HEALTH UNIT £4.00 would pay for a sq. metre of wall. £100 would pay a window. £4,000 would pay for solar panels to generate electricity.

Rwbaale Health Unit

In early March this year, 2012, the Trustees visited the Health Unit in Rwbaale again. We were shown round by Sr Ferdiana who is leading this development. We were impressed by the work that is going on there and the clear involvement of the local community. There is a very active immunisation program reaching out into the villages and protecting mothers and children from a range of illnesses, not least of all tetanus, which can be a killer where babies are delivered in rural, resource poor settings, and data collection and analysis of this and the other programs followed, are carefully displayed for all to see. We noted that the unit has the support of two other NGOs involved in childhood immunisation: UNICEF and Strides. Antenatal education, of course, is an important part of the service offered by the unit, and we met a happy group of expectant women attending a class there.

We were taken to see the shell of the second building under construction, which will eventually house a delivery suite and ante and post natal wards. “Improving Chances” has helped to build this unit and put a roof on it, but it needs a lot more work...some £28,000 worth of work to complete floors, ceiling, windows, plastering, painting, solar electricity and hygiene facilities.

And then, after that the Unit needs accommodation for the staff....so please keep giving.

Patricia Scampion

Early in February this year I travelled to Fort Portal once again, this time taking with me four intrepid volunteers: Dan, Emma, Helen and Eric, (a doctor, physio, nurse, and educational psychologist).

They braved the matoke (green bananas...the staple food in Uganda and an acquired taste for the western palate), the red dust roads, and the culture shock, to work with Sr Theresa and her team of teachers in developing the skills needed to work with the most severely disabled children.

Between us we saw over 60 children in two weeks. Some of these children were already in the school, but more were brought in to the school in the truck provided through previous fund raising efforts. Of the children already in school, some presented medical conundrums, but more were a problem in school because of their behaviour. Our educational psychologist was particularly helpful here, and his suggestions on reward systems and differentiating the curriculum were received with enthusiasm.

The children brought into the school had a broad range of problems. As Sr Theresa knew before we arrived that the paediatrician in the party had a particular expertise in childhood epilepsy, many of the children had poorly controlled seizures. Others had profound learning difficulties or very severe cerebral palsy. These latter children were real survivors, holding on to life against all odds, but often in a very drab world. Clearly these children were from self selecting families and the standard of care at home was exemplary (not one child had a nappy rash!), but they had no access to even basic physiotherapy , health care, or play and stimulation.

We found that many mothers (and fathers as well) were determined to help their children but didn’t know how. We were able , based on our experience in the UK, to make some suggestions as to how groups of children could be brought in to the school for a morning a week for play and exercises and for parent to parent support. When we left, this “outreach programme” was about to start... a very exciting development and a very new one in this part of Uganda, and one that sends a clear message about valuing children who are so often stigmatised here. Sr Theresa is herself well placed to support her teachers in continuing this programme, and we were also able to link up with a local Ugandan physiotherapist who has undertaken to visit the school on a monthly basis to follow up the children attending. So I am optimistic for the future.

At the end of our two weeks the children in the school sang and danced for us, and the team reciprocated with their rendition of “ten green bottles” and “Old Macdonald” with ukulele accompaniment. The children were as welcoming as ever, and delighted with their visitors singing!

I would add my own thankyou to theirs, for the time and expertise contributed by the team, given at their own expense and in their annual leave. They were stars!

For me, this visit has confirmed again that every penny you give in support is well used.

Pat Scampion 19/03/2012

March 6 2011
We have recently sent an instalment of £2,000 to the Banyatereza Sisters to start the ground work on the Maternity Block at the hospital site in Rwibaale.

Pictures of the work, which are featured on this website, were captured by Pat Scampion following her visit to Fort Portal in early February. She will bring back further photos of the project as it develops and news of the Good Shepherd School.

We aim to publish our first newsletter shortly which will tell you how the hospital is developing in Rwibaale and also the plans for The Good Shepherd School. In addition we will provide an update on our preparations for the next fundraising event - the 3 Peaks Challenge which will take place in June of this year.

My recent visit to Uganda

I went to Uganda in February and visited both the projects "Improving Chances" is supporting.

At Rwbaale I was shown round the first building that is up and running. It is very impressive. Though small it is clean and bright, and already helping to meet the needs of the local mothers and children. Here antenatal classes are given, simple blood tests can be carried out and medical management of pregnancy and labour can be provided. Children can also be admitted for treatment of e.g. common killers such as malaria .While I was thereI was introduced to members of the local health committee: local villagers who are themselves helping to develop this facility and encouraging others to make best use of it. Their enthusiasm is infectious.

Sister Ferdiana , who is leading the project, has ambitious plans for the site for the future, including the establishment of surgical facilities. However progress is slow. She showed me the foundations of the next block to be built, construction having ceased for the time being because of lack of money. This building will provide more space for purpose built maternity wards and delivery suites. I was impressed with the care that has gone into the planning process, particularly in relation to such simple, but immensely important, things as waste disposal. And I was glad to see that the nurses now live on site in simple purpose built accommodation .

As well as Rwbaale, of course, we also spent time at The Good Shepherd School. I went with my daughter, another doctor, and we met up with a health visitor from Manchester there. There are now just over 100 children in the school and between us we were able to check the children’s general health, screen them for significant anaemia and treat them with medication for parasitic infections common in the area. The school is a model of child centred education in a part of the world where class sizes can easily be 90 or more to one teacher. Most of the children have relatively mild learning difficulties, but in classes of that size this becomes a major handicap. And a significant minority of the children in the school have much more severe problems including three children with profound hearing impairment. It is heartening to watch the children playing, as even the most severely disabled are included and we saw no bullying or stigmatisation. Overall the children are happy and healthy, and they are certainly learning.

We talked at length with Sr Theresa about her plans for the future, and particularly her hopes that she will be able , in time, to reach out to the more severely disabled children in the villages around who cannot get to school. She has already done much to raise the profile of children with disability in this part of Uganda. I hope we can help her to do this.

We came back to the UK encouraged by what we had seen, and enthusiastic that these two projects are really worthwhile. They both have considerable local support and are being driven forward by the Ugandans themselves. The money raised by “Improving Chances” can only help to make them even better.