Sunset Over Kiwoko - for a short time

This is our last blog for 3 weeks.

We have returned to England to go to a friend’s wedding. This means we have had to say goodbye for a short time to our friends in Kiwoko – but we believe that at least the temperature in England will be similar to what we have become used to over the last 3 months.

 

Because we catch an early morning flight from Entebbe we stayed at the Airport Guest House. This is run by the same tour company as the Travellers Rest Hotel, our favorite dining place in Kisoro. The former hotel manager from Kisoro, Jan, (pronounced Yan), now works from the Guest House so it was a chance for us to catch up with him and to share memories of the French. (This refers to a book we borrowed from him entitled ‘1,000 years of annoying the French’).

 

This week’s bug is a large fly which visited our Kiwoko home, but made a crash landing on its back. Fortunately our BA flight was less dramatic!

 

This week’s Swahili proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Liberia  “The sun will shine on those who are standing before it shines on those who are sitting”

The Early Bird...........and the Worm

In Uganda dawn is always at 6.30am throughout the year, which is the sign that the day has started and work must begin.

 Malcolm often goes for an early morning walk, and every day sees a group of men leading a few cows to a field. Here, the animals are butchered and traders buy hunks of meat and take these back to their shops to sell or cook.

 Its an early start at the Hospital Farm. Once the cows are milked, churns are filled and brought around the hospital houses by distributors on bikes.

The Hospital day starts with a service in the dining room for staff and students. This is in English and this week Irene was asked to speak again. Malcolm presented certificates to a number of medical staff, including Sarah from the UK. These were for their help at a ‘Medical Camp’ at a medical centre in Kampala.

For those staff who prefer a service and prayers in Lugandan, they might begin the day at an outdoor meeting sat around one of the rainwater tanks.

This week’s bug is a large grasshopper which came to visit

 This week’s Swahili proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Togo  “Once bitten by a snake, you are always afraid of worms” .

Did the earth move for you?

 On Wednesday we thought our chairs had developed massaging features. We were experiencing our biggest earthquake which lasted about 30 seconds at a magnitude of 5.7. Fortunately its centre was on Lake Albert and we don’t think there have been any fatalities, though traditional wood and brick houses in the area may have been damaged.

 

 Last weekend was the end of the financial year which meant it was time to do the annual stock take. In addition to the usual counting of drugs, syringes and other medical equipment that Malcolm was too squeamish to ask what they were used for, it was also necessary to visit the hospital farm and count the cows. For the record there were 24 in the herd: 11 in milk, 6 dry, 5 in calf and 2 heifers.

 

Each morning before work a brief service is held in the dining room.  On Wednesday Irene gave the talk for the first time – Genesis 18. Is your God a big god?

 On Wednesday every week a group of lady patients meet to make craft which is sold in the hospital shop, and is a chance for them to earn some money. They were pleased that Malcolm came to  take their photographs.

This weeks bug is a spider which decided to help out with some embroidery.

 This week’s Swahili proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Kenya  “A cow dies with grass in its mouth”

An Interesting Snack or Two!

Time for another trip away. This time to Masindi which is about 100 miles north on the edge of Murchison Falls Nature Reserve. 

On the way we stopped at a very smart diner for Breakfast. Here Malcolm bought a Rolex – which isn’t a fake watch but a genuine egg rolled in a Chapati (Rolled egg - Rolex).

At our hotel Dr Corrie decided to try a sizzling beef Chinese dish, which was very nice but resulted in all low flying aircraft being grounded because of fog!

 

Malcolm was then caught pretending he was some kind of airline pilot – not terribly convincing I’m afraid.

 

Having grounded all the planes Corrie had to ground her car for a puncture. Here tubeless tyres are repaired by pushing a piece of rubber covered in glue through the hole – a method used in England till about 40 years ago when it was deemed unsafe.

 

Back at the Hospital (and we do work at the Hospital in-between weekends away) Irene as been working at the HIV clinic to identify how they might improve their admin procedures. On Friday the clinic had a staff briefing which included Irene updating staff on her review.

 

Out and about Malcolm noticed a lot of children and women collecting things from the side of the road. On closer inspection he saw the wings from flying ants which occasionally swarm at night and then lose their wings in the morning. We used to have some flying inside our house in Kisoro. The people were collecting the ants, eating some of them alive. We understand they are often fried as a nutritious snack. These are the bug of the week.

This week’s Swahili proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from South Sudan  “A chick is not taught how to scratch up the ground for food”

All On Board

At work Malcolm has had two Committee meetings – his first Finance Committee and his first Hospital Board. As its almost the end of the financial year it meant he was busy presenting and explaining the Hospital budget for the first time.

 In between meetings we have been busy. Friday was a ‘Praise and Worship’ evening at the hospital which was an opportunity for staff and students to have a proper religious ‘knees up’.

 

 On Saturday Malcolm went with the Hospital lorry to collect some furniture given to us and other Church Mission Society workers at the Hospital. Nick and Kate Wooding have worked in Uganda for 16 years, originally at Kiwoko Hospital but more recently Nick has been vice Chancellor in Health Sciences at the International University, Kampala. They return to the UK to resume life as a GP and his wife.

Although most of the homes in the village around the hospital are modern brick built structures with corrugated iron roofs there  are the occasional traditional round houses made from wood and mud with a thatched roof.

 

This week’s bug is another large beetle which visited our home. This one rushed into our bedroom where Irene was sleeping as soon as the picture was taken - Malcolm failed to go in and rescue her.

 

 

This week’s proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from South Sudan  “The pot of water falls from your head when you have just reached the door of your homestead”

Timbaah!!!!!

Occasionally we need to attend a school ceremony. 

Last week Malcolm was invited to the swearing in ceremony for the new Guild (Student’s Union Committee) at the Hospital’s Training Schools. This event lasted for about 2 hours and included several speeches and entertainment. Part way through, and to his surprise, Malcolm was asked to present prizes to the outgoing committee members. You need to be ready for anything here.

 

One of Malcolm’s responsibilities is the hospital farm with its herd of 24 cows. This has not been doing very well with the previous Farm Manager sacked for stealing trees. The new manager, James, invited us to visit the Farm to find out more. Whilst there we met Sarah, one of the milking cows, but unfortunately not Rachel.

 

Talking of cutting down trees a team from a church from Northern Ireland are visiting for 2 weeks to do a number of jobs. Steve is a former forestry manager who brought with him the equipment to cut down some of the older, dieing trees around the hospital.

 

This week’s bug is a large flying beetle which visited our home.

 

 

This week’s proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from South Sudan  “To love someone who does not love you is like shaking a tree to make the dew drops fall”

Just a Matter of Style

Not wanting you to think that we are always on holiday……………….

 

June 3^rd, Martyrs’ Day, is a bank holiday in Uganda. To celebrate (the killing by the King of Buganda of 45 Catholics in he 1870’s) we had a long weekend by Lake Victoria.

  Some of the pictorial highlights of the weekend were:

 

 

This week’s bug is a large fly in a Kampala Shopping Centre.

 

 

This week’s proverb from the BBC Africa web-site is from Nigeria  “A fish has nothing to do with a raincoat”

 PS Malcolm swimming? – Still no miracle!