Mission
Our mission is to advance cancer prevention, early detection, and the improvement of the quality of life for patients and families affected by severe illness.
Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja
Psychosocial Support
Disease in any family affects everybody in the household – emotionally, financially and socially. Most of Rays of Hope Hospice Jinja's (RHHJ's) patients are among the poorest people in Uganda, usually living below the poverty line.
Before receiving services, most patients often lack access to basic necessities, including mats or mattresses, and have little or no food. Our patients are often worried not only for themselves, but also for their children who may be out of school.
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Over and above easing their physical pains and symptoms, each patient and their family are evaluated individually to try to address the total pain that they are suffering.
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RHHJ provides counselling, and when needed: food, mattresses and bedding, school fees, clothes, wheelchairs, washable diapers and colostomy bags. In addition we arrange regular day-care clinics for patients and their families with discussions and encouragement as well as health education. Bereavement support is given to families after the loss of a loved one.
Counselling
Patients and their families receive counselling during every visit.
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For very complex cases, counselling is done by our trained social workers.
Food Support
Some of our poorest patients receive a monthly food basket of 3kg rice, 2kg beans, 1kg sugar and one stick of soap. Severely undernourished patients or patients with difficulty in swallowing also receive a monthly supply of nutritional porridge.
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In addition, patients evaluated as requiring further support, often too sick to work and with no alternative support systems, receive a monthly comfort fund of UGX 10,000 / USD 3 to help them with their basic needs
School Fee Support
We support 180 children who are either sick themselves, have a sick parent in the RHHJ programme or have been orphaned by a parent who was a patient with RHHJ.
These children also receive school bags, shoes and other scholastic materials.
Day Cares
Every month, RHHJ hosts three day cares in different districts. These day cares are for patients, their families and care-takers to come together, share experiences, receive health talks and share a good meal.
Wheelchairs
Many of our patients are bedridden and spend their days lying alone in dark rooms. RHHJ provides these patients with a wheelchair so they can go outside, get fresh air and even return to their communities to see friends, attend events, church and funerals, providing life changing access to them and their caretakers.
Bereavement Support
As the majority of RHHJ's patients are terminally ill, an important part of our psychosocial programme offers bereavement support to families. This includes counselling, and a small monetary donation to help cover funeral costs. An annual collective memorial service also provides some ongoing solace and peace to family members.
Housing Support
Many of our patients do not live in adequate or habitable homes that are structurally unsound, have significant leakages and are severely overcrowded. For our most disadvantaged patients, RHHJ builds a simple home that will keep them warm and dry. We also help to repair houses that have been damaged in storms or for other reasons.
Mattresses & Bedding
For many of our patients, a mattress is a luxury they cannot afford, so they sleep on the bare ground, which makes coping with their illnesses that much harder - especially for those who are bedridden. We try to give every patient who does not have one a mattress, some sheets and blankets to keep them comfortable and warm. For patients with incontinence or cervical cancer, we give them a plastic sheet to put over their mattress to make cleaning easier.
Diapers & Colostomy Bags
RHHJ provides reusable diapers to patients experiencing extensive discharge and vaginal bleeding, and colostomy bags to those in need. Without these resources, patients often have no choice but to use old cloths for vaginal discharge and makeshift plastic bags with rubber bands for colostomy care. These simple yet essential interventions help our patients maintain their dignity, reducing stigma and allowing them to engage with others freely and participate actively in society.
