While working in Marseilles, Lucille Teasdale sent a postcard to Piero Corti, inviting him to visit.
After visiting several hopeful sites in Africa and India, Piero Corti had chosen to work from a small 30 bed mission hospital near Gulu (Northern Uganda).
He was preparing the first air cargo of equipment to be airlifted by the Italian Air Force, which was then involved in the UN Mission to the Congo, and Piero invited Lucille to go with him "just for a couple of months" to start the surgical activity.
He could only afford to pay for her travel and her cigarettes.
Lucille accepted and traveled to Uganda on the same Italian Air Force plane.

Upon arrival in Uganda in 1961, Lucille was required to obtain a license to practice as a doctor, but learned she would first have to complete two months of internship.
She was referred to one of the surgeons of the capital’s Mulago University Hospital, who interviewed her and authorized her to go straight to Lacor.
The surgeon was Dr Denis Parsons Burkitt, who first described and studied the distribution and etiology of the pediatric cancer that bears his name: Burkitt's Lymphoma.

St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor or simply Lacor Hospital (the regional name "Lacor" was later added to distinguish the hospital from many other institutions with the name "St. Mary’s") is a non-profit hospital founded by the Catholic Comboni Missionaries in 1959.
It lies some 5 km west of Gulu, the main town in Northern Uganda, on the road that turns north towards the Sudanese border 100 km away.
It is the region of the Acholi (Acoli) people, a Luo (Lwo) Nilotic ethnic group.
When Lucille joined Lacor, the hospital had a 40-bed maternity ward and an outpatient department, while other departments, including the operating room, were under construction.
Piero had decided to settle there because the Italian bishop of the Diocese who owned the hospital had agreed to allow him to manage and develop the hospital with relative independence.
Piero would never ask the Diocese for money, but would raise any necessary funds himself.

Lucille’s first operation was carried out on an examination bed.
Thereafter she spent mornings carrying out ward rounds followed by adult outpatients and afternoons in theater.
After extending her stay because of Piero’s need to return to Italy due to his father’s health, Lucille went back to France.
She returned to Uganda in December 1961 after accepting Piero’s marriage proposal.
They married in the hospital’s chapel on 5 December 1961.

Piero and Lucille’s early dream guided them throughout their lives and remains the hospital’s guiding principle: "to offer the best possible care to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible cost" and "to train those who would replace them."

On 9 October 1962, Uganda achieved independence and on 17 November 1962 Lucille gave birth to her only child, daughter Dominique, whom locals named Atim ("born far from home" in Acholi).
From this time Lucille would be known locally as "min Atim," mother of Atim.
At the time, the hospital staffed Italian Comboni nuns who had obtained degrees in nursing and midwifery in the UK (as required by the British Protectorate in Uganda) and locals trained "on the job."

For more than 20 years, Piero and Lucille were responsible for the initial 3 months’ training of newly graduated Italian doctors deciding to carry out two years’ civil service instead of the compulsory one-year military service.
They were sent through Italian government aid projects to work in seven mission and two government hospitals in northern Uganda, including St. Mary’s.
The mission hospitals depended almost exclusively on these doctors.

Despite Milton Obote assuming the Ugandan presidency and changing the constitution to vest considerable power in his own hands in 1967/68, the country enjoyed relative peace until the chief of armed forces Idi Amin Dada took power with an armed coup in 1971.
In 1972, Amin expelled 60,000 Asians whose ancestors had settled in Uganda during colonial times, and handed their businesses and properties to his supporters.
As a r
While working in Marseilles, Lucille Teasdale sent a postcard to Piero Corti, inviting him to visit. After visiting several hopeful sites in Africa and India, Piero Corti had chosen to work from a small 30 bed mission hospital near Gulu (Northern Uganda). He was preparing the first air cargo of equipment to be airlifted by the Italian Air Force, which was then involved in the UN Mission to the Congo, and Piero invited Lucille to go with him "just for a couple of months" to start the surgical activity. He could only afford to pay for her travel and her cigarettes. Lucille accepted and traveled to Uganda on the same Italian Air Force plane.
Upon arrival in Uganda in 1961, Lucille was required to obtain a license to practice as a doctor, but learned she would first have to complete two months of internship. She was referred to one of the surgeons of the capital’s Mulago University Hospital, who interviewed her and authorized her to go straight to Lacor. The surgeon was Dr Denis Parsons Burkitt, who first described and studied the distribution and etiology of the pediatric cancer that bears his name: Burkitt's Lymphoma.
St. Mary’s Hospital Lacor or simply Lacor Hospital (the regional name "Lacor" was later added to distinguish the hospital from many other institutions with the name "St. Mary’s") is a non-profit hospital founded by the Catholic Comboni Missionaries in 1959. It lies some 5 km west of Gulu, the main town in Northern Uganda, on the road that turns north towards the Sudanese border 100 km away. It is the region of the Acholi (Acoli) people, a Luo (Lwo) Nilotic ethnic group. When Lucille joined Lacor, the hospital had a 40-bed maternity ward and an outpatient department, while other departments, including the operating room, were under construction. Piero had decided to settle there because the Italian bishop of the Diocese who owned the hospital had agreed to allow him to manage and develop the hospital with relative independence. Piero would never ask the Diocese for money, but would raise any necessary funds himself.
Lucille’s first operation was carried out on an examination bed. Thereafter she spent mornings carrying out ward rounds followed by adult outpatients and afternoons in theater. After extending her stay because of Piero’s need to return to Italy due to his father’s health, Lucille went back to France. She returned to Uganda in December 1961 after accepting Piero’s marriage proposal. They married in the hospital’s chapel on 5 December 1961.
Piero and Lucille’s early dream guided them throughout their lives and remains the hospital’s guiding principle: "to offer the best possible care to the greatest number of people at the lowest possible cost" and "to train those who would replace them."
On 9 October 1962, Uganda achieved independence and on 17 November 1962 Lucille gave birth to her only child, daughter Dominique, whom locals named Atim ("born far from home" in Acholi). From this time Lucille would be known locally as "min Atim," mother of Atim. At the time, the hospital staffed Italian Comboni nuns who had obtained degrees in nursing and midwifery in the UK (as required by the British Protectorate in Uganda) and locals trained "on the job."
For more than 20 years, Piero and Lucille were responsible for the initial 3 months’ training of newly graduated Italian doctors deciding to carry out two years’ civil service instead of the compulsory one-year military service. They were sent through Italian government aid projects to work in seven mission and two government hospitals in northern Uganda, including St. Mary’s. The mission hospitals depended almost exclusively on these doctors.
Despite Milton Obote assuming the Ugandan presidency and changing the constitution to vest considerable power in his own hands in 1967/68, the country enjoyed relative peace until the chief of armed forces Idi Amin Dada took power with an armed coup in 1971. In 1972, Amin expelled 60,000 Asians whose ancestors had settled in Uganda during colonial times, and handed their businesses and properties to his supporters. As a r
Lucille Teasdale-Corti