. For many of the girls, it's the first time they've ever received medical care, Fisher said.

The girls also receive "Mama kits," supplies to ensure a safe and sterile birth, and medicated bed nets to prevent malaria. Clinic staff continue to see the moms for six months after birth, and provide them with a "graduation" gift of clothes and reusable diapers.

And something extraordinary happened.

Fisher watched as these girls became fierce advocates, taking care of each other and their little ones.

"They've formed a sisterhood, and that's something I never expected," she said.

The darker side of care

It's not all hope and light.

The clinic staff discovered a disturbingly high rate of sexual abuse, especially during the pandemic, Fisher said.

"With girls not being in school, they're prey," she said. "It can be an hour walk to gather water. Even just walking down the road, girls would tell me, the men would chase them. They would be accosted."

Too often, sexual assaults result in pregnancy. In many cases, the pregnancy is the result of incest — an uncle, brother or even father, Fisher said.

It's also common for fathers to choose husbands for their very young daughters, sending them off to the men's homes, she said.

"They sleep together, she gets pregnant, and then they expect them to get married and have a dowry," she said. "I call it selling your child: 'For four to six goats, you can have my daughter.'"

When Fisher visited the clinics earlier this year, she met a 13-year-old girl who had been raped by a 37-year-old man. "Her parents were trying to force her to marry him," she said.

The girl ended up having a miscarriage. It was sad, Fisher said, "but she will have a life again."

Another young girl was repeatedly raped by her father, who threatened her with a knife not to tell anyone. "It hits me in my heart," Fisher said.

The girls love their babies, despite the violence of their conception, Fisher said.

"They don't feel the child is responsible, and they love their child and want to do the best for their child," she said.

During her visits, Fisher leads a sexual abuse support group for the girls, encouraging them to share their stories — "to let them know it wasn't their fault, that they're not guilty," she said. She teaches the girls how to stand up for themselves, to yell and run away, "so it doesn't happen again."

Evone Ministries also helps the girls go back to school, sponsoring a scholarship program to pay the fees.

Their work is making a difference. Since the clinics opened, there have been no maternal deaths, although some babies have died, from prematurity or malaria, Fisher said.

It's a patriarchal society, Fisher said, adding, "Progress is slow. You don't change things overnight."

"But the key thing is that the girls have a voice in these clinics," she said. "They help care for each other. They look out for each other during the two weeks in between clinic days."

Fisher receives grateful letters and emails all the time from the girls, who call her "Grandmother Sandy."

"They all start out with thanking God, the presence of God, and all that God's given them," she said.

At 72, Fisher can't imagine giving up this work. "Longevity is in my family," she points out.

"I always say my faith is basic," she said. "It's based on: God is love, and it's up to me to share God's love. I need to be the hands and feet of Jesus."

To learn more about Evone Ministries, contact Sandy Fisher at: P.O. Box 421, Contoocook, NH 03229.