Renee Bach was
still a teenager when she left her small hometown in rural Virginia and moved
halfway across the world to Uganda, after spending just 10 months there on a
mission trip.
She set up a
Christian nonprofit, Serving His Children, in southeast Uganda in 2009, first
providing free meals to families in need, then offering free inpatient and
outpatient treatment for malnourished children as well as community engagement
programs aimed at breaking the cycle of malnutrition. The organization’s
website is peppered with Bible verses, appeals for donations and images of
Ugandan children, many with the telltale signs of severe malnutrition: sunken
eyes, protruding ribs and bloated bellies.
“At the time,
I didn’t even know that malnutrition was a huge problem in Uganda,” Bach,
30, told ABC News in a recent telephone interview. “That wasn’t something
I had been exposed to. It definitely wasn’t the plan initially.”
Serving His
Children, which works with local doctors and nurses, claims to have
successfully treated thousands of malnourished children in the region’s rural,
impoverished communities over the past several years. Success stories and
transformation photos of young patients are featured on the organization’s
website and social media pages.
But a lawsuit filled
with sweeping accusations that was filed in Uganda earlier this year tells a
different story, claiming that Bach, who has no formal medical training,
diagnosed and treated children while running an unlicensed medical facility
there, leading to the deaths of “hundreds of children.”
The court
documents, obtained by ABC News, detail a litany of complaints against Bach and
Serving His Children, with statements from two mothers whose children died as
well as affidavits from former employees and volunteers. Among the allegations
against Bach are performing medical procedures such as blood transfusions and
inserting intravenous catheters, disregarding sanitary protocols and attempting
to diagnose patients who showed symptoms frequently related to serious illnesses
like HIV and AIDS.
One former
volunteer stated in her affidavit that Bach allegedly “frequently wore a
stethoscope around her neck” and “was aware” she was known in
the community as the “white doctor.” The person claimed that Bach
based her treatment on her “gut feelings,” relied heavily on the book
“Where There Is No Doctor” and “did not follow orders of any
local medical professional.”
Bach’s attorney,
David Gibbs, has vehemently denied the “nonsensical” allegations and
maintained that his client is “innocent.” Gibbs, who is president of
the National Center for Life and Liberty, a Florida-based Christian legal
advocacy group, said his client’s organization provides “quality care
meeting national guidelines and under the supervision of the Uganda Ministry of
Health.”
“This hurts
Renee, obviously, and what she’s done with Serving His Children,” the
attorney told ABC News in a recent telephone interview. “But the ultimate
victims in this are the malnourished children in Uganda that aren’t able to
receive services when these types of lies and misinformation are put forward,
and it is very disruptive and it’s very unfortunate.”
In a statement
released late last month, Gibbs said Bach “worked alongside Ugandan
medical professionals” where she “learned skills to help provide
assistance as necessary.” He also maintained that she “never
represented herself as a doctor or nurse, but she made nutritional care
provided by qualified medical professionals more accessible for families in
rural areas.”
And Ugandan health officials
investigated Bach and Serving His Children earlier this year, finding no
evidence that large numbers of children died or that Bach was treating
children.
‘I feel his life was
snatched from my arms’
Bach and Serving
His Children are being sued in civil court in Uganda by two mothers who claim
their children died because of the care they received from Serving His
Children. Their lawsuit was filed in the High Court of Uganda on January 21,2019
by the Women’s Probono Initiative, a Kampala-based advocacy group that provides
free legal services to women and girls in Uganda.
The Women’s Probono
Initiative said it is seeking accountability and the enforcement of human
rights, as well as monetary damages for the two mothers who lost their
children.
“It is
unacceptable, narcissistic behavior, for any one, black or white, rich or poor,
missionary or angel to pass off as a ‘medical practitioner’ when they are
not,” Beatrice Kayaga, a lawyer with the Women’s Probono Initiative, said
in a statement. “By doing so, they mislead unsuspecting vulnerable members
of the public.”
The first mother
named in the lawsuit, Zubeda Gimbo, said in an affidavit that at some point
after her 3-year-old son, Twalali, had been diagnosed as malnourished at a
health center, an unnamed woman she says she later learned worked for Serving
His Children came to her village in Namutumba district in July 2013 and, along
with Tawali’s grandmother, brought him to the organization’s facility in Jinja
district for treatment. Three days later, Gimbo said she received a telephone
call that her son had died at the facility. The woman who had taken Gimbo’s son
returned his body and gave the family 50,000 Ugandan shillings (about $13.50),
then left the village before the burial without providing any explanation as to
what happened, according to the complaint.
