U.S. missionary Renee Bach is facing calls for justice after allegedly posing as a doctor in Uganda and running her very own medical facility — despite having no formal medical training.
Through her nonprofit Serving His Children, the Bedford, Virginia, native has serviced 3,400 youths in the past decade and is now being sued over accusations of causing the deaths of at least two of them. She is scheduled for trial in a Ugandan court next year after her actions are believed to have resulted in the deaths of more than 100 children.
In a 2018 piece for Medium, a fellow unnamed white, missionary argued there were plenty warning signs before Bach’s “white saviorism,” proved deadly for the children and families of Jinja, Uganda. Yet people ignored them.
Serving His Children is now shuttered, but here’s what we know is being claimed about what went on behind closed doors:
- Serving His Children Had Poor Follow-Up Practices After Treating Kids for Malnutrition
In her post, the unnamed author argued that poor follow-up procedures by SHC staff led to the sudden death of a 3-year-old boy in 2014. The child, who was suffering from severe malnutrition, was brought to Bach’s “medical facility” where staff “got him fat [and] healthy, then sent him home without so much as any consideration for the root cause of his malnutrition.”
Because there was no follow-up, the boy fell ill again — this time suffering a fatal heart attack.
“His 3-year-old body had been through a great deal of stress,” the author wrote, “and it had finally given out.”
- Bach, Who Only Has a High School Diploma, Was Actively Practicing Medicine on Children
The author said her concerns about Bach turned into “sheer terror” after learning that the high school graduate was actively performing medical procedures on those who came to her facility. Despite having no formal training, Bach still” chose to actively treat and respond to serious medical needs” of sick children.
She pointed to a now-deleted blog post authored by Bach herself, detailing her “hands-on” treatment the center: ” “I hooked the baby up to oxygen and got to work. As I took her temperature, started an IV, checked her blood sugar, tested for malaria, and looked at her HB count … I was attempting to diagnose the many problems that could potentially be at hand. After doing a search for blood around Jinja town, we found her type and it was a match! We started the transfusion…”
- Bach Reportedly Removed Children from Actual Hospitals / Clinics and Treated Them at Her Facility Instead
In addition to performing medical procedures she wasn’t qualified to do, several SHC volunteers alleged that Bach would take children from certified hospitals and medical clinics, and bring them back to her own facility in Masese for treatment.
- Bach Gushed Over the Enjoyment of Providing “Hands-On Medical Care” Despite Having Zero Medical Experience
According to the author, Bach openly talked about how much she enjoyed providing “hands on medical care” at her facility. The Virginia native, who moved to Uganda when she was just 18, started experimenting with medical procedures she learned from watching YouTube, the author stated.
“After SHC was shut down in 2015, many of us hoped that there would finally be justice for all of the families who had children die at the center under Renee’s care. We were wrong,” the author concluded.
