Nightingale Ruth Kalinda Kitogo is the second  born in a family of ten children, and the first girl child in the home.  At nine months old, she was diagnosed with polio. During a time when polio victims were stigmatized, Nightingale’s childhood and teen age were almost unbearable. Nightingale was denied  a place in Makerere Medical School because she was lame.

As fate would have it, she qualified as the first ever East African Physiotherapist, after years of persistence. She went on to become a qualified Occupational therapist before resigning from her active role in the hospital.

Soon after her resignation, Nightingale spear-headed a campaign for Community Based Rehabilitation, a new approach to health intervention in Uganda. This saw health care interventions being becoming more available within Communities. However, at the heart of Nightingale’s campaign was support for people living with disabilities. She strongly advocated for visibility, fairness and equal access for disabled people to opportunities, especially in education, health and community.

Nightingale fought through thick and thin to make the voices of countless others heard, and she is an inspiration to all of us to live lives of service and justice.