In court documents
filed on March 11 in response to the lawsuit, Bach said she wasn’t even in the
country when Gimbo’s child was at Serving His Children’s facility, but that he
was cared for by a doctor and nurses. Copies of Bach’s passport and the
organization’s patient records, which were included in the court documents,
show that Bach was out of the country at the time of his care.
Alonyo Constance
Milech, a midwife who has been working as the head nurse at Serving His
Children since 2010, said in an affidavit that Twalali suffered from
“acute malnutrition associated with severe malaria” and was
“given the best care possible.”
The second mother
named in the lawsuit, Annet Kakai, said in an affidavit that she was in her
village in Buikwe district in July 2018 when she was introduced to a woman
named Fatuma who she says she later learned worked for Serving His Children.
Kakai said Fatuma convinced her to take her 1-year-old son, Elijah, to their
facility “to feed him so he can grow fat.” Kakai said they first went
to a medical center where Elijah was diagnosed with tuberculosis. Then they
went to the Serving His Children facility in Jinja district where “a white
lady,” whom Kakai said she later learned was Bach, took her baby and
“went into a room with him” for an hour, then returned him to her and
said to come back the next day, according to the complaint.
When Kakai returned
with Elijah, she said the Serving His Children staff drove them to the
government-run Kigandalo Health Center IV in neighboring Mayuge district, where
health workers checked her son’s weight and gave him milk. Kakai said they were
discharged from the health center after two days, without any further
instructions or medication for her child. Kakai said the Serving His Children
staff drove them back to Jinja district and gave her 2,000 Ugandan shillings
(less than $1) to find her way back home, according to the complaint.
In the following
days, Kakai said, Elijah became “so weak” that she had to take him to
a local hospital where he was given medication but was vomiting, according to
the complaint. He died three days later. Kakai said in her affidavit that she “strongly”
believes that Bach and the Serving His Children employees of Serving His
Children “did something to my child that led to his death.”
“I feel his
life was snatched from my arms by the actions of Ms. Renee Bach,” Kakai
said in a statement released by the Women’s Probono Initiative. “I hope
the court can give me justice.”
In an affidavit in
response to the Kakai’s claims, Bach said no one named Fatuma has ever worked
for Serving His Children. Bach said the facility in Jinja district was
shuttered at that time and the organization was providing inpatient treatment
only at the Kigandalo Health Center IV in Mayuge district. Bach said the child
could not have received treatment because there are no records of Kakai’s son
ever being admitted to facilities either in Jinja or Mayuge, and that Elijah
was referred to a hospital where he could be treated for tuberculosis,
according to the court documents.
‘We did the very best
with what we were handed’
Former coworkers
said that they witnessed Bach appearing to portray herself as a medical
professional, according to the civil lawsuit.
Semei Jolley
Kyebanakola said in an affidavit that he worked as an agriculturalist for
Serving His Children from 2009 to 2017, during which time he was
“aware” that Bach “encouraged mothers to escape” from a
children’s hospital in Jinja and bring their babies to her facility for
treatment instead. Kyebanakola said he assumed Bach was a health worker because
she wore a “clinical coat” and “often” had a stethoscope
around her neck. He also said he observed her treating children “on a
daily basis,” according to his affidavit.
In an affidavit
filed in response to Kyebanakola’s claims, Bach said she never encouraged
mothers and their children to escape from hospitals. Bach also said that, as a
gardener and later an agriculturist, Kyebanakola had limited contact with
children and mothers at the center, and he was “fully aware” she was
not a medical worker because she always introduced herself as the
organization’s program director, according to the court documents.
“I have never
represented myself or passed off as a medical professional,” Bach stated
in her affidavit, “and I have never put on a clinical coat.”
Charles Olweny said
in an affidavit that he worked as a gatekeeper and then field program manager
for Serving His Children from 2009 to 2017. Olweny said he and other staff
members raised concerns during a meeting with the organization’s interim
director in May 2017 over Bach’s lack of medical qualifications and the
allegedly “high death rates” at the facility, after learning from
“colleagues from the missionary community” that she was not a trained
health worker, according to the court documents.
“She would
take blood, offer diagnoses, administer drugs through IVs put on by herself and
write prescriptions,” Olweny stated in his affidavit.
“I saw several
children dying at the facilities,” Olweny added. “On average, I would
drive at least seven to 10 dead bodies of children back to their villages each
week.”
Bach told ABC News
that Olweny’s statements are “completely false” and that he was
unhappy with Serving His Children after being laid off due to downsizing in the
wake of the Jinja facility’s closure.
