In 1984, Dr. Palacas and his wife shifted focus to Africa, where he became the first field director for Mission Moving Mountains to develop efforts in community empowerment. In 1989 he moved under the leadership of the Church of Uganda, the state church, to serve as Minister of Reconciliation, Consultant in Medical-Spiritual Ministries, and Provincial CHE (Community Health Education) Coordinator. He trains the trainers-of-trainers of CHEs (Community Health Educators), who bring door-to-door health education to families in villages and urban areas alike. To date, CHEs have been established in eleven of Uganda’s dioceses with potential to reach 13,000,000 people, or 45% of Uganda’s population. Also, a CHE curriculum has recently been established in a Ugandan university, and CHE-clubs are appearing in high schools.

By training community health educators, who in turn train others, CHE offers a strategy for the promotion of a healthy lifestyle. As the influence of CHEs spreads in a community, water jugs and collections tanks appear in one home after another, as well as fuel-saving stoves and chimneys, and important sanitation measures such as rubbish pits, covered latrines and composting piles. Homes become more conducive to healthy living with lowered incidences of bronchitis and cancer from smoke inhalation, and more resistance to the spread of cholera and other gastro-intestinal diseases. Education in double-dig gardening results in high-production kitchen gardens, while nutritional training helps to optimize the nutritional value of vegetable proteins. Education in disease prevention serves to combat illness early in the stream of causality , and timely assistance in linking expectant mothers to health services contributes to a reduction in both maternal and infant mortalities. CHEs also help motivate communities to collectively solve infrastructure problems, especially in regard to water acquisition. And they encourage the many faces of microenterprise, as well.

Dr. Chris works side by side with his wife Jane, RN and co-encourager.