Does humanitarian aid have a 'white saviour'
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Is Mzungu Savior Killing Babies in Mayuge?
The independent, 14 June 2019
None of the mothers
knows what exactly happened to her child. What they all say is their
children were not growing normally and were possibly malnourished. They
all went to Renee Bach for help. And the children died.
Renee Bach is
believed to be from Bedford; a town in the U.S. state of Virginia. In
Uganda, she runs an NGO called Serving His Children (SHC) based in
Masese 1 village of Jinja town in eastern Uganda.A white poster that
hangs over the entrance of the center states Renee Bach promises:
"Breaking the cycle of malnutrition in families and communities across
Uganda".
But Renee Bach is
now being sued in the High Court in Jinja for the death of over 100
children under her care in unclear circumstances.
A female lawyer's
NGO – Women's Pro bono Initiative (WPI) is providing legal aid to the
mothers, who are mainly vulnerable women.
Beatrice Kayaga, a
legal officer at WPI told The Independent that, without any medical
qualification, Renee Bach has been performing medical procedures and
giving treatment to children of unsuspecting parents.
Annet Kakai is one of the mothers who lost a child and is suing Renee Bach.
"Those people did something to my child and he died," she said, "They gave him something. When we got home he died."
Kakai is from of
Buzika village in Buikwe district near Jinja and her son, Elijah, was
reportedly not growing well when she first went to Bach's NGO for help.
The baby was thin. Kakai says her friend, who she only knows as Fatumah,
had told her of the white lady who would help feed her one year old to
grow fat.
"Elijah was
playing. He was laughing. My worry was he was too small for his age,"
she says. Fatumah had already told Bach about her when they arrived.
"The white lady
dressed in doctor's uniform (white lab coat) took my son and went with
him to another room," Kakai says. Bach returned the baby after about an
hour and through an interpreter she asked Kakai to return to the
facility the next day.
When she returned
the next day, Kakai and her baby was put me in a car driven to
Kigandaalo Health Center IV in Mayuge; another district.
"Elijah was given
some milk. We stayed there for two days and they discharged us," Kakai
says. She was not given a medical form or any document or any
explanation.
"They didn't say
anything. They drove me up to Jinja Amber Court and gave me Shs2000.
When we got home the baby became very weak. He died three days later,"
she sobs "Those people did something to my child and he died."
She is now seeking justice. Her case is set to be heard on Mar.12 at the High Court in Jinja.
Kakai is not the
only one who has lost a child at the hands of Bach. Up to a hundred
children are said to have died ever since the white savior opened her
facility first from 2012 to 2015 in Jinja and from 2016 when they
relocated to Mayuge as a nutrition center under the government-owned
Kigandaalo Health Center IV to date.
Experimenting on children
Kayaga says
information from witnesses that have worked at the facility show Bach
surfed the internet and at times would call doctors in the U.S.when
dealing with cases.
She says Bach has
hired social workers who comb government health facilities and homes
from as far as Butaleja and Mbale districts. As a result the center at
Kigandaalo Health Center IV now handles about 20 children a day – both
in and out patient departments.
That's how they
landed on Zubedah Gimbo of Kizuba village in Namutumba district and she
lost her three-year old son under unclear circumstances. According to
Gimbo, they took her son, Twalali Kifabi, from her while she was heavily
pregnant.
"They only returned
him home in a coffin and gave me an envelope with Shs50, 000 in it,"
she says, "They came in a car and left immediately, before burial. I had
questions as to what had killed my child. I needed help and
explanations. None was given to me by the women that came with the body
of my dead child."
Gimbo says that, July 22, 2013 is stuck in her memory.
"They called me
that he had died. I had asked my mother to help me go with the child
because I was heavily pregnant. I had earlier taken him to Nawandagala
Health Center in Namutumba and doctors there advised me to give him
nutritious foods. They gave me a list. I couldn't afford them."
She says when she
started hearing stories of other parents saying Bach is not a doctor,
she realised she could have made some mistake that killed her son.
Gimbo now wants
court to compel Bach to give her an explanation. She says her mother
said for the three days of admission at the Masese 1 center, the white
woman would connect tubes to the child's arms and chest, and that she
would give him some things to drink.
The
Independent contacted Bach to verify these claims.She didn't respond to
her mail and yet her phone was off. Another contact at the facility
said they were not doing any media interviews or speaking publically
about an issue since its going before court.
But, in September
2017, Bach had given an interview to a U.S.newspaper where it's said she
had gone to raise funds to cater for bills back here in eastern Uganda.
She reportedly spends $17,000 (Approx. Shs 62 million) per month. She
told them she had started SHC as a food aid organisation in 2012 but
that quickly changed.
"And, so, after we
had seen about 12 malnourished kids come through and we had taken them
to different hospitals and had poor experiences with them not getting
even moderate treatment and care, we decided this is an area that the
Lord is kind of showing us there is a huge need and maybe this is where
we're supposed to put our focus."
According to the
article published in The News and Advance a daily newspaper in Virginia,
Bach said, "And I thought it was so odd because I had never really seen
malnutrition before, and was like 'What is happening? This is so
weird". She was describing how the malnourished children look. She
possibly was overwhelmed.
Read the original article on Independent (Kampala).
100 Babies Dead - NGO Wants U.S. Missionary Prosecuted in Virginia
14 June 2019
By Nontobeko Mlambo
Johannesburg
— Missionary Renee Bach, who runs a local non-governmental organisation
called Serving His Children in eastern Uganda, is being accused of
representing herself as a doctor, and treating children in her care. She
allegedly took children with malnutrition from local hospitals to
"treat" them at her organisation - and some of them died.
