Renee Bach with Constance Alonyo, SHC’s head nurse.Photo:Marshall Foster/HBO
Marshall Foster/HBO
“I feel like I’ve taken the hit for every single White person in Uganda,” the former Evangelical missionary, now 34, says in the doc. “I did not kill children.”
In total, 105 children died after being treated at Bach’s Serving His Children facility in Jinga, Uganda, where she cared for 940 extremely sick children from 2010 to 2015, according to her 2020 interview withNPR. Their ailments included malaria, pneumonia and tuberculosis, the doc says.
At the time, local hospitals were short on cash and provided acute care, but they referred the children’s long-term rehabilitation care to missionaries, according to Dr. Abner Tagoola, head of Jinja Children’s Hospital.
“Like Renee, I want to make this a better place for children,” Tagoola, who worked with Bach, says in the documentary. “But Renee is lucky because she is an American and communities are moved to fund. [We] had the training, but the money was coming directly to her.”
While he initially referred people to Bach’s clinic, he says she crossed lines when she began treating the children as if she was a medical professional.
“She thought that she can do as well as the Regional Referral Hospital,” he told the filmmakers.
‘Savior Complex’ poster.Courtesy of HBO
Courtesy of HBO
Jackie Kramlich, a fellow church missionary and an American nurse, volunteered at SHC alongside her husband Chris. In the doc, she recounts her horror at seeing Bach administer medical care she was not qualified to give: medical injections and IV drips, as well as second-guessing medical dosages.
“I think Renee got into a fantasy that she was ordained and special and set apart,” Kramlich says in the docuseries. “She [thought] she was just naturally a doctor.”
Renee Bach prepares a syringe to administer medicine to a young patient.Marshall Foster/HBO
Much of the first two episodes features Bach’s perspective now and the ample footage of her time in Uganda. It’s contrasted with insight from both Ugandan civil rights attorney Primah Kwagala, who brought a civil suit against Bach (which was ultimately settled), and No White Saviors, an organization that sought to shut Bach down and have her criminally prosecuted. (To date, Bach has not been criminally prosecuted.)
“Are intentions good enough?” says Alaso in the documentary. “Africa is not your playground.”
“A child in America to die is a big deal. At this facility, we lose 60 a month. If you come with money, like Renee, it can save lives,” Tagoola says in the doc. “We did not know it would escalate to this, that they would have their own ICU. I wasn’t comfortable. She overstepped.”
Gimbo Zubeda brought her critically ill son Twalali to the clinic.Courtesy of HBO
Gimbo Zubeda’s son Twalali died shortly after coming to the hospital with severe malnutrition, according to the doc. The clinic tried to help him, but he “had multiple conditions” and succumbed shortly after arrival, the doc says.
Kakai Annet’s son Elijah died at home after being seen at the clinic, according to the doc. He was never admitted because the nurse determined his primary condition was tuberculosis, not malnutrition.
“Justice means so many things to so many people,” Kwagala says in the project. “For these women, they defined justice as Renee acknowledging who they were.”
Kakai Annet sued Bach and Serving His Children after her son Elijah died at home after being seen at the clinic.Courtesy of HBO
“Renee was so caring,” the woman — identified only as Patricia’s mom — says in the series. “She nursed the child’s wounds. They taught us the best way to feed our children. I benefited a lot.”
Bach returned to her home in Bedford, Virginia, in 2019 with her Ugandan daughter, whom she adopted. (She did not return PEOPLE’s request for comment on the docuseries.)
Photos of the children at Serving His Children.Marshall Foster/HBO
Not long after she left, fundraising stopped and SHC shut down. Bach reflects in the documentary on whether she was selfish or selfless.
“I do believe Serving His Children saved lives,” Bach says. “I think from childhood God gave me the gift to help other people…I’m still sorting through it.”
Savior Complexis now streaming on Max.
source: people.com
