Maltese nurse Rita Miller went to Uganda to give, but she tells Simonne Pace that she has gained more than she could ever imagine.

A Maltese nurse who has worked tirelessly with the poorest of the poor in Uganda for the past 10 years, Rita Miller vividly recalls taking in the stunning beauty of the Rwenzori Mountains on her very first visit to Kagando Hospital in 2010 and feeling at home straight away.

On a flying visit to Malta to catch up with family, Rita is off to Africa once again on September 13.

Her visit coincided with a fundraising event by the Grand Commandery of the Castello, a jurisdiction of the Military and Hospitaller Order of St Lazarus of Jerusalem based in Malta, during which she personally assured donors that the money they are giving is reaching many and making a difference.

Kagando Hospital, which is run by the Church of Uganda, has a special place in Rita’s heart, as this is how she first got to know about the Order. The hospital, which opened in 1965 for people affected by leprosy, soon became a general one.

An episode from the Vicar of Dibley, featuring a Make Poverty History campaign, is what inspired Rita Miller to set off for Africa to work with the poor.

The Grand Commandery, which has been supporting Rita’s cause and trusting in her wholeheartedly, also helps the hospital and leprosy groups.

“This was the start of a wonderful relationship. The Order has been an absolute miracle. I feel blessed,” says the extremely humble 63-year-old, who has toed and froed between the UK and Africa trying to balance two very distinct worlds.

In its mission to relieve the continuous suffering of lepers and victims of disease and poverty, the Grand Commandery is now funding a project for the refurbishment of the 250-bed hospital’s operating theatre.

“In the years I’ve been there, only three qualified nurses from overseas came to Kagando on brief stints. For the last three years there has been a British doctor, but there were times when I was the only westerner,” says Rita.

Heartbreaking scenes on television of aid workers battling with limited resources to overcome horrific epidemics or natural disasters in developing countries left Rita feeling helpless and hopeless.

“I would wonder how I could help, if at all, and would end up switching off the TV or radio in frustration and sadness,” says Rita, who worked as a nurse practitioner in York for many years before she decided to pack up and leave for six months every year to improve the lives of the needy and sick in Kagando.

She would dip her hands in her pocket and give, in the hope that the money would end up where she wished it to be directed. But the defining moment in Rita’s life arrived in 2005. She was watching an episode from the Vicar of Dibley – a BBC comedy series on the trials and tribulations of a female vicar’s life in a rural Oxfordshire village. This included a short documentary promoting the Make Poverty History campaign, called Orphans of Nkandla, about a brother and sister whose parents died of AIDS.

When men, women and children tell you they’re hungry, they wouldn’t have eaten for two or three days

“The story absolutely broke my heart and turned my life upside down,” says Rita, who has just celebrated her 40th wedding anniversary with her British husband Paul and daughter Julia, who have both been “amazing and supportive”.

But it wasn’t until five years later, after a series of what she calls “God-incidences” that she decided on the place she would be going to.

“I felt someone was pointing me in that direction. Miraculously, Kagando Hospital found me,” says Rita, who now helps to coordinate the community services in the Rwenzori villages. On her very first day in Kagando, Rita woke up early to tiny lights twinkling in the hills. Sr Kabugho Laheri, the senior nursing officer on duty, told her they were iron sheets, used to roof the houses belonging to families living up in the mountains.

Rita wondered how these people accessed healthcare. “With great difficulty. People die on the way,” Sr Laheri told her.

“That’s where I wanted to be. I was going up there. I was taking healthcare to the mountains,” Rita recounts.

Up she went, but with great difficulty, as the journey is about two hours long.

“We only reach the first part of the Rwenzoris, but there are communities much higher up which would take four to six hours to get to. Sick people, sometimes even women in labour, are carried either on a stretcher, or on a mattress, or on men’s backs – in the middle of the night, in the heat of the day and in monsoon weather. You have to walk the walk to know what these people go through.”

This is how the Rwenzori Women for Health was born in 2012. A full-time project supported by the Astraia Female Leadership Foundation to empower women, this outreach programme is a feather in Rita’s cap and her dream to take healthcare to the mountain community come true.

“The project still primarily focuses on health education, including screening for hypertension, diabetes, malnutrition, HIV and deworming. However, we will be increasing its range of activities as well as its geographical reach,” says Rita.

RWFH was the start of a steep learning curve, a mixture of naivety and many mistakes, “but always with great determination to make things happen”.

“I knew the need was great, but I was hesitant. I felt that although the focus would mostly be on the women, I needed to include the men too. It is a very patriarchal society and gaining the men’s trust was necessary to enable me to reach the women, especially when discussing sexual health. Moreover, since I would be walking up to the mountains, I wanted to ensure we would see as many people as possible.”

Over time, Rita has learnt to never give up. “Dreams do happen,” she smiles.

Having fully retired as a nurse last year, she is still very present within the Rwenzori community and her heart remains at one with the people, as she is constantly thinking of ways to sustain the health projects she has painstakingly set up so far away from home. She also still forms part of the hospital.

“The only way I can describe the poverty is when people there say they’re hungry. When men, women and children are hungry, it means they haven’t had food in two or three days. Every day I’m faced with a situation where someone comes up to me and says they’re hungry. It breaks your heart.”

But Rita firmly believes she is “directed by God”. Her biggest satisfaction in all these years has been being able to do what she does. But there are other gratifications.

“A job well done. Being accepted and part of the community. When someone looks into my eyes, that is a very special moment. Woken up by amazing bird song and hospital compound noises is also a lovely way to start the day.”

Rita feels privileged as a “white woman” to have been accepted. “It’s very hard, but it’s wonderful.”

Read more about Rita’s life on her blog at www.ritafrica.wordpress.com. Those wishing to donate can e-mail her at ritamariamiller@gmail.com. One can also e-mail Paul Warren, hospitaller of the Grand Commandery of the Castello, at paul.warren@pentlandmarine.com or Carmel Bonello, commander of the same jurisdiction, at carmelbonello@hotmail.com.