News from Michele Herdman, Joint President Si Richmond and Dales, from Uganda.
Diary update 28 October 2018
As you know I’m in Kumi with the redoubtable Elspeth and lovely Lynne Williams from Bedale.
After being delayed by a power cut at Teeside airport (didn’t expect that until I arrived in Uganda!) our connection time was short so arrived without cases which have fortunately now appeared.
You can see from the pics how full they were!
As you know the club agreed to donate £200 to the Kumi community fund which has been spent on afripads and today we began distribution. Roughly £5 buys a pack of four, ( 3 day 1 night) and last approx 2yrs. Lynne brought literally hundreds of pairs of pants with her and I brought a few kindly donated by members. So with the pads purchased and knickers aplenty we distributed the first few to a newly formed women’s group organised by Elspeth’s team here. The women are all mothers of severely disabled children aged from 6 weeks to 15yrs old . We assessed the children and organised a couple of wheelchairs and other support for the group.
The women also received money for a goat each to show they and the children were valued and enable them to make a start on possible enterprise. We will be following them up next week. They were so appreciative and I’m passing on their thanks.
That was only a small part of the days events!
The impact Kumi community fund and Elspeth has had here is truly admiral.
Diary update 5 November 2018
Dear Members,
Yet another busy week. As you know I’m here with Elspeth Robinson a member of SI Darlington and founder of Kumi Community Fund and Lynne Williams, who works with adults with physical and learning disabilities.
Well what can I say, another productive week. A week with many highlights but I’m going to share with you one day which encapsulates Elspeth’s work here.
On Friday we journeyed for around an hour on the red earth roads so typical of Uganda to meet with a women’s group set up by a Father Martin who had just returned from doing relief work in Newton Aycliffe!
The women work together and have a tailoring craft business facilitated by a gift of a sewing machine from a friend of Elspeth’s, Betty Hudson., They also farm and work as a collective.
Travelling with us we had Emanuel who taught the women how to make efficient fuel saving stoves using earth from a termite mound.
Lynne shared her expertise in ‘rag rugging’, an ideal way to use of their scraps of fabric, another possible income generating project.(IGP)
We also had Harriet, an experienced social worker with us who Elspeth employs and while the women made stoves we held a ‘clinic’ where @25 children with disabilities were seen and helped if possible. Some needed cost of transport to Kumi hospital, some were added to a list for wheelchairs.
Wheels for the World, a charitable organisation, are visiting in February 2020 and Elspeth provides them with a list of likely recipients.
One young man, Vincent, who had bilateral club feet, but who managed to farm and fish a little was provided with funds for a bicycle (IGP ) so that he could sell his produce more widely.
His delight was evident. I don’t think for one minute he had expected that when he came to see us.
At the end of the clinic and stove making session we all came together again and we distributed Afripads and soap to the women who were so openly appreciative. A further boost to the group was a gift of money to buy sheep, again courtesy of Betty Hudson.
The day was such a good overall example of the work of Kumi Community Fund. The individuals helped are followed up. The day cost @ £50 to cover staff and transport for us. The fundraising efforts of Elspeth, Lynne and others helped fund the IGP and other interventions through Kumi Community Fund and the donation from SI Richmond and Dales helped towards distribution of Afripads.
A very satisfying day!
13 November – Diary update
Just back from a couple of days away in Murchison Falls National Park being tourists and having the first hot shower since our arrival. Bliss!
The day before we went however, we were at an outreach clinic two hours drive from here. People come from miles around and sit patiently waiting their turn sitting on benches or on the ground under the shade of the tree where we were working. They often wait hours. There’s no complaining and the children are well behaved.
Several hours in and a young woman sat in front of us with a small bundle. She and her husband along with the baby had travelled for an hour and a half on the back of a motorbike taxi.
The baby was one of twins, two months, the sibling having passed away.
She was so emaciated, just loose sagging flesh on her little frame. The mother had brought her because she couldn’t feed her even from a bottle. The baby clearly needed admission to the nutrition unit. She had already been sent home from one hospital for lack of funds. Kumi community fund pays for treatment in such cases so no issue there.
The problem was she had come unprepared for admission. She probably hadn’t realised this was an option.
Here patients have to provide their own sheets , their own food and pans to cook it in the grounds of the hospital, none of which she had. We would have struggled to squeeze them into our truck which already had 12 people in an 8 seater. After much discussion with the social workers and community workers and between ourselves the best we could do was to give them enough money to go home, collect together what they could and make their way to Kumi hospital.
The baby died en route the following day.
I’m not sure she would have survived given her condition but the case highlights some of the realities of healthcare provision here.
On a happier note we revisited a lady we had set up in a charcoal business the week before. Her children had been in the nutrition unit and she was struggling to find the money to feed them. She lived in town where growing food isn’t an option.
We had given her enough money to buy a sack of charcoal to sell on. Business was thriving and she had made a profit. A great outcome.
Just over a week to go. The time has whizzed by.