Missionary with bogus medical practice linked to deaths of Ugandan children

[NachosFlandersStyle]

Renee Bach was 18 years old and says that she knew nothing about the country when she first went to Uganda, feeling "called by the lord" to go there. Now she is running a medical clinic where she routinely practices medicine on malnourished children, despite the fact that she has no medical training and possesses only a (homeschool) high school education. She is being sued by the mothers of children who died in her care, and news reports suggest that more than 100 deaths can be linked to her negligence. Bach can be seen in pictures online administering injections and posing with a stethoscope. Other charities in the area were alarmed at the condition of children who were transferred from her clinic.

https://www.independent.co.ug/is-mzungu-savior-killing-babies-in-mayuge/

https://medium.com/@nowhitesaviors/when-white-saviorism-turns-deadly-american-missionary-played-doctor-children-died-when-will-edb278b938bc

The organization, Serving His Children, is largely administered by her family, who live at "Many Blessings Farm" in rural Virginia. Renee was in the process of adopting a 10-year-old when one of these articles was written. She was 22 at the time.

https://www.roanoke.com/webmin/news/bedford-county-native-is-conquering-hunger-one-child-at-a/article_124c5a6f-f2c2-5f94-87ee-083c52d69e5b.html

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.newsadvance.com/entertainment/features/an-ordinary-girl-who-said-yes-to-an-extraordinary-god/article_de7edc43-b53b-5269-aec1-0c6bd9f98c26.amp.html

In an interesting bit of foreshadowing, Bach notes that deaths are "caused more often by a lack of nutritional knowledge than by critical food shortages."

[Lurky]

That's devastating.  I hope she faces the consequences of her actions.

[nausicaa]

This is such naked egotism. If she does want to help children in Uganda, why doesn't she go to medical school and become properly trained? Why is "God" so against that?

[DarkAnts]

6 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

This is such naked egotism. If she does want to help children in Uganda, why doesn't she go to medical school and become properly trained? Why is "God" so against that?

Or hired doctors to work there.

[Briefly]

11 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

This is such naked egotism. If she does want to help children in Uganda, why doesn't she go to medical school and become properly trained? Why is "God" so against that?

Because then she would not get the glory that she claims to give to God.  I hope she goes to jail or has some serious punishment.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

16 minutes ago, nausicaa said:

This is such naked egotism. If she does want to help children in Uganda, why doesn't she go to medical school and become properly trained? Why is "God" so against that?

I wonder if some of it is homeschool-related hubris. Look, I'm a self-guided learner! Real learning happens outside the classroom! Why pursue a medical education when I could literally just watch YouTube videos about it?

[samurai_sarah]

What a ghastly person! She's actually playing with peoples' lives! How utterly reprehensible...

[hoipolloi]

This is appalling.

The website gives the impression that the staff includes professionals such as nurses and a nutritionist.

Their IRS 990 from 2016 indicates a total income of $105K for that year of which $54K was paid to Renee and a family member based in the US:

[Inky]

So really she's scamming people to support her, and her family, and practicing medicine on innocent people. What a piece of work.

My gut feeling has been for quite a while that there are a lot of "missionaries" out there who are in it for the money and power over others. 

[Lurky]

The Medium article up top says that her board of trustees are all family members, so it's been deliberately set up pretending to be a proper charity, but with no independent oversight at all.  No doubt they're now saying she's being persecuted, but it really does look like she was experimenting on those poor children.

[DangerNoodle]

I've never had a strong opinion one way or the other on the death penalty. But if I heard that Renee Bach or any of the others from that ministry were taken to gallows and hung 19th century style, I would applaud. The absolute audacity and arrogance it took to do this. It's damn near psychopathic.

[samurai_sarah]

52 minutes ago, DangerNoodle said:

I've never had a strong opinion one way or the other on the death penalty. But if I heard that Renee Bach or any of the others from that ministry were taken to gallows and hung 19th century style, I would applaud. The absolute audacity and arrogance it took to do this. It's damn near psychopathic.

Bit harsh, I think. Up to you, obviously. I'm just not a fan of the death penalty, especially 19th century style hanging. Too gruesome for me. The difference between "the long drop" and "the short drop" is something I want to forget.

P.S.: Do NOT google "long drop" or "short drop", if you want to eat today. Seriously, just don't.

Edited June 12, 2019 by samurai_sarah

[NachosFlandersStyle]

I do wonder what legal consequences she will face-- sounds like this is just a civil suit but it's likely to uncover criminal action. Hopefully she will at least have to leave the country.

[quiversR4hunting]

45 minutes ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

I do wonder what legal consequences she will face-- sounds like this is just a civil suit but it's likely to uncover criminal action. Hopefully she will at least have to leave the country.

I would prefer her be sentenced to a Ugandan prison.  I am sure they are far worse than the US prisons and if she is just deported back home then I doubt she will be punished. 

[hoipolloi]

16 hours ago, NachosFlandersStyle said:

I do wonder what legal consequences she will face-- sounds like this is just a civil suit but it's likely to uncover criminal action. Hopefully she will at least have to leave the country.

