On the move again.....and again......and again!
Malcolm has moved again. It’s not that he’s trying to get
away from the cold weather, but he’s returned to Kisiizi Hospital in south-west
Uganda to help with financial management.
He was last there in 2022 when he helped to appoint a new
Finance Manager and her deputy. Unfortunately (or the good news is) the Manager
is on maternity leave for 4 months having given birth to a baby boy, and the
Deputy suffered a complicated broken arm in a road traffic accident after
Christmas which means she is off sick for, possibly, a couple of months. With
another member of staff temporarily covering for the school bursar who is also
on maternity leave the office is down to
3 cashiers and there is work to be done!!
Malcolm arrived at about 2 am on Wednesday 17th Jan after travelling for24 hours and was delighted that the first person to greet him was Benon, the chief guard who enjoys testing Malcolm’s (poor) knowledge of Swahili.
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Because of the shortage of accommodation for volunteers for
the first week of so Malcolm stayed in one of the rooms at the Guest House. The
accommodation was small with an outside shower and toilet but the big advantage
was that he didn’t have to worry about food or washing as the guest house staff
took care of those things.
He has now moved into a more spacious volunteer’s house
complete with its own lounge, kitchen and shower room. He still doesn’t have to
worry too much about food or washing as he employs a ‘house-woman’, Peace, to
do the shopping, cooking and cleaning for him.
Another person on the move is the Hospital chaplain, Rev
Joshua, who has retired after 8 years at the hospital. On Thursday there was a
farewell meal arranged by the chaplaincy committee to thank him for his work.
As for the weather, Malcolm might have got away from the cold but this weekend there was a major tropical storm which destroyed many trees and damaged the electricity system. This resulted in a black-out which still continues. It may not have been the earth moving, but it certainly was some trees!
