Safari

After quite a long time working our socks off in Kisiizi we managed to get away after the launch of the Uganda:UK Health Alliance meeting in Kampala and we made our first visit to Murchison Falls National Park.  Having lived in Uganda for so many years it was becoming embarrassing not to have visited this famous place while quite a few of our short-term visitors had been.

So off we went with a backpackers tour agency for a couple of nights in safari tents...
after quite a long journey it was all worth it when we were able to walk to the top of the falls and were blessed with beautiful lighting and a rainbow.



The next morning we had a game drive and then in the afternoon a boat trip up the Nile to the foot of the falls.

We loved the giraffes, hadn't seen them in the wild in Uganda before as they are not in Queen Elizabeth park or at Lake Mburo. 

They are magnificent animals and looked very healthy with plenty of space to roam, appearing on the skylines like some sort of alien tripods in a row!














So we enjoyed the wilderness and beauty though the wildlife was a bit too near when a hippo decided to graze right next to our tent so we had to wait half an hour before we could enter!

On returning to Kampala Ian attended the National Intern Committee where it was encouraging to find Kisiizi having a very high profile.

Then on a coach to Mbarara that afternoon and chatting long into the evening with Esther Kobusingye, our former Principal Nursing Officer with whom we stayed.

Raising the profile...

We are grateful for a number of encouragements as we seek to raise the profile of Church of Uganda Kisiizi Hospital.  This is important not because we want to blow our own trumpet but being located in a very rural remote area, there are challenges in recruiting key staff.  So, for example, to ask a radiographer in Kampala to come to Kisiizi might be rather like inviting someone in Manchester to go and work in Iceland - their response would be the same "Why would I?! It's a long way away, it's cold, and they speak a different language"!

Dr Lukwago Asuman, Permanent Secretary, with Ian

The launch of the Uganda : UK Health Alliance in Kampala on 15th October was attended by key leaders from the Ministry of Health including Ministers, Director General and the Permanent Secretary.  The UK delegation was led by Lord Nigel Crisp who had run the NHS for six years.  Also present were key people such as the lead for DfiD in Uganda.

We were greatly encouraged that Kisiizi featured very highly on the evening.  One surprise was to find that the Permanent Secretary had been one of Ian's medical students decades ago! 

Lots of opportunity to network with some key leaders and we have invited a number to come to Kisiizi as we hope this will encourage the Ministry to second key staff to us and increase our budget support.

The following week Ian attended the National Intern Committee and again was encouraged to find Kisiizi receiving much praise and support from the Chairman who is the executive director of the national referral hospital in Mulago.

To add to all the above, a couple of days later Ian had a phone call from the Chairman of the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council [equivalent to the UK GMC] whom he had met a few weeks ago at a meeting in Kabale. He wanted  information about our Community Health Insurance Scheme to discuss with MP's next week.

We have also had Alia Fry's article about our amplification training for the WHO African Partnerships for Patient Safety heading up the APPS newsletter this quarter, and have contributed a vignette to an article in Archives of Diseases of Childhood in UK and submitted an article for the Contact magazine of the World Council of Churches. 

So we are grateful for these opportunities to raise the profile and pray for good fruit from it all.

What's round the next corner???

A number of unexpected “Goliaths” have crossed our path recently....

Money:                                 

The hospital was audited by a national savings fund [like National Insurance] to which we make mandatory contributions.  We had thought that we were excellent in our compliance but they shocked us by stating that some groups of workers whom we had understood to be exempt from the payments should have contributed.  We have had some good meetings to try and find the way forward and hope the matter will be positively sorted soon.

Danger:                               

 Ian was coming back home on Friday evening 11^th October and thankfully spotted a snake next to our house.  The security guards nearby came and rapidly dispatched the reptile with rapid and heavy blows from sticks so it was dealt with very quickly.  It is actually very rare to see snakes near our houses or in the hospital area but they may have been displaced by the wildfires in our forest areas we described before.  Our main concern is the young children in our community so we will have a thorough session on cutting back long grass to try and avoid the risk.

Health:                 

Having just recovered from a mild viral illness which settled with simple symptomatic treatment,  Ian felt fine again on Monday morning 7^th October but then out of the blue developed pain and swelling in the right wrist and then, overnight, the same symptoms appeared in his left shoulder.  The result was a lot of discomfort but also very limited function.  Fortunately having married the world’s best nurse, it was dealt with very efficiently. [by the way we do recommend you google on “Man flu” on Youtube to enjoy a sketch which will make you sympathise more with Laura, I mean Hanna!]

After a couple of days of high dose ibuprofen and paracetamol and a wrist splint, it was actually getting worse and I had some general fever.  My colleagues commenced me on intravenous antibiotics and “slowly by slowly” as we say here, it is improving. 

Thanks to all of you who have supported us in your prayers that, like David, we might stand in faith and confront the giants that very unexpectedly try to block our path....

Friends Day 2013

We are delighted to hear of great times yesterday at Friends Day in Reading and send special thanks to Dr Philip Haynes and his wife Jocelyn for co-ordinating the programme plus to all the other contributors who made the day a great success.

Kisiizi was represented by Dr. Gabriel Okumu, our Consultant Surgeon and Deputy Medical Superintendent.

Philip, Gabriel and Jocelyn

Board of Governors

We were pleased to have a Board meeting on Friday 4th October to discuss progress in the past months and plans and challenges for the future.
The photo shows members of the Board joined by some extra members of Management following lunch together.