I also wonder, particularly since the promotional shite on that website implies that her operation is essentially a government-sanctioned facility:

Quote

MEDICAL TREATMENT
In Uganda, malnutrition steals the life of too many children. Inpatient Therapeutic Care {ITC} for the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition is a method established by the World Health Organization being implemented worldwide. Serving His Children, in partnership with the Uganda Ministry of Health is providing ITC within rural a government rural health center in Eastern Uganda. The SHC medical team serves alongside government hospital staff to provide quality health care for children while parents and caregivers are mentored in nutrition, general health care, family planning and progressive agriculture techniques. Pastoral support is available to caregivers during their stay

Neither the website nor the Facebook page has a stated affiliation with a church or denomination or any other bona fide NGO (e.g., MSF) so it looks like this is really little more than a family grift business pasted over with Jesus. 

Here's another account of SHC and Rachel from someone who claims to have been doing similar mission work themselves in the Jinja area. Also, the writer says that SHC was shut down in 2015 but SHC's FB page indicates that they were still operating as of late 2018. More here on that writer's/organization's IG page.

ETA: A critical article from last November with a rebuttal from Renee's mother, Lauri. 

Edited June 13, 2019 by hoipolloi

[OyToTheVey]

I'm typically a fan of organizations like Doctors without Borders. I believe licensed medical professionals are necessary in remote areas. However, all of these "Christian" organizations are a disaster waiting to happen. If Jesus called to you and made you go to Africa to help the children, they shouldn't be forced to sit thru bible class. True altruistic work doesn't require anything back. As all the articles allege, she was practicing medicine without a license or knowledge and should be prosecuted to the fullest. Uganda needs doctors and nurses not 18 year olds with bibles.

The sad thing is that the child she's in the process of adopting is going to get the blunt of all punishment.

Edited June 13, 2019 by OyToTheVey

[DarkAnts]

They are looking for a low cost attorney in Virginia so they can go after her in the states. 

[quiversR4hunting]

2 hours ago, hoipolloi said:

ETA: A critical article from last November with a rebuttal from Renee's mother, Lauri

thanks for the rebuttal. I read it. They say they employ 34 Ugandan Nationals (11 licensed medical professionals). The IRS form 990 that @hoipolloi posted above says only 2 people were paid. So how and what are the 34 Ugandan's getting paid? Or is that a different IRS form? I don't know anything about non-profit tax forms, so I am sorry if I am asking dumb questions. 

8 minutes ago, DarkAnts said:

They are looking for a low cost attorney in Virginia so they can go after her in the states. 

Who is "they"?

[DarkAnts]

6 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

thanks for the rebuttal. I read it. They say they employ 34 Ugandan Nationals (11 licensed medical professionals). The IRS form 990 that @hoipolloi posted above says only 2 people were paid. So how and what are the 34 Ugandan's getting paid? Or is that a different IRS form? I don't know anything about non-profit tax forms, so I am sorry if I am asking dumb questions. 

Who is "they"?

The group that is persuing the civil case in Uganda. It's part of the Instagram post.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2019 by DarkAnts

[quiversR4hunting]

Thanks @DarkAnts I missed that at the bottom. 

[hoipolloi]

19 minutes ago, quiversR4hunting said:

So how and what are the 34 Ugandan's getting paid? Or is that a different IRS form? I don't know anything about non-profit tax forms, so I am sorry if I am asking dumb questions. 

Those are not dumb questions -- they're good ones.

The IRS 990 I linked to is only for the SHC "non-profit." The Ugandan clinical staff do not seem to be affiliated with it in any way, including for payment. They are not mentioned or listed on the 2016 990. Whether these clinical staff are paid through a Ugandan source or something else is unclear.

In any case, the whole thing is murky as hell, which is probably the point when it comes to scams like Saving His Children.

[quiversR4hunting]

22 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

Those are not dumb questions -- they're good ones.

The IRS 990 I linked to is only for the SHC "non-profit." The Ugandan clinical staff do not seem to be affiliated with it in any way, including for payment. They are not mentioned or listed on the 2016 990. Whether these clinical staff are paid through a Ugandan source or something else is unclear.

In any case, the whole thing is murky as hell, which is probably the point when it comes to scams like Saving His Children.

interesting. Very interesting that the rebuttal (mom) says they (SHC) has hired help. 

@DarkAnts thank you for doing the screenshot of IG. I went back looking at how I missed that information, i clicked on the link on my PC and I am not automatically logged in on this PC to IG so it only shows the picture not the description. So with your help anyone that doesn't have IG can now see what that IG post says. Thank you! 

[AmazonGrace]

Not sure if this is related,  but there's a "Dr Ibrahim Chief Clinical Officer for Kigandalo Health Cente" listed on the staff site, and  I stumbled upon this article about the murder of Dr. Ibrahim Gwaluka, the director of Kigandalo Health center IV.

https://ugandaradionetwork.net/story/three-detained-over-gwalukas-death-

[Marmion]

I actually do have some medical training from a home study course in medical transcription , but even I would not be the least bit qualified to do what she allegedly attempted to do .  I would not even be legally authorized to so much as examine patients , and record their vitals . Like not only would a nurse outrank me , so would a nurse's aid .  So if she has had even less medical credentials than I do , then she was especially out of line .  Also , there are just some things you must learn from both a classroom and out in the field , not at the school of the dining room table . 

[DangerNoodle]

On 6/12/2019 at 6:38 PM, samurai_sarah said:

Bit harsh, I think.

It's much better than what's going to happen to her. Which is absolutely nothing. She took babies, lied about being a doctor, treated them and they died. And she will never be punished.