Rain and shine...

This week has been a mix - Hanna has not felt well with a flu-like illness, cough and nasal congestion and, very unusually, has not been to work.  She is gradually improving but still not back to normal.

Kisiizi Falls after rain

The weather is variable with some beautiful days and then occasional outbursts of very heavy rains.  Sadly some people's fields in a nearby valley have been flooded with loss of some crops which in our situation here is very serious.  The waterfall is impressive after the rains.

Inflation is causing a lot of concern to people though in some cases, such as the price of sugar, there seems to be a political element as the sugar cane growing companies are putting pressure on the government to allow them to clear some areas of forest to plant more.

Maternity [upstairs] & Children's ward at night

Ian was called at 3.30am to maternity for a baby who was thought to have meconium-aspiration syndrome.  Unfortunately the baby was in-extremis and died.  So sad.  Yet on the other hand we have seen some very small babies doing surprisingly well.

On children's ward a real mix.  One child brought in found abandoned, a lad of about 5, cold and semi-conscious.  Made a good recovery, very apprehensive waking up in a strange place but taken in by the family of our surgeon Dr Gabriel who has children of a similar age and he settled in wonderfully.  Now the mother has been traced and the police involved to try and work out what had happened.

A 12 year old came in with fever and abdominal pain and then yesterday became quite jaundiced with a hepatitis picture.  Seems to be a lot of typhoid around, we have two children on the round this am who have had laparotomies for perforations that may then in turn cause adhesions with some secondary bowel obstruction.  Happily they seem to be doing well.

Thankfully we don't have too many in the malnutrition end of the ward at present.  One good thing to see is the introduction of "ready to use therapeutic foods".  We have one called "plumpy nut" that comes in sachets [made in France] and provided by a donor.  They have the advantage that they can go home with these and they store well as compared to trying to use milk feeds which are difficult to keep sterile.

The hospital will be hosting a "mission" the weekend after next so, in true Kisiizi style, there are a whole range of sub-committees established to try and organise everything.  The new Bishop will be opening the weekend on the Friday, there will be visiting choirs and speakers.  Ian is speaking on the Saturday morning - just an hour slot!  Will be translated so that helps, and an opportunity to tell lots of stories and illustrations.

Meanwhile we continue to work on some other areas including contacts re the possible bakery which is looking promising.  We are looking at some strategic management issues and there will be a special Board meeting to which we have been invited on 20th September so that is a really important session to prepare for.

thanks to all who have been in touch and for your prayers and encouragement.

Ian and Hanna