He'sOff - Again!

The rainy season has started in Uganda. A sensible person might think this would not be the best time to travel there. Not so for Malcolm. It’s also the open season for Auditors so he is off to Uganda for 7 weeks, to audit the annual accounts at Kisoro’s Potter’s Village Crisis Centre for Children, and then onto Kiwoko Hospital to help finalise their accounts for audit.

His family ensured he had a good send-off. A couple of weeks earlier all the family got together to celebrate the dedication of David and Sarah’s 2 sons, Samuel and Joseph. 

Pamela, Stephen and Eve inspect Lara's manicure

Nick, Rachel, Stephen and Josie

Then, to make sure he got away well fed, David and Sarah invited him and Irene for a farewell meal.

 ,

Irene, Sammy, David, Sarah and Joseph

When travelling to an airport you need to leave plenty of time in case of traffic delays. Malcolm went by National Express Coach and left enough time – just! Firstly there was congestion on the M1 – so the driver detoured through Buckinghamshire country roads. Then an accident on the M25 meant a detour though the London suburbs of Gerrards Cross and Denham. He arrived at Heathrow in time to drop off his bags, get through security and arrived at the Gate just as they began boarding. Not even time for a loo-stop.

Potter’s Village is very busy. In addition to providing accommodation and care to over 30 babies the medical centre has grown into a bustling unit providing care to premature babies and children from the local community up to 12 years old. However, the only involvement Malcolm will have is to go through the financial records for the past year.

 

Next week – onto Kiwoko Hospital

Back Home for the Birthday Boy

Celebrations continued this week following Malcolm’s return to England.

However, the celebrations were to do with his birthday rather than his return.

The highlight was at our daughter’s home in Cambridge with 5 of our grandchildren.

Work has also begun on our new utility / dog’s room on our home. This week Ian laid the bricks with the conservatory part being installed in a couple of weeks

Meeting Old Friends, and Making New Ones

  This week Malcolm started his journey home. First, he had a 13 hour bus journey to Kisoro to help with the annual accounts at Potters Village Crisis Centre for Children.

 Otis, the guard dog, was still there and gave him a warm welcome

If you show me where he is, I'll see him off

On his way to the Vocational Training Centre a snail came up to say hello.

When I'm too big for this shell I'll use your shoe

At the Vocational Training Centre, Amos is still the manager with Evasta his assistant.

Amos

Evasta

• Job done, it was time for Malcolm to return home. He was given a warm welcome by Irene, and the new member of the family, Nessie. It was just a shame the weather was not so warm

A warm welcome - despite the weather

The Little Monster

This weeks African proverb from the BBC website is Hausa: “Travelling slowly doesn't stop one from arriving, says the tortoise”

Party, Party time!

It’s Malcolm’s last week in Kiwoko before moving on to Kisoro – and it’s been a week of partying.

The Finance and Admin team had a farewell meal for Malcolm

On Sunday we celebrated Becca’s landmark birthday.

As usual there was a big spread. 

 As usual there was a lot of foolishness.

Even Denise had to make a point of announcing that Malcolm’s socks need darning!!!! Just as well Irene will be back keeping an eye on things soon!

On Monday there was a party to say goodbye to some visiting interns, and also to celebrate (again) Becca’s birthday. As usual there was a big spread.

 

This time it was decided we would all do our national dance.

An Irish dance

Sister Grace dancing (Twerking - invented in Uganda?)

And, of course, there was a cake to cut.

 

This week’s African Proverb from the BBC’s website is from Nigeria: “Only a fool carrying an elephant on his head joins people hunting crickets”

A Bunch of Terrorists?

Who are ISIS? Are they:

1.       An Islamic terrorist organisation, or

2.       A charitable foundation funding Kiwoko Hospital’s Maternity and HIV clinics for the past 10 years?

Because the answer is both,  ISIS (the 2^nd one) have recently been getting funny looks. For example, when they got their car insured in Uganda, they were asked ‘Do you want terrorism cover included?”

They could have taken legal action against ISIS (the 1^st one) about breach of copyright, but decided this may not be a healthy thing to do. So,  this week ISIS (the 2^nd one) changed their name to Adara. 

As part of the communication of this Malcolm came across some staff making a video.

You can see the full video explaining the name change, and the work of Adara on:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=V0lLcpEGuqQ

Not to be out-done, Malcolm is also making a video of the work of the HIV clinic. This involves attending a range of clinics and visiting some of the community work to take video of some of the 2,000 patients.

Malcolm himself almost felt hijacked this week. Not known for his sporting prowess (another of his (very) hidden talents) he finds it a bit unnerving living with those who regularly go jogging and other energetic activities. This week, early morning, he innocently walked onto the verandah of his house to discover a full scale ’30 minute workout with Davina”. Terrified, he had to go back and lie down again.

To round things off, Santa has also been hijacked. Two weeks ago we mentioned Father Christmas had visited Kiwoko Hospital. We are sorry to report that he must have become a victim of the white slave trade. This week an imposter was discovered by the hospital laboratory waiting for his test results.

 

(Editor’s note for our younger readers (i.e. younger than Malcolm, which is all of you): Both  these characters are imposters – the ‘real’ Father Christmas is meant to come on Christmas Eve – he is currently busy at work in Greenland, not Uganda.  It’s just as well Santa is not known in Uganda, as his outfit can be borrowed by children here  like a coat to keep them warm, without attracting any attention).

  

This week’s African Proverb from the BBC’s website is from South Sudan: “A cowardly hyena lives longer but it suffers the most”. 

Hail and Hearty

Sometimes the weather here is surprising. It is the rainy season, so we expect rain. But this week it hailed large stones. Malcolm was glad he wasn’t caught out in it!

 If its raining it must be time for a barbeque. Most of the women had gone away for the weekend so Rory arranged a lunch at his plot of land. At first the fire was difficult to light because all the wood was damp.

Once the fire was going the kids enjoyed freshly cooked popcorn, though we wondered if they were a bit reluctant to share it.

After lunch there was a chance for a quick dip in the pond, though someone thought the weather might turn bad again!

This week’s African Proverb from the BBC’s website is from Ghana: “Butter laughs at the salt when it rains forgetting that the sun will soon shine”. 

'Tis the Season for Festivities

Last Sunday Malcolm was invited, as Guest of Honour, to a fund raising event at Kiruli church. (The building is incomplete and the next stage is to raise money for windows). Malcolm was flattered even though he discovered he was at least 3^rd choice behind Rory and Denise Wilson.

In addition to fund raising there was also:

-          - a Baptism service for several children and adults

-          - a Harvest thanksgiving service

-       

   - and  an auction of harvest produce.

Feeling peckish, Malcolm was invited round to Rory and Denise’s for a pancake lunch. We are not saying Malcolm liked the food, but he wouldn’t even stop eating to pose for a photo!

 

 Their son, Gideon, is taught at home by Lisa. This week the theme at school was trains so the decorations included a steam train in the colours of  Gordon, Thomas and Percy.

To learn about light and dark Gideon had a cave built at the foot of some book shelves.

The work of the hospital continues to develop. The Medical Records Office has moved and there was an opening ceremony.

Finally there was a visitor to Malcolm’s office. Unseasonally early, but' tis the time to produce the hospital’s Christmas card. This year to raise funds to replace our broken auto-clave which sterilises medical tools.

This week’s African Proverb from the BBC’s website is from Uganda: “It is better to eat a mushroom in freedom than to eat meat in slavery”