How our holiday turned into a life changing charity, Nick Swift, Humanity Direct’s Co-Founder.

While on holiday in Uganda our tour guide suddenly became seriously ill and urgently needed medical care.  We drove down bumpy roads for what felt like hours in search of the nearest hospital. When we finally found a hospital the diagnosis was clear – he needed emergency surgery but, to our shock he hesitated, fearing the cost of the procedure more than his own condition.  

We covered the bill so the operation could go ahead and thought no more of it until the following year when we had our first child and this time it was Katrina, my wife and our unborn child, needing emergency surgery.  

We were fortunate and got the life saving care we needed without worrying about the cost. Knowing how lucky we were was a stark reminder of global inequalities in healthcare, especially access to safe surgery, so we vowed to make a difference and along with my business partner Marc Shalam we created Humanity Direct. 

It started with funding a handful of operations ourselves then a few family members and friends asked to fund operations instead of birthday and Christmas presents.  We started to establish a team of healthcare workers and surgeons to take on patients and soon found ourselves funding several clinics. 

We soon realised children were at the back of the queue when it came to getting surgery.  Of the 310 million operations performed annually just 6% of them happen in low income countries and a far smaller percentage are performed on children. As a result congenital anomalies go un-repaired, treatable injuries result in lifelong disabilities, and children die of easily correctable surgical problems such as incarcerated hernias.

A lack of skilled surgeons, delays in treatment such as seeing alternative and cheaper ‘healers’, the cost of reaching a medical facility and being charged a fee to see a doctor all compound the problems of getting children the life-changing, and often life-saving, medical care they need.  As parents of three children we decided that children had to be our priority and we now aim to provide safe and timely surgery to as many children as possible. 

Humanity Direct has grown into a vital lifeline for children in Uganda. Thanks to our healthcare coordinators and our network of surgeons (including maxillofacial surgeons, urologists and neurosurgeons) we can cover a wide spectrum of operations. 

As well as our surgical program we’ve established ‘Glasses for Classes’ providing eye-test and glasses for children. To date we’ve distributed almost 4000 pairs of glasses to help children see what they need to study helping them to remain in school and giving them a better chance of a brighter future. 

Uganda is a wonderful country and has become a second home to my family. Katrina and I, along with our three children, have visited Uganda numerous time to help with the clinics, catch up with the team and meet some of the families we help.  

We’re incredibly ambitious for the future and we’re working hard to make it easier for donors to donate and take part in our fundraising events.  We’ve recently updated our website, introducing additional donation options, including school partnerships and corporate sponsorship opportunities.  And we’re continuing our partnership with XNRG to stage a series of fundraising events throughout 2025. 

I’m incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far and we hope to continue funding even more surgeries, giving children in Uganda and beyond the chance to live healthier, happier lives.