Dorothy Nzirambi
Dorothy Nzirambi Komusana was NOTDEC Uganda's founder and a member of the management team. She retired in July 2018 to live in a house built for her on her land near Kinyamaseke and paid for by a speical fundraising appeal by NOTDEC UK.
Even a few weeks before Dorothy's departure, when she was gradually moving towards retirement, she still enjoyed looking after babies and young children, and devoted a lot of time to training house-mothers, helping with the routine day-to-day practicalities of running an orphanage, and serving as Founder Trustee on the NOTDEC Uganda Board of Trustees;
Dorothy's schooling ended at Primary 6 (her father was ill and could not afford the fees); and, as a result, her written English is limited. Coupled with her evident love of nursing babies, and her lower profile in the management team, this could lead some to underestimate her. That would be a serious mistake.
Particularly in difficult times, Dorothy's strength of character stands out, and no-one can doubt her determination to fight for the children that God has put on her heart. In early 2015, for example, the orphanage was completely full and took the difficult decision to close to all new admissions until further notice. Despite this, people continued to arrive with babies they clearly could not feed or care for. Admitting the babies would open the floodgates — and they really couldn't cope with any more. But send them away, and memories of 2012 said that they would almost certainly die. What could be done?
Dorothy was decisive. To avoid creating precedents at Kabirizi, she decamped to premises in Kasese. There she offered short-term help and infant formula while families made their own arrangements, but — as in Ugandan hospitals — only if a family member stayed to look after the baby. Where appropriate, she also gave childcare training. This pragmatic approach ensured that no babies died and — from the outset — all were cared for by their wider family. [For more on this, see "Bottles & Basics" in The Baby Boom.]
Where there's a will ...