CMA Couple Caring for the Spiritual and Physical Needs of the Acoli Tribe
August 10, 2026
CMA members Dr. Cynthia Jones-Nosacek and her husband Gary Nosacek have been traveling to Padibe, Uganda twice a year for nearly a decade. In certain ways, the people and area have become like family and a second home.
The last two years, they have spent Holy Week with the Acoli tribe. While the overall poverty rate in South Uganda is 15%, where people make less than $30/month according to the United Nations, among the Acoli it is 40% with many people earning less than $10/month. Hunger and malnutrition are real problems. So are malaria and tuberculosis.
“The drought from this past rainy season has contributed to the rising hunger and malnutrition. While supplements are available for children, adults will either sell them to buy food for the family or give it to other adults to keep up their strength to farm,” Dr. Jones-Nosacek explained.
The crop failure also affects the parents’ ability to pay school fees for their children. For the poor, each child can cost up to 6 months of earnings a year for primary school. Their choice becomes between buying food or sending their children to school, she added.
Dr. Jones-Nosacek cares for their physical needs, while her husband takes care of their spiritual needs. This year, for example, during Easter, he baptized over 100 children. “Dr. Cindy”, as she is called by her patients there, cared for mothers and their babies. Thanks to generous supporters, she brings T-shirts that are given to families with newborns. T-shirts, she explained, are more valuable than onesies since many mothers cannot afford diapers. And thanks to the CMA, the mothers also received a CMA tote bag to carry their items.
The clinic operates with limited resources. Most recently, the clinic has been able to provide oxygen, which has saved many newborns. Unfortunately, also recently, a used portable ultrasound that Dr. Jones-Nosacek brought to the clinic eight years ago finally broke down. It was used not only in the clinic but taken out to the surrounding communities allowing mothers and fathers to see their babies for the first time before birth. It has saved lives by diagnosing ectopic pregnancies. Replacing it is a priority.
While the present Ebola outbreak is not a concern for the Acoli tribe at this time, building trust will be critical where the local population knows that the world is only concerned with their plight when there is a possibility that it could spread beyond their borders.
“No one cares if the people there die from malaria or TB or that they are dependent on hunting animals for protein, some which are carriers of the virus,” Jones-Nosacek said. “Only the Catholic Church is trusted because, as the Acoli say, the Church has journeyed with them.”
Back in the States, Dr. Jones-Nosacek has turned her attention to raising money for the ultrasound which will cost between $5,000 and $6,000. Any money raised above that will support programs at the clinic to reduce food insecurity, school fees to keep children in school, or projects to improve the village, especially the medical clinic.
Dr. Cindy Jones-Nosacek, M.D. is a retired family physician, who serves on CMA’s Ethics, Catholic Social Teaching on Justice in Medicine, and Awards committees.
Donations can be sent to: Three Holy Women Parish, 1716 N Humboldt Ave, Milwaukee, WI 53202 with Padibe in the memo line. Or: www.threeholywomenparish.org/give. Please write Padibe in the area marked “allocation”.