“When I was younger, I wanted to be an engineer,“ states 25 year old Opio Jotham, quite matter of factly, a bit surprising as one of eight children raised in the Acholi Quarter, a slum on the outskirts of Uganda’s capital, Kampala, and a haven for refugees from Northern Uganda who fled to escape the civil war. His mother’s education ended in the sixth grade while his father took up a vocational training course in carpentry after completing senior 4, the equivalent of American high school. “In senior 2, I learned that two of my siblings have sickle cell anemia. That’s when I became passionate to be a doctor,” recalls Jotham. In December, Jotham completed a three-year course in clinical medicine and is now working alternating shifts at three separate clinics and sees 30-35 patients a day.
Besides the obvious scholastic challenges to completing his degree, the financial hardships imposed on him and his family cannot be dismissed. Jotham recounts how whenever his father would get a carpentry job, it became a family affair. They’d all work together. That strong family bond persists today. The bulk of his 250,000 Uganda schillings weekly salary, or about $70, goes directly into the family’s coffer to help pay the school fees for his three younger siblings.
Jotham envisions a future with even greater success than he has already achieved. He hopes to pursue a five-year course in medicine and surgery or a four-year course in anesthesiology. “Although I would love to stay around Kampala, I’d go wherever the opportunity is,” he acknowledges as he contemplates his future. Ultimately, Jotham hopes to open his own clinic so he can balance his work schedule with having a family of his own.
Jotham believes the real impact of his work goes beyond the treatment he provides to his patients. “It’s about the feeling you give,” he counters. “It’s about giving hope.”
“You give hope to the hopeless,” Jotham modestly continues. “I don’t want to say directly that you give life, but you make life better.” He beams. “It makes you feel extra-ordinary.”
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