About

What is Engeye Health Clinic?

Located in Ddegeya Village within the Masaka District of Uganda, Engeye Health Clinic was founded in April 2007 by a team of medical students and volunteers who sought to bring basic health services to a village where serious diseases like malaria, STDs and HIV/AIDS were widespread. Due to the scarcity of any social services for miles, Engeye has evolved into a multi-faceted wellness center meeting the needs of over 16,000 patient visits per year. The clinic provides education, market strategy support, mental health services and environmental improvement services to promote many avenues to wellness.

Why does Engeye health clinic need a design team now?

The health clinic is at a cross roads. It needs to expand rapidly to meet demand, but doesn’t want to do so without taking the time to intelligently design structures and systems that enhance the local ecology and culture. The country of Uganda is suffering large-scale poverty and ecological changes due to widespread deforestation. Engeye wants to be part of the solution for a holistically healthy Uganda.

The design team will provide two deliverables by October 2010: 1) A phased, sustainable master plan of the clinic over a period of 5 years 2) Ecologically performing housing designs for five (5) permanent staff members and their families, as part of the first phase of the master plan.

Who is the design team?

Melissa Guerrero is a working landscape architect based in Los Angeles, California whose work seeks to empower communities and individuals through multi-functional designs that plug into ecological and social infrastructures beyond the site’s boundaries. Her design, research and curatorial efforts have focused on the mechanics of sustainable technologies and design as a form of activism. Design technology research case studies have been supported by a grant from Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD) and published by that school’s academic journals. Her design work and research regarding sustainable technology and community empowerment has been published and exhibited at the GSD, as well as in a field book for wild urban plants. Research and design work related to the issues of slum upgrading strategies have been published online, exhibited in slums through the housing authority of Sao Paulo, Brazil, and published and exhibited at the 4th International Architecture Biennale Rotterdam, 2009-2010. Her community design work has been supported through a grant from the City of Los Angeles, New York state assembly funds, New York City council district funds and the non-profit New Yorkers for Parks Design Fellowship. She received her B.A. in Archaeology from Columbia University and her M.L.A from Harvard’s Graduate School of Design.

Jacqueline Maldonado (nee Nakanyike) is a Ugandan native whose work seeks to empower indigenous people with an architecture articulate of the land it comes from. Using sustainability as common practice she seeks to revitalize urban landscapes and the nature of how structures function as a living machines. As Assistant Editor, she collaborated with Keith Moskow, AIA to write and publish Sustainable Facilities (McGraw-Hill, 2008). Collaborative research and design work specific to the tangible futures of African cities has been published by the Harvard Graduate School of Design and her community work has been funded by the Kronish Practice Award, the BAC’s NOMA Competition Sketch Problem Prize, Tufts Architectural Society, and the United States Environment Protection Agency brownfield grant. As a student, she has presented her work “Methane Gas and Landfill Reuse” to the Stanford continuing studies department, and is working towards a dual-degree in architecture from The Boston Architectural College.

We’d also like to acknowledge the contributions of our Design Advisory Team, who provide invaluable feedback and expertise:

Michael Thornton, Civil Engineer

Sue Willems, Structural Engineer