Here is a good way of using up oddments from your wool stash. Tiny hats for premature babies and bigger hats for babies in the malnutrition wards can be any colour, the brighter the better are always needed, as are knitted socks. Follow the link for patterns: Knitting for babies
Here are the links to some video clips shown at the 2015 conference that you may find of interest: Caught in the traffick – about the grooming of young women The locust effect – about everyday violence Millenium goals 2030 – young people’s opinion of them
Intrepid sisters from SI Kenilworth swam 37 laps (74 lengths) in the annual Swimathon held at the Warwick School pool on 1st November 2015. Over £400 was raised for charity through sponsorship so far.
The 20th Soroptimist International Convention in Istanbul certainly lived up all the expectations of a great Convention, but for me the highlights came on Sunday July 12th 2015 with an all inspiring “Public Speaking Showcase” Fresh ideas and Empowering Women was a theme effortlessly demonstrated by five highly capable young women, aged 18yrs to 22 yrs, setting out on their own paths from different countries across the world. Our own Flora Garner representing England, Ciara Maguire from the Republic of Ireland, Alana Hughes from Northern Ireland, Rose Lakoro Pitoj from Papua New Guinea and Ton Yan Ru from Singapore were the chosen speakers. They each inspired Soroptimists from around the world with their ambitions, conviction, knowledge and vision for their own lives and those of women and girls. At the end of this session the whole, packed auditorium, arose and gave these five extremely
It’s not all doom and gloom in Malawi – just because it’s different doesn’t make it wrong. I overheard a medical student say that they should just drop in a ready-made hospital complete with equipment and that would solve everything – I couldn’t disagree more. The people I met have shown great ingenuity and inventiveness, coming up with pragmatic solutions that work in very trying circumstances using simple local resources. Like all of us, they love people to take an interest and enjoying being praised for what they can do. It’s up to us to encourage and support them to achieve more to meet their needs, not give them what we feel is best. Malawi is known as ‘the warm heart of Africa’ and it deserves its reputation. The people we met were endlessly kind and caring, whether we were lost in the maze of
We’re back safe and sound, enjoying the novelty of hot and cold running water, power and reliable internet. I’m back at the day job; Dave is happily sorting through his one thousand plus wildlife photos down to a respectable number that we can inflict them on our friends. So what did I achieve on my Madventure? It didn’t turn out at all how I had anticipated. On reflection it was perhaps rather arrogant of me to think that I could go for two weeks and help in the pharmacy as a spare pair of hands. I did my best to promote pharmacy as a profession beyond that of just supply both within Queens and the School of Pharmacy, and get the ball rolling about including pharmacists as part of the whole health care team. I thoroughly enjoyed giving the talks to the medical and
Well, it’s my chance to become a blogger! Sharon has a calendar clash, and reluctantly agrees that even she can’t be in two places at once. We had planned to meet Dr Neil Kennedy for a guided tour of the One Stop Centre for victims of abuse, supported by SI Kenilworth in the past through FOSCiM. Neil is justifiably very proud of it. However, Sharon has managed to arrange to link up with SI Blantyre for a business meeting at the same time! For some reason, she thought it preferable for her to go to the Soroptimist meeting, leaving me to visit the One Stop Centre. Neil and I escape from the mid-morning heat and step into the welcoming foyer. We are welcomed by Lucy, a very friendly and motherly nurse who is the first contact for the often distressed young abuse victims on arrival. As I am shown around,
This summer, club members enjoyed two days out. In August there was a trip to Bletchley Park where a fascinating tour showed what life was like in the secret world inhabited by over 8000 men and women during World War Two. In September, Members visited Eltham Palace and the Cutty Sark, followed by a boat trip on the River Thames.
Next stop is the Kangaroo Ward, one of the projects we’ve supported by funding meals for the mums via Friends of Sick Children in Malawi. Here babies with birth weights of around one kilogram are kept skin to skin with mum until they reach one and a half kilos, staying as long as this takes. Traditionally babies are carried using a big scarf on mum’s back but these babes nestle safely next to mum at the front, feeding on demand 24 hrs a day. Mums even sleep with them like this and no baby has been squashed yet. This is probably the happiest ward we’ve been on, the mums are eager to have their photos taken, calling to each other to join in. They’re delighted when Dave shows them on his camera, laughing and giggling. I’m not sure what the average birth weight is in
If you want something doing ask a busy woman. Dr Queen Dube, takes time to introduce us to the Director of Queens, Dr Goonani, and embarrasses me by telling him about all the projects SI Kenilworth have supported through Friends of Sick Children in Malawi. We’ve been a busy Club! Then we trot round the various wards, Queen walks quickly by Malawi standards. She clearly adores babies and chats constantly to staff and mums, checking on this, confirming that. A few Western style incubators are available, and as we’re getting used to, with several babies per cot for the administration of Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) – this keeps prem babies lungs open with gentle pressure. They run using fish tank pumps, these work fine, they’re cheap and easy to maintain. Other babies who are less sick (the term
