Nurses volunteering in Uganda planning fundraiser

WARWICK, R.I. (WLNE) — Two women from Southern New England recently returned from a medical mission trip to Uganda for the medical nonprofit The Waves of Health.

Retired nurse practitioner Alona Rotkovitch from Warwick and retired nurse Eileen Sugrue-Mcelearney of Natick flew nearly 7,000 miles to Uganda, then took a bus on dirt roads to spend five days in a village on the outskirts of Lake Victoria.

The women were joined by 12 other medical professionals to treat more than 1,200 patients during their visit

“We saw a lot of parasite infections in the stomach,” Sugrue-Mcelearney said. “Lake Victoria is where a lot of our patients were fisherman and the lake, at least in that area, is pretty polluted.  We had treatment for that. The wonderful thing about waves of health is that the money that we fund raise goes to them. No one in Waves of Health gets paid. It’s all voluntary, including the administration. So it all goes for medication.”

The women said it was a long way to travel and the work was exhausting, but they plan to go again next year.

The non-profit is hosting a fundraiser Feb. 11 from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at B’z Community Bar. Click here for more details.