College of Education Student Changing the World Through Health Education May 21, 2012

Sam Obura had no idea just how much his life would change as a result of offering a stranger a helping hand.

Last summer College of Education graduate student Apio Rehema was in her native country of Uganda collecting data for her thesis when her car broke down. As Rehema describes it, “seemingly out of nowhere” Sam and several others appeared to offer assistance. In addition to noting Sam’s kind offer of help, Rehema also saw a way in which she could extend help to him as well.

“I immediately noticed that Sam had skin growths that can cause great discomfort and that are not uncommon for people from my country,” said Rehema, who came to The University of Texas at Austin from Uganda through a Ford Foundation scholarship and was completing a master’s degree in health education at The University of Texas at Austin. “The skin growths are called keloids and can get very large. They’re pus-filled and can be quite painful. Sam had multiple growths and the one on his neck was so big that it was making eating, sleeping and talking very difficult. My heart went out to him and I made a promise to myself to do anything that I could to help.”

Rehema took some photos of Sam and shared them with Dr. Dan Carrasco, an Austin dermatologist who had removed several keloids from her chest and arm. She also reached out to several of her Austin friends and to local organizations that she thought would be open to assisting Sam. The group of a dozen or so Austinites - which named themselves “Sam’s Village” – began working to get Sam to the U.S. They secured a visa for him, airfare, a place to stay in Austin while he received medical care, and made arrangements for the numerous surgeries he would need.

“These are people who did not know each other but who saw a person in need and acted,” said Rehema. “Doctors even have volunteered their services. Sam is from a very poor, small village of peasants in northern Uganda and he is barely able to do the farming that he needs to do to keep his family alive. The surgeries will make life so much better not just for Sam but for his family, too. Life there is very, very hard, even if you are a healthy person, but Sam had extra challenges.”

Sam now is having one keloid “piece” removed each week and soon will be able to return to his family in Uganda.

Meanwhile, three years after coming to Austin to attend school, Rehema graduated on May 19 from The University of Texas at Austin. She has ambitious plans to continue helping others improve their quality of life, especially when it comes to health issues.

Rehema currently volunteers with an Austin organization that educates African American women about HIV and AIDS. Her goal is to return to Uganda at some point and raise awareness there about issues surrounding reproductive health, family health and AIDS.

“I had already paid for my airfare to return to Uganda this spring, but friends who are in Uganda and who are part of the same political party as I am were arrested shortly after I came back to the U.S. last year,” said Rehema. “They contacted me and said that if I return, I will be arrested as well. They also told me that the military had visited my home and that the police are waiting for me. Only if the current political party is overthrown will I be able to go back to safely go back to Uganda.

“Two of my brothers were killed by the military, and the danger there is very real. One reason I am interested in health education is because if people learn what is right and then they have the courage to speak out, terrible things will not happen so much. I have learned so much at UT and now all I think about is sharing what I know with the people who need that information the most.”

Rehema is now investigating Ph.D. programs and searching for scholarships that will allow her to continue her education.

—Kay Randall, University Communications, 512-232-3910