A Doctor in the house?

It has been a busy Christmas week.

 

On Christmas Eve a group of us went around the wards to sing carols and give out small presents. Most patients had been discharged, but maternity was particularly busy because most other clinics and hospitals in the region were referring patients to Kiwoko due to the shortage of staff over the holiday period.

It was unusual celebrating Christmas day in a hot climate. The local children, dressed in their best and new clothes enjoyed playing on what was left of a tall tree that had recently been felled.

 

Christmas lunch was shared in the open air, being a mixture of western and local food. 

 

The party games were interrupted by a sudden but brief downpour. Irene joined in a game involving balloon modelling – Dr Peter, the Hospital’s main surgeon, was not quite sure what to make of it.

 On Boxing Day it was Malcolm’s turn to play doctor.

 Dr Corrie wanted a video made of her work in Kiwoko and it was time to record some caesarean sections. 

 A healthy, screaming boy was safely delivered, and Malcolm is recovering well too. 

(Malcolm must have made an impression with theatre staff. The following day they rang him to come to do an operation. They had used the wrong number for Dr. Peter.)

This week’s African Proverb from the BBC web-site is from Uganda ““Do not look where you fell, but where you slipped”

More Festive Activities

It is bright and sunny here with temperatures rising to the 30 degrees centigrade.

 

But we can still prepare for a ‘normal' Christmas.

  

The Christmas tree (branch) has been decorated and the angel put on top.

 

We enjoyed a Christmas lunch with all the trimmings.

 

 

 

 

 

And now its time to open some presents.

 

We wish all of you a very happy Christmas

 

‘

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria: “The chicken does not forget the person who plucked its tail feathers during the rainy season

Party, Party Time

‘Tis the season to ……celebrate Christmas

 In Uganda Christmas creeps up quietly. Without TV we are not bombarded with adverts and there is little else to remind us that Christmas is approaching. Yesterday there were some builders at the hospital with a machine repeatedly playing the electronic version of ‘Jingle Bells’ and a mechanical Santa was spotted in a Kampala Shopping Mall.

But it is time to celebrate.

 The first was the Children’s Christmas Party last weekend. This had all the normal ingredients including a nativity play (with sheep), dancing and lots of food.

 

 

Unusually (for us) it was held in the open air in the hot sunshine.

 

 

Yesterday it was time for the party for Staff and Students.

 

The main entertainment was provided by groups of staff and students. Our contribution was a dance set to the 2010 Football World Cup theme song (Waka Waka). This provided great entertainment to the African audience as most of the dancers were the white staff, with some local senior managers to enhance the rhythmic ‘style’.

 

Santa did make an appearance, in a sketch put on by the Children’s Ministry Team – but he wasn’t taken too seriously.

 

 

This week another bug dropped in. It is difficult to know which is the front, and which the back.

 

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Sierra Leone“What a sober man has in his brain a drunkard has on his tongue”

No Retreat, No Surrender

A Retreat, and then No Retreat.

 

The Hospital has just held a Retreat for its Management Board to consider our priorities for the next 5 years. This was the conclusion of a series of meetings with staff, management, stakeholders and members of the public to identify the challenges facing the Hospital

 

On Friday the Chaplaincy Committee organised a seminar for married staff on ‘Love Languages’. What was clear is that Malcolm’s ‘Love Language’ is food! We didn’t think we were the oldest couple there, until we fould that no-one else had been married for more than 30 years – where’s my zimmer frame?

 

This week was the Sport's Competition at the Hospital Training Schools. Malcolm was asked to be one of the 3 Patrons to encourage Hocking House, whose motto is ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’. Little did he know what he had let himself in for.

 

The Competition was a mixture of indoor and outdoor games, athletics, singing and dancing.

 

Hocking House did well at the outdoor games, winning the Volleyball competition and runners up in the football. Despite losing 5 – 0 in the final our goalkeeper won the award for the best goalie.

 

 

Towards the end of the athletics someone had the clever idea that the 12 Patrons should have a race. It started out as one 400m lap – which Malcolm thought a bit excessive. Then it was decided that 2 laps would be a good idea!!!!!!!  Despite Malcolm being twice the age of any other Patron no concession was allowed.

 

 

Most of the Patrons completed the race before Malcolm had run one lap (run being a bit generous). However, as they waited for him to complete the second a host of house team members and children ran across to support him. A heart warming moment turning humiliation into a lap of honour.

