Bringing some light to the situation

 

Normally Kisiizi Hospital has a very reliable source of electricity. One of the reasons the site was chosen for the Hospital sixty years ago was that it was formerly a flax mill with its own hydro electric scheme. This has been upgraded over the years and it normally provides power not only for the hospital but also for many houses in the district. The source of this power is a small river which feeds a waterfall in the hospital grounds, but also has enough ‘head’ to drive a water turbine.

 

And then, in March, the Hospital was flooded under 3 feet of water.  It was thought the turbine was not damaged, but just before Malcolm arrived the alternator burnt out, probably because the flood water damaged the insulation.

 

 

A hospital cannot operate without power. Fortunately there is a small standby turbine big enough to power the hospital but not for the staff houses and other customers.

Cost of new alternator - £30,000. Delivery time from Germany ?????

 

Fortunately, by necessity, East Africans are skilled at mending all sorts of items and a team of ‘fundis’ from Rwanda have come to rewind the alternator – a job that can take up to 3 weeks and needs over 350 lbs of copper wire.

 

 

 

In the meantime, since it gets dark by 7pm, it is usually an early night for all.

Not one for early nights Malcolm has invested in a small solar panel and battery to provide some light at night.

 

What a bright spark!

 

PS Some people think Malcolm looks better in the dark.

Another Month - Another Trip to East Africa

No sooner have we returned to England than Malcolm is off again. This time to Kisiizi Hospital in Uganda. Fortunately for the grandchildren (and dog) Irene is sensible enough to remain at home.

Malcolm will be assisting the Finance Department at the Hospital for 3 months while they recruit a new manager. The first part of the journey to Kisiizi took 24 hours so he needed a comfortable hotel to stay in Kampala. He decided to be a bit extravagant and pay a premium of over 10% to upgrade to a better single room. Some might regard a lack of a window to be a problem but as the hotel is in the middle of Kampala no window meant no noise from the street (there is reason to his madness). The room was clean, the bed comfortable and he paid extra for a good breakfast (£1.10).

The journey to Kisiizi was also surprisingly (for an African bus) comfortable with reclining seats and lots of leg room.

 

 

There were some things of interest to see at the half way stop.

 

 

 

At the hospital Malcolm has moved into one of the cottages, and luxuriates in the 2 rooms, bathroom and kitchen. Rumour has it that he won’t be doing too much in the latter!!!!

 

Malcolm quickly settled in and enjoyed an ‘al fresco’ meal with the staff at the Guest House.

 

Now all he needs to do is to start working!

What Comes Around, Goes Around

It was our last full week at Neema. Ben and Katy come back and on 1st May we fly back to the UK.

For Irene she returned to one of her first jobs - tying string onto price tags ready for the craft market in Dar es Salaam in 2 weeks time. However, she was delighted that Dom had redesigned the labels so they were much easier to put together.

There was also time for one last Football Match. The team got a new ball and we travelled with supporters on the 50 mile journey to a small village.

The trip had several purposes. In addition to an exciting game of football, it was an opportunity to attract visitors to the church so they could hear the gospel, and to hear that disabled and deaf people can be of great value to their communities if they are given the right support.

The match was exciting - trailing 1 - 0, Neema then scored 2 goals, only to let one in in the last few minutes . 2 -2 ; a fair result.

How Neema Crafts changes lives

This week we share some of the stories of staff here.

 

Eliza was one of the first staff at Neema in 2003, making paper from Elephant dung. She says: ‘ I am really happy to work at Neema  and cannot think of any place I would rather be. I have food, an income and joy here. Before Neema became known in Iringa, hearing people would ignore me because I was deaf, but now they know I work at Neema Crafts they communicate with me and are happy to be seen with me. I am part of the community where I live and have friends and a family here. Working at Neema has given me experience I could never have had if it was not here. God has helped me in the past  and I pray that He will continue to help me in the future.’

 

Benjamin is well educated with a qualification in Commerce. Yet, as a disabled person as a result of polio he was unable to get work, so he spent 14 years at his parent’s home repairing shoes for little money. He is now our Weaving Manager. He says: ‘Now I can afford daily needs and send my children to school. In Iringa people respect us and see our talents. They thought we could do nothing and could not be employed but this attitude is changing slowly. I love the work I do.’

Fatuma was a normal girl until she became deaf at 9. She started business as a tailor but because she could not hear, customers went elsewhere because they thought she could not communicate. She says: ’At Neema Crafts it is great, because I am amongst other deaf people and I like working in a group with friends. Neema has not only helped me financially but also spiritually. We do bible studies every week and one time the pastor of my local church invited me to come and visit. From then I started going to church and really enjoyed it. People sign there, and I can understand the talks and the Bible. I got married as a Muslim. I continue to go to church and believe it and my faith is as a Christian.'  

Match of the Day!

This week Malcolm went Neema's Deaf Football Team for a match at the school where many of our deaf staff were taught. Ally, who is popular with the current pupils, showed Malcolm around.

He met with the pupils who now use the small dormitory he used to sleep in.



Although some of the buildings are in good condition, some are closed because of subsidence as the school in built on marshy land. The classes are, by Tanzanian standards, small with about 10 in each class comparedwith the usual 60 to 80.

Pupils collect water for the kitchen at a pump about 100 yards from the school.

There is an outdoor oven that uses firewood.

Some other staff from Neema came to cheer on the team, including one of our deaf waiters. William was also a former pupil at the school.

The football match was closely fought. Neema were 1 nil down at half time

After a pep talk by the coach, Neema came back with 2 goals in one minute eventually winning 3 - 2.

In the end, bad light stopped play

There are some things that you can do without, and some you can’t!

Easter Sunday is always a special day in the Christian calendar. And this year we had a really special outdoor service we didn't want to miss at a nearby farm with the Iringa Christian Fellowship.

  

Irene offered to sing a song……..

 

….. and some puppets told, and sang the Easter story.

  

Compared with our other the other times we worked in East Africa there have been very few power cuts….. until this week. On Friday the power went off at ab9.30 and returned at 5.30. For most of the staff this made no difference to their work. They didn't miss the power as they continued working by hand or using treadle machines.  For us it was a problem – no power = no computers!

 

We were also invited to a ‘Pizza party’ by a couple of American Missionaries, who happen to have their own pizza oven. Malcolm did not take many photos as they all looked like this.

 

When he used a flash it ruined the atmosphere, and he almost ended up in the oven having blinded everybody else. They could have done without that!

 

One of the Missionaries had built their own house on the hillside. The geography of the area is such that the landscape is covered with massive boulders. It is hard work to try and remove them to clear the site, so what better way of dealing with one than to build the house around it and make it a feature. Not a furnishing you will pick up at IKEA!.

Finally, it was one of our cafe staff's birthday. Oneof the customs is that the person feeds cake to their friends. Malcolm couldn't do without that!