Blood, thicker than water

It’s time for Malcolm to return home to his family.

 Before doing so he did first go to see if he could give blood in Uganda. Unlike the UK the location for donating is much more relaxing – like sunbathing under the shade of a mango tree. 

Now that's how to give blood.

 The only problem is that in Uganda there are 3 reasons why Malcolm couldn’t give blood, which don’t really apply in the UK:

-          He has high blood pressure

-          He’s too old!!!!!!!!

-          He’s on malaria tablets.

The good news that as a result of this disappointment Malcolm has discovered that after being back in the UK for 6 months (having returned from a malaria country) he will be OK to try and donate, being neither too old, nor prevented as he has medication for high blood pressure.  Yippee!!!

The first stage of the journey home was a 50 mile drive to the airport. This was going well until, in a Kampala traffic jam, the engine ‘refused’ due to an electrical fault. After a 15 minute hunt around the minibus to find out where the battery is, Malcolm and Rory surprisingly found the owner’s manual. (How many used cars in Uganda do you think still have an owner’s manual????) Only problem is, neither of them could read Japanese. Doh!

Now we know where the battery is!!!!

Eventually the battery was found, and a temporary fix made to get the minibus to a KFC for lunch. Here, their friend, Rashid, a mechanic, met them to do a proper repair.

Thank you, Rashid

So, finally, it was farewell to Rory and Uganda, for Malcolm’s flight back home.

Dinner for One?

Dinner for One?

It’s Malcolm’s last week at Kiwoko Hospital. Any thoughts that he might lose some weight during his time in Uganda have been swallowed up in a round of meals.

 Firstly, there were some new visitors at the Guest House. Gillian, Wendy and Myrtle from Northern Ireland came for a few days to visit friends, carry out some staff training and pray with patients. They even survived some of Malcolm’s cooking.

When we lived here, we attended a weekly Fellowship group. It so happened this week was ‘Swallowship’, a meal to celebrate the birthdays of 4 group members.

 

Malcolm has been working with the Finance Team for the past 5 weeks and it is time to say farewell. You can’t say goodbye without having a proper party, can you.

 

Finally, there was a farewell meal at the Guest House arranged by Michael and Conrad.

 

 

We are now a little worried about Malcolm carrying excess baggage on the flight home!!

 

Incidently, after the farewell meal we played a game of Cranium. For years, for some reason known only to him, Malcolm has been carrying an old 3d coin in his wallet. This odd behaviour has now been totally justified as it proved the answer to on of the question.

 

The other ‘oddity’ is that Malcolm learned that, whereas in Britain during Christmas the film, ‘Great Escape’ is usually shown on British TV to remind us of life inGermany, in Germany the tradition is to show a short film ‘Dinner for One’ which gives them an impression of normal typical life in England. The following is a link to the film Dinner for One – fast forward the 2 minute introduction in German – the main film, starring Freddie Frinton, is in English and lasts about 15 mins.

Next week – back to dear old Blighty