Bach provided data that showed 119
deaths out of the 3,596 total patients treated by Serving His Children from
2010 through 2018, which is a case fatality rate of 3.3%. According to a 2007 study published
by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Institutes of
Health, case fatality rates in hospitals treating severe acute malnutrition is
20 to 30% in most developing nations.
“It’s hard to
talk about that because it’s not just a number,” Bach told ABC News.
“We mourned the loss of every one of those children.”
In an affidavit
filed in response to Olweny’s claims, Bach said that any deaths that occurred
at Serving His Children were “normal as a result of severe acute
malnutrition at advanced stages or underlying medical conditions complicated by
malnutrition.” Speaking to ABC News, Bach said there were times when her
staff received children who were very ill and needed to be transferred to a
hospital for treatment but died on the way there.
“We did the
very best with what we were handed,” she said, “and sometimes what we
were handed was a really rough situation.”
In her affidavit,
Bach also said that no allegations against herself nor Serving His Children
were brought up during the meeting with the interim director in May 2017, while
she was out of the country for several months.
Jacqueline Grace
Kramlich, an American registered nurse who serves as the executive director at
a home healthcare agency, said in an affidavit filed with the civil lawsuit
that she started volunteering for Serving His Children in Jinja in August 2011
but quit after four months “due to my inability to remain in such an
unethical environment.”
Kramlich, who is
now working in Washington state, said she observed Bach attempt to diagnose and
treat pediatric patients who apparently showed symptoms frequently associated with
serious ailments, including severe acute malnutrition, tuberculosis, HIV and
AIDS, malaria and heart failure. Kramlich said she saw Bach carry out various
procedures without any oversight from a medical doctor, including inserting
intravenous catheters, taking blood, administering injections, performing blood
transfusions, treating wounds, the prescribing and dosing of various
medications, taking vital signs, conducting health assessments, assisting in
the labor and delivery of a newborn, and preparing a dead body for burial,
according to the court documents.
Kramlich said Bach
“frequently administered rehabilitation feeds that were dangerously high
in caloric content for fragile children” as well as “large amounts of
intravenous fluids to children in fragile states, and many of these children
died.” Kramlich said, to her knowledge, no death certificates were ever
obtained or issued nor were any autopsies performed, according to the court
documents.
Kramlich said she
rarely saw Bach follow universal precautions and guidelines, such as wearing
gloves or washing hands, as she moved from patient to patient, according to the
court documents.
“When I asked
what she based her treatments on, she stated she relied heavily on the book,
‘Where There is No Doctor,’ as well as her ‘gut feelings,'” Kramlich
stated in her affidavit, adding that Bach also said at times she “felt God
would tell her what to do for the child.”
Kramlich said Bach
“gave orders to her nursing staff who were employed there at the
time” and “would override their judgement [sic] and decisions on a
regular basis,” according to the court documents. When Kramlich asked why
she didn’t always seek outside medical help, Bach allegedly told her she
“didn’t believe Ugandan doctors knew what they were talking about,”
and according to Kramlich’s affidavit, Bach “felt she had more knowledge
because she had access to online resources.”
In “one of the
more disturbing” interactions, Kramlich said Bach asked whether giving a
bottle of intravenous iron instead of a blood transfusion would help a child
with severe anemia. “I really just want to try it to see what
happens,” Bach allegedly said.
Bach told ABC News
that she and Kramlich “didn’t part under the best terms.” And in an
affidavit filed in response to her claims, Bach, who never went to college,
said that Kramlich “repeatedly made it known that she did not like working
with me, someone who was younger than herself and who was without her level of
academic training although she understood this would be the situation.”
Bach also said in
her affidavit that although she “discussed symptoms and associated
risks” with Serving His Children’s medical staff, she “did not
attempt to diagnose or treat such illnesses as alleged.” Bach noted that
Serving His Children had three full-time registered nurses on staff who were
responsible for patient care while Kramlich was a volunteer there.
Speaking to ABC
News, Bach said “death summary reports” were provided to the families
who were then expected to file the documents with local authorities. Bach also
said that Kramlich has had no personal knowledge of Serving His Children’s
operations since she stopped volunteering in late 2011.
“Once Jackie
left, she never returned to observe activities to see how things were being
run,” Bach told ABC News.
The controversial
facility
According to court
documents filed in response to the lawsuit, Bach said Serving His Children
initially did not provide any medical services, starting a malnutrition
rehabilitation program first in 2011 and then becoming a licensed health
facility in Jinja district on March 4, 2014. A copy of the certificate was
included in the court documents, with an expiration date of Dec. 31, 2014. The
organization said it would refer more serious cases to the local hospital,
according to the court documents.
