Empowering Students, Changing Communities: Partnering in Uganda to Improve Rural Health

ALBANY, N.Y. (July 21, 2026) —Off a dirt road in Ddegeya village in rural Uganda, MPH student Victoria Buell walked to work, passing by wild grasses and scattered trees in the tropical savanna heat. She pulled open the door, greeted the clinical team, and settled in at her desk. A Ugandan soap opera played softly on a nearby television.

It was summer 2025, and Buell was an intern at Engeye, a non-profit organization in Ddegeya. She worked in the Engeye Health Clinic, where she learned from health professionals and assisted with day-to-day needs. She also helped develop and implement an evaluation plan for the health center’s new direct observation unit and supported a community needs assessment for a potential oral health program.

“Being there was incredible,” said Buell. “I learned so much from the people around me and applied skills from the classroom to a global setting.”

Founded in 2008, the clinic is the first of its kind in the village. On the day it opened, one thousand people lined up to receive services, and today the clinic remains an important part of the community, providing primary care, preventive care and immunizations, testing and counseling, family planning and health education. While the clinic’s initial functioning relied on physicians from abroad, the model quickly changed in the early years to enable the clinic to function year-round with Ugandan clinicians and staff. Support is provided by international collaborators, who partner with Engeye to enhance initiatives, programming, reporting and education.

Engeye has strong ties to Albany, New York. It was founded by Stephanie Van Dyke, who trained at Albany Medical Center, and John Kalule, a Ugandan native who serves as Engeye’s director. Teams from Albany Medical Center visit Engeye each year for medical training and to provide continuing medical education for the local clinical staff and community health workers.

Since 2012, UAlbany’s Center for Global Health has partnered with Engeye, sending students each summer to learn from clinicians and community members. Many receive funding from the Carol A. Whittaker Global Travel Award, supported by professionals, alumni and friends of the Center. The first intern sent in 2012, Daryl Spak, remains involved with Engeye, and has since mentored several UAlbany students.

"Now Daryl’s a family physician working in the U.S. who returns to Engeye,” said Sophie Whiteman, MPH ‘25, who interned at Engeye in 2024 and now serves as Vice President for Scholars for the non-profit. “You don’t see that in other places, but you see it here. It's a testament to how much Engeye is a family and how people want to come back.”

Interns like Buell and Whiteman work on various initiatives at the health clinic and the maternity center. Projects range from GIS mapping to completing the required daily documentation for the Ugandan Ministry of Health.

“You learn so much about the social dynamics of the community as an intern at Engeye, too,” Whiteman explained. “The patients come to the clinic in their best clothes, which is very different than in America. It’s considered a show of respect to the clinicians, and Ugandans are very patient people. If they need to, they’ll wait hours to see the clinician. I learned so much just from talking to people while they waited—the culture is amazing.”

Learning from each other is a core value of the partnership between Engeye and UAlbany’s Center for Global Health.

“It’s one of the first things I tell my students,” said John Justino, director of the Center for Global Health. “To be a competent public health professional, especially in a global setting, you must listen. Absorb knowledge and culture from those around you, and embed yourself in the community.”

Bridget Nandawula, a Ugandan clinical officer, mentored UAlbany students at Engeye from 2013 to 2019. During a visit to Albany for a global health symposium at Albany Medical College, Nandawula met with Justino to speak about her professional goals.

“Mentoring these students evoked my interest in UAlbany's MPH program,” Nandawula said. “I realized there was a lot more to compassionate health care, and my desire to approach the patient at the community level grew stronger each day.”

Receiving support from long-time Engeye partners, as well as scholarship funding from the local Albany chapter of the Philanthropic Educational Organization, Nandawula traveled to Albany to earn her MPH in 2021, as well as Graduate Certificates in Global Health Studies and Maternal and Child Health. 

“Building collaboration and trust with global partners like Engeye takes time, but the returns are well worth it,” Justino said. “These collaborations create valuable opportunities for our faculty and students to promote global health and wellbeing through research, service, and academic exchanges.” 

For students like Buell, Whiteman, and Nandawula, our Engeye partnership becomes much more than a program — it’s a lasting connection that continues long after they leave Ddegeya.