THE MAN WITH THE KEY

THE VIEW FROM DIRK'S VERANDAH




VSO held two workshops last week one for “leavers” and one for the health volunteers. This was a great opportunity to meet up and discuss the highs and lows of volunteering in Uganda. Pam and I gave a presentation about the Miirya project helped by Stephen and John from the community department. This was well received and the project is seen as an example of how VSO can contribute to grass roots development. It was good to have positive feedback from people you respect who understand the challenges of working here.
Looking back at the project I find it is the work that I am most proud of. I can think of several patients who have benefitted from my interventions but the lasting effect of the Miirya project is much more important. Even today I was approached by one of the staff at Court View who told me his uncle in the village had learnt about Tippy Taps and now he wants to be shown how to make one. That is really the point of working with volunteers in the villages they are so enthusiastic and their enthusiasm infects other people. We have now distributed nearly 5000 nets and for those families we have definitely reduced the incidence of malaria. There is still a demand for nets and with the funding we have attracted we can keep the project going for at least another 12 months. The next stage will be consolidation and more work on hygiene, immunization and nutrition.
After the conference we went to Jinja to stay with Dirk. He is a volunteer with another NGO Softpower. He has been here five years and has built a superb house overlooking the Nile at Jinja. Sitting on his verandah you can watch the brave souls being put through their paces in preparation for the white water rafting. Maggie was very envious of the plot, it would be hard to find a better view. We had a good time in Jinja watching the rafters and eating good food. On Saturday morning we went to have a look round Softpower. They have an education centre and a health clinic. The clinic lab is better resourced and organised than the lab at Masindi hospital. The education block has a library, computer rooms and a theatre and pottery. There is also a craft shop where they sell crafts made by volunteers and local people. Of course we bought some items from the shop. That is were the saga of the key began.
After lunch when Maggie came to pay she realised she had lost her purse with our money and credit cards. A short moment of panic later she remembered putting it on the shelf at the craft shop when she was paying. So all we had to do was track down the man with the key to get back in to the shop. Unfortunately he is the only one without a mobile. Luckily another staff member knew where he lived so we set off to his village. He was not there but someone thought he had stopped off to watch the Premier League. We did find someone with the key for the office so returned to Softpower to find that the key for the shop was not in the key box. So we had to find Safir. Two hours later after visiting every place with satellite TV, and hauling a colleague off the pitch in the middle of a game we gave up and returned to Dirk’s house. After twenty minutes Dirk had a phone call - Safir had been found. He had been at Softpower all afternoon, sitting making jewellery just behind the craft shop. Maggie never loses any thing, she is always organised and in control but Becky and I have enjoyed reminding her not to forget her purse.



GOING





GOING




GONE

Change of scenery

Today we are going to Kampala for a week. We have to go to Interpol to get proof that we have not been engaged in criminal activity or more particularly child abuse. This is to allow us to get a CRB check when we come home. There are also two VSO workshops, one a leavers workshop and the other a health conference. It is becoming more real that we only have seven more weeks here. Our flights are booked for September 28th which is world rabies day in case any one had forgotten!
The conference is a time for the health volunteers to get together and share experiences. My concern is that my experience may sound negative compared to some of the other projects. Masindi is the only project where volunteers are working directly with the government and this does raise different issues. I have been discussing with the medical superintendent the lack of resources and it is correct when he says that the government can only pay for about 25% of what is needed. One of the problems is that politicians will not admit this to the public and claim that all is well. The hospital has had the same budget of 280 million shillings for the last 10 years. That is in spite of the increase in population and the huge increase in costs of drugs. Most of the time the drugs and equipment needed to provide the care are not available. On Friday Ritah, the librarian who Maggie works with, was admitted to the female ward where I work. She collapsed and needed urgent surgery. Luckily the theatre was available and the surgeon was around so she could be operated on within the half hour. The delay was caused by the need for her family to go in to town and buy gloves, sutures and IV fluid. Happily they were in a position to afford them and she had a successful outcome. That same night a patient needed a caesarian section but had to wait until the morning for the local pharmacy to open so they could purchase what was needed for the section.
There are successes in the hospital and it is important to remember them. Last week we successfully treated a diabetic coma, a woman with cryptococcal meningitis, a child with nephrotic syndrome as well as starting several people on anti TB treatment. We have had reports from the health centres in Miirya that malaria is now less prevalent and that is seen as an effect of our mosquito net distribution. We are on target to finish the distribution of 5000 nets at the end of the month.
This weekend we have had Gemma and Fynn, two children of friends in Budongo, to stay. It was great to see how well they played with Akim, Adeitha and Aiesha the children who live in the compound. The five of them had a great time even though they had little common language. It is sobering to think about their futures. They all have great potential but Ugandan children’s chances of fulfilling theirs is far less. When we leave in September it looks like Rose and her family will have to leave as well. Hopefully they can find some suitable accommodation but it is unlikely to be as good as they have had for the last 2 years. One of the real draw backs of living here for a short time is the problem of leaving people behind. We are going to miss a lot of people.

Enjoying a DVD together:



Bonding without words:



Introducing cricket to Uganda: