Press Release: October 10, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Katy Hurd To Lead Pilgrim's Public Health Program In Africa

Everett, Wash., Doctor Answers Lifelong Call To Serve In Uganda

Seattle, WA, USA - October 10, 2009

Dr. Katy Hurd, from Everett, Wash., who has been active with Pilgrim in the planning and administration of Pilgrim's highly successful Move on Malaria intervention, has moved to Uganda to oversee Pilgrim's Public Health program. Pilgrim's Public Health Program includes the outpatient Beacon Medical Clinic in Soroti and the mobile medical team that serves many of the camps for IDPs (internally displaced peoples).

Hurd also completed training in Community Health Evangelism, and will implement this community-based health and church planting program.

Hurd said, "This transition for me has been a long time in coming. I first caught the idea of missionary medicine in Africa 18 years ago, before I had any idea what either missionaries or doctors did. Around that time, my aunt had helped install a water filtration system in Uganda. She is a gifted photographer and artist, and on her return, she put together a slide show of her trip. I remember sitting on the floor watching, overwhelmed with the beauty of the Ugandan people and their land. In response, my little 11-year-old brain decided to live in Africa someday and do whatever I could for God.

"By His grace, the doors have been open along that road ever since. The biggest lesson for me in getting to this point, and one I still revisit often, is summed up in the message on a banner I once saw hanging in Kudjip Nazarene Hospital in Papua, New Guinea: ‘Amamas tru i kam long Jisas' or ‘True joy comes from Jesus.' For the materially wealthy American, happiness is not found in the adventure of travel or the glamour of tropical medicine. For the rural African, lasting happiness is not found in accessible health care or financial security. Jesus is the foundation and source of all enduring joy."

Katy Hurd graduated from Cascade High School, went to Wheaton College in Illinois, and then transferred to the University of Washington, where she received a B.S. in biology. From there, Hurd went to the University of Washington School of Medicine, graduating in 2005. Her residency in family practice was done in Tulsa, Okla., with the program In His Image, a program with a focus on preparing doctors for the mission field. While there she did two rotations at a field hospital in Papua New Guinea and one in Mseleni, South Africa. She also went with an emergency relief team to Indonesia after a major earthquake and volcanic eruption devastated some areas there.

Since graduation from residency, Katy worked as a family physician at the Snohomish Family Medical Clinic for ten months before leaving for full-time work with Pilgrim in Uganda in August. When she is not working, Katy loves hiking, kayaking, running, biking, reading and playing the piano.

About Pilgrim: Pilgrim is a Christian aid, relief, and development organization operating primarily in Uganda, with U.S. headquarters in Seattle. Pilgrim provides disaster relief as well as ongoing aid and development assistance to widows, orphans, and others in Uganda.

###

Download this press release (pdf, 27Kb)