 

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from West Africa:  “When you see an old man running in a thorn forest, if he is not running after something then something is running after him”  

Just a Piece of Cake

It’s party time!!!

 Another year has passed and it’s Malcolm’s birthday – again.

As you might expect cakes featured a lot. John Bosco, one of the Finance staff, made a decorated cake for the office which was very much appreciated.

 

There was a second cake at a birthday meal arranged at Dr Rory’s house which took the wind out of Malcolm.

 

However, this didn’t mean he didn’t try to sneak some more food when he thought no-one was looking.

 

 With all that over-eating even Dr Corrie couldn’t face him any more.

 

 

Other people, fortunately, were taking life a bit more seriously. There are a lot of student nurses from Ireland and Germany doing work experience at the hospital, and Sunday was a chance to relax over ……. coffee and cake!

 

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Ethiopia:  “One who eats alone cannot discuss the taste of the food with others”

(Cakes this week were presented by John, Sarah, Malcolm and Denise)

 

Doing It With Coviction

Its been Sarah’s final days here.
 

 

The Hospital has a Ministry Team which visits a number of the prisons in the region, This week Sarah went with them to a low security open prison (just one murderer and one rapist) to speak at a short service.
 

All of us spoke with Sarah talk about the parable of the Prodigal son. Fortunately we all managed to escape! (from the prison, not the talk)

 

We had an ‘escapee’ at our house. A couple of birds have built a nest in our verandah and hatched 2 eggs. One of the fledglings had a bit of a hard landing on its first test flight but seemed to recover OK. He and his brother left the nest for good the next day. 

 

We then had a day away ourselves with Dr Corrie. On route the ladies took the chance to do some more bird watching.
 

 

Then there was the chance to try out some of our swimming skills

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Cameroon:  “As man has learnt to shoot without missing, the birds have learnt to fly without perching”


  

Simply Batty!

Its been a bit of a batty week.

 

It started of with a bar b q with Rory last Saturday. It started well enough with Rory skilfully lighting the fire to cook the beef burgers. However it all got a bit soggy when the rain soaked the crisp burgers, as well as Rory.

 

And then there was the birthday party for Susan, the Chief Executive of one of the Hospital main funders, Isis. Malcolm was a bit surprised when she appeared to have taken exception to the birthday card he presented to her. Fortunately no lasting damage was done.

 

And as for our other visitors!!! Sarah from Chesham decided she needed to imitate the stars of a 1969 cult movie by riding pillion. as she toured the local countryside. With a bit of imagination, and with your eyes closed, Bosco, an HIV counsellor working at the hospital, could almost be mistaken for Peter Fonda.

 

We had thought Steve Burgess, our boss from the Church Mission Society, had come to check up that everything was OK with us. However, he soon took the opportunity of scoring a rounder’s home run – against a team of children who attend the hospital’s HIV clinic.

 

The local animal wildlife was also acting a bit batty. This included a goat. He had clearly decided to go climbing to read a hospital poster (only kidding).

 

Sadly not all the wildlife is so endearing. Bats are a menace as they spread diseases and rabies, so from time to time the hospital has to take steps to remove them. This week it was a bit like a bat cemetery around our house. Not something that would be permitted in the UK?

 

Another practice which would be frowned upon in the UK appeared quite happily in a national newspaper here. What is this? A business awards ceremony in Uganda where a white business man is carried in by what appears to be 4 black male slaves…………. Surely not. Is it Uganda, or the UK which is going a bit batty over being ‘PC’?

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria:  “Don't befriend a goat if your cover cloth is made from plantain leaves”

Totally eclipsed?

There are times you may feel totally eclipsed by your friends and colleagues.

 

Last Sunday where was a solar eclipse in Uganda, which was almost total in Kiwoko. Many people found safe ways to view the eclipse – some more effectively than others.

 

Every weekday there is a morning chapel, and on Friday’s different departments arrange the morning. This week it was the term of the medical Workshop. They presented a sketch raising issues about looking after the hospital equipment so that patients can be cared for. The all male cast caused great hilarity aongst the staff and students, particularly in their roles as nurses and the ambulance.

  

On Tuesday Joseph, the hospital Finance Manager, Joseph, left to start a new job in Kampala. He has worked at Kiwoko for 4 years. His friends arranged a farewell party.

 

This week’s African proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is:  “The shadow of a stick cannot protect you from the sun”