C.E.R.F.
Christian Emergency
Response Force
Making villages safe and healthy has been a huge focus for us in the years we’ve been in Uganda. Training the local people about safe water, good hygiene, proper nutrition, disease prevention and emergency first-aid has been essential in creating sustainable lifestyles… as well as saving many lives!
We have been privileged to be invited into so many areas to train the residents, teachers, government officials and health professionals. Recently In the Manafwa district we graduated 42 Emergency First Responders after over 100 hours of training. The week after we graduated 27 Emergency First Aid Trainers… those who are now ready to go out and train others through the area in basic healthcare and disease prevention.
There have been many amazing testimonies from our graduated students.
Take Mukhwana Joshua. While in Senior High School in Mbale Town, he went through C.E.R.F. training with his parents, both pastors of a church in Mbale. A week or so after he had completed his training, a fellow student was injured with a compound fracture of the femur while playing soccer during school. Just as improper, life threatening measures were about to be taken by school officials, Joshua took control of the scene and applied his newly acquired first aid principals, possibly saving the boy’s life… most certainly his leg! School officials were so impressed they let him move to the hospital with the injured friend AND paid his transport home. A very big deal in Uganda! Subsequently Joshua has become the official Medical First Responder for his school and is now one of our C.E.R.F. instructors.
Creating Sustainable Independent Health Practices
In keeping with One City’s core philosophy of creating sustainable self-sufficiency within all areas of involvement, our C.E.R.F. “Train the Trainer” program is another One City success story. Bringing much needed relief to a nation starved for healthcare professionals. Local C.E.R.F. trained instructors are dispatched to remote villages to spread their newly acquired knowledge and recruit local health assistants. The growth and impact of the organization has been gaining momentum exponentially throughout Eastern Uganda and beyond. So far we have received word of hundreds of precious lives being saved and many more helped as a direct result of their “hands-on” care and teachings in the field. We continue to monitor the grads and have consistent refresher courses and advanced training.