Serving His
Children’s facility in Jinja district was shut down in March 2015 after the
district health officer made an “unannounced inspection” in response
to complaints about Bach and her organization. After two hours of searching
through the organization’s records, inspecting medicines and interviewing
staff, the district health officer identified three areas that required
improvement: having an overdue license registration but within a standard
three-month grace period, not having a separate room for children with
tuberculosis and not referring children to a higher level of care if necessary,
according to the court documents.
Bach said Serving
His Children was in the process of renewing the license at the time of the
inspection. Later that month, the Resident District Commissioner of Jinja wrote
a letter of recommendation for Serving His Children to renew its license. Bach
said in an affidavit that “multiple government officials” told
Serving His Children that it could reopen the facility and resume care of
malnourished children, but the organization’s board in the United States made
the decision to remain closed for a time because Bach and her staff were facing
“threats from members of the community.” Still, Serving His Children
continued an outreach program in food supplements and nutrition.
In June 2017,
Serving His Children in partnership with Uganda’s Ministry of Health opened an
inpatient treatment center in Mayuge district and began outpatient treatment
services for malnourished children. A community engagement program was
established that October, according to the court documents. To date, these
programs have continued to run based out of the Kigandalo Health Center IV
under a Ugandan team of nine nurses (six full-time and three contract), two clinical
officers, one medical officer, a nutritionist, a social worker and a pastor,
according to the court documents.
A spokesperson for
Uganda’s Ministry of Health told ABC News that the Uganda Medical and Dental
Practitioners Council, a quasi-government professional organization mandated by
the health ministry, launched an investigation into Serving His Children
earlier this year in light of the civil lawsuit. Investigators were
“unable to support allegations that children died in large numbers”
due to the services provided by Bach’s organization. They also did not find
evidence that Bach was treating any children herself, according to the health
ministry spokesperson.
When asked whether
there will be another investigation, the spokesperson told ABC News they will
“wait [for] the court matters to conclude.”
‘The mindset of a white
savior’
The allegations
have ignited claims that Bach was playing the role of a “white
savior” by moving to Uganda with no formal medical training and starting
an organization that ultimately began caring for sick children.
According to an
affidavit from Kayaga, one of the lawyers at the Women’s Probono Initiative,
which filed the civil lawsuit, a white savior complex is “the belief that
any white person irrespective of their academic status or training and social
economic standing can offer aid to poor black minorities.”
A group called No
White Saviors has spoken out against Bach in numerous social media posts. The
group has said on its Twitter and Instagram pages that its members are in talks
with Virginia-based lawyers to explore options for bringing legal action
against Bach and Serving His Children in the United States. ABC News has
reached out to the group for comment.
Bach told ABC News
she understands why people may be quick to label her a “white
savior,” and even admitted she first came to Uganda with that mentality.
“I definitely
went to Uganda with, you know, the mindset of a white savior,” Bach said.
“I think it’s impossible to say that any person coming from a developed
country, such as America, going to a place that would be considered
underdeveloped, such as Uganda, wouldn’t have a bit of a white savior complex.
You know, your desire is to help.”
“I don’t think
that’s a bad mindset. I think it’s how you live that out,” she added.
“And it was a quick turnaround for me to realize that I’m not needed here.
You know, all of our programs are completely Ugandan-run and operating.”
Court battle continues
An initial court
date set in March was postponed, and the case is now expected to be heard in
January. Bach has not been criminally prosecuted for the allegations.
Meanwhile, Bach has
stepped down from her role as Serving His Children’s program director and has
temporarily returned to the United States, where she is working in a volunteer
capacity to raise funds for the organization’s team in Uganda.
Bach said she
believes the lawsuit grew out of a personal “vendetta” waged by
people in the community who dislike her as well as disgruntled former
employees.
She admitted that
she was “involved in some medical activities” and would offer an
extra set of hands in emergencies, but always under the oversight of a doctor
or nurse who was present.
“They’re
taking a little grain of something that they saw or experienced and blowing it
into this huge story,” she told ABC News.
Bach said she
questions the motive behind the lawsuit and whether the accusers have the best
interest of the Ugandan people at heart.
“We’ve seen a
lot of hurt and a lot of negative things come from this situation. Our Ugandan
staff that are working hard and doing what they do best and are dedicated are
being threatened, you know, in their workplace and in their home because of
this,” she told ABC News. “They’re putting these people at risk and
putting children’s lives at risk.”
ABC News’ Moses Bwayo contributed to this report from Kampala,
Uganda.
RISE AGAINST POVERTY Organization (RAP UGANDA) 