The Hesburgh Center for International Studies showed the documentary “Okuyamba” on March 21.  The showing featured a concluding question and answer session with the filmmakers and Rose Kiwanuka, the first palliative care nurse in Uganda.

Directors Mike Wargo of the Hospice Foundation and Ted Mandell of Notre Dame’s Department of Film, Television, and Theatre hope to raise awareness of the work of the Palliative Care Association of Uganda with the film. The documentary will be honored later this month with the Zachary Morfogen Art of Caring Award from the National Hospice Foundation.  The film takes its name from the Lugandan word “to help.”

Palliative care aims to make a disease or alleviate its symptoms less unpleasant. According to Kiwanuka, Uganda’s palliative care program works to control the symptoms of people suffering from “life-limiting illnesses” like AIDS and cancer.  “Every person deserves to die in dignity and without pain,” she said.

Wargo originally approached Mandell with the idea of creating an infomercial describing the work Kiwanuka and others were doing in Uganda and generating awareness about its importance.  Mandell, however, preferred the idea of making a short documentary that let the Ugandans themselves share their stories.

“I wanted to capture what it is like to be there, to allow the viewer to become emotionally attached to these victims,” he said.

The 30-minute film follows Kiwanuka and fellow nurses as they spend the day visiting various patients. Swollen limbs, infected wounds, bed sores, and other ailments prevent patients from continuing with work and a normal lifestyle. Pain medications and treatments provided by the palliative nurses contribute greatly to easing and prolonging the lives of the suffering.

In the video, one man said that the care he received not only took away his pain, but also gave him courage to live. When he discovered he had AIDS, he did not expect to survive much longer, but the palliative care program has given him renewed hope.

The nurses’ care can also prove life-altering for the patients’ children.  When one or both of the parents is sick, the burden of care often falls on the children.  By eliminating some of these symptoms with proper medication, nurses alleviate these children’s stress.

Patients often live in rural villages, far from hospitals and lacking the money necessary for medical treatment.  Palliative care allows people the chance to receive personalized attention from a trained nurse who visits their home.

Kiwanuka described how palliative nurses aim to “solve the problems they can solve.”  For example, many patients express concern that they can no longer support their families in terms of money for food and education.  Along with administering medications to give patients a better quality of life, nurses search for organizations that can help support families financially.

Despite the trials and challenges of working with terminal patients, Kiwanuka assured the audience that she and her fellow nurses receive “joy from caring for others.”

Ellen Roof is a freshman studying business and psychology whose freckles are now making an appearance after such a beautiful stretch of weather.  She can be reached at eroof@nd.edu.