Malcolm and Irene Crawford: Old Friends and New

We are on our travels again.

On Thursday Joseph, the hospital’s Finance Manager, took Malcolm to Kampala to meet the various financial organisations that he will have contact with, such as the Hospital’s banks (to discuss making him a cheque signatory) the Income Tax and National Insurance Offices and the external auditors. In particular the local branch of Equity bank Max, the manager, gave Malcolm a warm welcome, and tried to persuade him to open a bank account. She and her staff posed for a photo with Joseph – this seemed only fair as they had taken Malcolm’s photo as part of authenticating him as a cheque signatory.

It was a full day of meetings and tiring for Malcolm – Irene also came, and spent the day by the pool at the local leisure centre.

One reason for going to Kampala was also to meet Jenny Green from Potter’s Village who was also visiting Kampala. Because we needed to get to Kisoro to pick up their possessions left in Potter’s Village store, we managed to hitch a lift with her.

In Kisoro we were able to visit old friends and to see how Potter’s Village Crisis Centre for children had developed in the last 7 months. In particular the Medical Centre and Neonatal Intensive Care Unit is now fully operational, receiving patients referred from the Town Hospital, and in particular new babies which need the special care the local hospital is not able to provide. The Medical Centre uses both specialist incubators with oxygen feeds, and, for stronger babies, insulated ‘ice cream’ boxes. In Uganda it is vital to use whatever is locally available as high-tech facilities that we take for granted in Britain are not always available.

Another project initiated by a new volunteer, Sue Hughes, is to make strong specialist furniture for disabled children from recycled cardboard boxes and glue – a bit like papier mache. A special chair had just been finished by the Potters Village craftsman, Leonard, for Doreen, a 2 year old child with cerebral palsy. This chair enabled her to sit up for the first time on her own unaided and to view the world as any normal child.