Young Lutheran receives justice award

A young Australian Lutheran woman and her husband have been awarded for their work in leadership and justice in Africa.

Kim Findlay and her Baptist husband Michael received the inaugural Future Justice International Medal for 2011 for their efforts in establishing Maranatha Health, an organisation bringing healthcare and development to a community suffering from significant health issues in Kamwenge, western Uganda.

The Future Justice International Medal is awarded to young professionals who demonstrate leadership and initiative, internationally, that will contribute to upholding and bringing about justice.

Kim, a member of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Para Vista, Adelaide, spent time volunteering for several overseas aid programs before undertaking a Bachelor, and later Masters, in Community Development.

Michael, who practised as a GP in Adelaide before moving to Africa in February 2011, first became inspired to undertake overseas development work while on a medical placement in Uganda.

‘Michael and I were driven to fulfil this vision because of our faith in Jesus as God and man, and the way he lived on earth’, Kim explains. ‘We feel strongly that God is for the poor and oppressed, inviting us to join him in redeeming this world.

‘It has been an incredible adventure so far, establishing Maranatha Health, although not without a lot challenges: immersing ourselves in another culture, being away from our families, dealing with Ugandan bureaucracy, always having more to learn!’

When life is challenging, it is the Kamwenge community and their stories that drive Kim and Michael forward, she says.

‘To us, this community is no longer just a bunch of poverty statistics; they are our friends, who have welcomed us into their lives, who work hard to make a living wage, and who share with us their struggles of persistent poverty, limited opportunity and sad stories of mortality and morbidity.’

Maranatha Health (www.maranathahealth.org) aims to improve health outcomes and empower the poor in Kamwenge through the provision of health services, community development initiatives, and by strengthening the current health system.

‘Maranatha is a Hebrew word that means “come, Jesus”, the website statement explains. ‘Through this project in Kamwenge we seek to emulate his actions and passion for social justice.’

Kim and Michael, in their twenties, established Maranatha Health in Kamwenge, a district where one in four children are not expected to live to their fifth birthday. Among the 350,000 residents, there is only one practising doctor.

‘In Australia for the same number of people we have around 900 doctors’, Michael said.

More information: Kim’s blog www.buzima.wordpress.com