Fighting rabies in Uganda: Hear from volunteer vet Namata Alice

Namata Alice, a practicing veterinarian in Uganda, joined us for our 2024 mass vaccination campaign where 2,885 dogs were vaccinated against rabies. For this campaign, our vaccination teams worked within Kabale, Rukiga and Rubanda Districts in the South Western region of Uganda, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and Kabale District Veterinary Office.

Keep reading to hear all about Namata’s volunteering experience.

Fighting rabies in Uganda: Hear from volunteer vet Namata Alice

‘I graduated from Makerere University in January 2023, with a bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine. I was introduced to Mission Rabies by a classmate while in vet school where I subscribed to the newsletter. I have passion for animals and always would like to offer my skills and knowledge in animal health science wherever needed. Over the years, I read the newsletters of the campaigns in various parts of the world and wished I could join in although constrained by finances. I was excited when I saw that Mission Rabies has a campaign in my country and that’s when I decided to forward in my interest through an email. I was glad and grateful that my request was accepted.

On a typical day of the campaign, we would start by converging at our meeting point where we received a recap of the previous day’s activities and how we fared, organise our equipment, and get to know the workstations for the day. Navigation through the hills was made easy with the help of Kabale local government officials from the veterinary department to the static point clinics. We headed out to the field while calling out to people using a megaphone, encouraging them to bring their dogs for the free vaccinations as we drew closer to the workstation. The work included taking a few details from the owners, vaccination, and marking the dogs [with an animal friendly paint to show they had been vaccinated].

Although the days fluctuated with varying numbers for each day, the most exciting day was when we vaccinated a total of about 130 dogs in a day. My first highlight was that people in the rural setting really had a relationship with their dogs and were willing to bring them for vaccination. The relationship they had also made it easy for us to give the shot while they held their dogs. Also, the fact that owners were walking quite long distances to find us at the static points. Another highlight was the zeal of my teammates to get every dog vaccinated. There was one time we thought dogs in the area were exhausted, so we set out to move around and we found this Mzee (title for an elderly male) with his four dogs that we vaccinated along the way!

To every animal lover who wishes to give back to the community, Mission Rabies campaigns are a very fantastic opportunity for you to get involved as we aim to have a rabies free world by 2030! It is also a perfect chance for one to explore new environments, communities and how various people live and associate with animals. The campaign enabled me to really connect with the theory of rabies disease control and better understand my role as a veterinarian in the fight against it, since it’s a zoonotic disease. The information on the flyers also enabled me to give better advice to dog owners on animal handling practices to prevent/avoid dog bites since most of these dogs weren’t used to frequent handling. It also provided information on the appropriate first aid for wound management in case of dog bites.

I would like to appreciate the Mission Rabies team and the donors for the efforts toward eliminating human rabies deaths in the world. Having seen as a child, a neighbour’s child in my hometown succumb to the disease, as the result of a dog bite, it gives me hope when I see people who dedicate their resources and time towards this cause!’