JMS boosts AMDA’s 2026 homecoming with medical supplies
Speaking after receiving the donation, Karara said AMDA was grateful for the support from JMS, describing the partnership as an important part of the association’s efforts to reach communities with essential services.
Miriam Ahumuza, the JMS communications officer (left) handing over donated medical supplies to AMDA representative Judith Karara at JMS stores in Nsambya, Kampala, on Wenesday, September 2, 2026. (Photos by Nelson Kiva)
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Joint Medical Stores (JMS) has donated medicines and other medical supplies to the Archdiocese of Mbarara Development Association (AMDA) to support the association’s 2026 annual community outreach programme, which will focus on Sheema district.
The donation was handed over to Judith Karara, a representative of AMDA, at the Joint Medical Stores premises in Nsambya, Kampala, on September 2, 2026, ahead of AMDA’s planned activities in Nyabwina Parish over the weekend.
The medical supplies will support a medical camp that will form part of AMDA’s annual homecoming programme, through which members of the association return to communities within the Archdiocese of Mbarara to provide various social and development services.
Speaking after receiving the donation, Karara said AMDA was grateful for the support from JMS, describing the partnership as an important part of the association’s efforts to reach communities with essential services.
Karara explained that AMDA brings together Catholics from the Archdiocese of Mbarara who live or work outside the archdiocese, particularly in Kampala and other parts of the country.
Every year, the association organises a homecoming programme aimed at giving back to communities and supporting development initiatives.
Medicine carriers at JMS stores in Nsambya.
“This weekend, we are heading out to Nyabwina Parish, which is in Sheema district, and we are going to do a number of activities, including a medical camp,” Karara said.
She described the medical camp as one of the most significant contributions AMDA makes to communities during its annual homecoming.
“It is our biggest gift that we normally give to the people,” she said. Besides the medical camp, Karara said the outreach programme will include free legal services, economic empowerment sessions and other activities aimed at improving the well-being of residents.
She noted that AMDA’s interventions in communities extend beyond the annual outreach, citing previous projects such as the establishment of a computer laboratory at a school and the provision of boreholes to improve access to clean water.
Miriam Ahumuza, the communications officer at JMS, said the medicines entity was pleased to join hands with AMDA in supporting the medical outreach.
She said the organisation’s mandate includes ensuring that medicines and other health supplies reach the communities and people who need them.
“For us at Joint Medical Stores, our sole purpose is to increase access to these health supplies and medicines for the communities that need them,” Ahumuza said.
She explained that the value of medicines lies in their ability to reach patients and contribute to better health outcomes, rather than remaining unused in storage facilities.
“It doesn't help if they stay in our warehouse,” she said. Ahumuza said JMS therefore works with institutions, health facilities and associations such as AMDA to ensure that essential medicines and health supplies are distributed to communities where they are needed.
She encouraged residents of Sheema district to participate in the medical camp and urged community members to share information about the programme with their families, friends and neighbours.
“We call on the entire community in Sheema district to come. If you don't know about it, tell your family, tell your neighbour, so that they can come in large numbers and get the services at the medical camp,” she said.