The hospital was founded in 1952 as a medical center for the miners from the nearby Kilembe Mines. These are copper and cobalt Mines underneath the Rwenzori mountains, on the border between Uganda and Congo. The mines were originally in Canadian hands, but in 1975 the mines were sold to the Ugandese government . Seven years later, in 1982 the mining activities were discontinued. The Kilembe Mines Hospital became a community hospital.
With no more than 200 beds, the hospital struggles to provide adequate care for a very large population. Over the years, it has become an important center for the area, with people traveling long distances by foot to be treated in the Kilembe Mines Hospital.
In the summer of 2010 a group of enthousiastic medicine students traveled to the hospital to learn and participate in daily practice of the hospital. Because of a befriended Ugandese doctor, the six ended up in Kilembe Mines Hospital. From the friendship that originated there, Daktari Project was born. Since 2015 the Daktari Project is officially a non-profit organisation.
Over the years more than 100 volunteers have offered their help. We try to support the Kilembe Mines Hospital in a durable way, by means of financial, logistical and educational support. This is realized by helping at the hospital itself, as well as organizing fundraisers abroad. Daktari Project currently focuses on four main causes: Infection prevention, Orthopedics, Maternity and Wound Care.