Gimbo Zubeda and Kakai Rose from Masese in Jinja District alongside civil society organisation, Women's Probono Initiative, are suing Bach for the actions they allege led to the death of their children while in her care.
The two women say
that they were led to believe that Renee Bach was a medical doctor and
that her home was a medical facility as she was often seen wearing a
white coat, a stethoscope and often administered medications to children
in her care. They say they learned that Bach had no training at all in
medicine after their children died. They also found out that in 2015,
the District Health Officer had closed her facility and ordered her to
not offer any treatment to any children.
So how then did an
American missionary without any medical qualification end up allegedly
performing medical procedures and giving treatment to children even
after her facility was ordered to shut down?
'There are
procedural and regulatory mechanisms that ought to be followed when
establishing a medical facility in Uganda. Even so the law provides for
licensing agencies and protocols for who should practice medicine in
Uganda. It is unacceptable, narcissistic behavior, for any one, black or
white, rich or poor, missionary or angel to pass off as a 'medical
practitioner' when they are not," says Beatrice Kayaga, an officer at
the Women’s Probono Initiative.
The complainants
are asking the Jinja High Court in Uganda to shut down Bach's
organisation. They say the actions of Bach led to the death of over 100
children, "violating their right to access adequate treatment, the right
to health of the children, the right to life, the right to be free from
discrimination on the basis of race and social economic standing and
the right to dignity, freedom from torture, inhuman and degrading
treatment".
The Serving His
Children NGO responded to an article written by Sarabeth Caplin in 2018
accusing Christian Missionary for "Playing Doctor" With No Training.
"At no time has
our founder, Renee Bach, presented herself as a medical professional,
experimented on or caused the death of any child. Having been trained by
medical professionals to start IVs, Ms. Bach has in the past provided
assistance in such procedures when requested and currently serves in an
administrative capacity and participates in fundraising for the
organization" - Lauri Bach, the U.S. Director for Serving His Children.
A group called No White Saviors (NWS) has taken to social media
to raise awareness of this case, and has asked for help in bringing
charges against Bach in the U.S.. The group posted pictures of two
children with visible scars they say were caused by Renee Bach's botched
care.
@nowhitesaviors
"Some of #ReneeBach 's victims are still alive. This is Patricia, left
permanently disfigured after a botched blood transfusion performed by
Renee. She didn't cross-match the blood, because she's not a medical
professional, child had horrible reaction & now lives with these
scars."
@nowhitesaviors "This
is Maasai. He has been left with irreversible physical and mental
disabilities because of #ReneeBach 's botched medical experimentation.
Former staff and the family of Maasai report that Renee Bach was the one
to treating their child at @servinghis"
@nowhitesaviors "Renee Bach is absolutely hiding in the U.S. She did not even show up for court in Jinja in March.
@nowhitesaviors
"It was well over 100. Legally we name that number because there is an
open human rights case that our team of lawyers have filed here in
Uganda. We are very weary of their ability to pay off authorities here
and are ready to pursue charges in U.S. against her and her 501c3."
The response on social media has been cutting:
@Emiko Appledad_ "This
is extreme white privilege and she should be held accountable for her
actions legally. Black babies are not your medical testing subjects and I
don't care what God you're serving while doing so."
@sneha_dodab "Profiting
of the innocence and helplessness in children in rural Uganda? This
screams white savior complex and is absolutely horrific. It hurts my
heart EVEN more that when I google #ReneeBach that NOTHING regarding the
consequences of her crime against humanity pops up."
@joycetreasure
"The white saviour complex #ReneeBach needs to be held accountable. This
demonstrates how insidious the savior complex is, so much so that the
authorities allow this to continue and social media becomes the tool to
highlight the killing of African babies."
Renee Bach's whereabouts are unavailable, and there have been reports that she didn't show up for her court date in March, 2019.
Note: this story has been edited for clarity. - allAfrica
Woman sued over death of babies, faking qualification
Wednesday January 23 2019
Kampala-A
woman who has been running a local non-governmental organisation and
whose alleged activities involved treating malnourished children with
some dying in the process, has been sued for her alleged actions on
grounds that she was not a qualified medical doctor.
Ms
Renee Bach, a foreign national, was sued alongside her organisation,
Serving His Children (SHC) before Jinja High Court on Monday.
The
petition was filed by two women from Masese in Jinja District; Ms Gimbo
Zubeda and Ms Kakai Rose, alongside a Civil Society Organisation;
Women’s Probono Initiative.
The aggrieved women claim
to have lost their babies at the hands of Ms Renee whom they accuse of
having postured to be treating them, yet she did not have any medical
background.
What the mothers say
The mothers in their court documents, state that they were led to believe that Ms Renee was a medical doctor and that her home was a medical facility as she was often seen wearing a white coat, a stethoscope and often administered medications to children in her care.
This prompted them to take their children there but ended up dying upon bringing administered medication by Ms Renee.
The mothers in their court documents, state that they were led to believe that Ms Renee was a medical doctor and that her home was a medical facility as she was often seen wearing a white coat, a stethoscope and often administered medications to children in her care.
This prompted them to take their children there but ended up dying upon bringing administered medication by Ms Renee.
Ms Gimbo states that in 2013, her child was malnourished and needed to be fed on nutritious foods which she could not afford.
She
adds that in the process, some woman, who she later learnt was from
SHC, came and asked her to take her child to their facility where she
could be helped but the child was brought back dead after three days.
The petitioners through their lawyers of Dalumba Advocates, want an order ceasing the operations of Ms Renee and her NGO with immediate effect.
The petitioners through their lawyers of Dalumba Advocates, want an order ceasing the operations of Ms Renee and her NGO with immediate effect.
