Our first full day at Ngoto Island began at 8am with a breakfast consisting of omelettes and bananas. The team seemed to have had a mixed nights sleep, but we pressed on to the Kanungu cathedral to meet the Diocesan staff team.
We were greeted and took part in some introductions for the staff and explanations of how the local ministry was going. Following this, we had a team photo outside the cathedral and had some tea. We also had the opportunity to have a look inside the cathedral and admire the ongoing renovation work - although the timber scaffolding looked rather flimsy. For the main activities we split into two groups
Group 1: Tour of local springs
Group 1 went on a tour of some protected Springs in the Kinkiizi Diocese. The route to the springs was along windy “dancing” roads with some breathtaking Ugandan countryside on each side. We were lucky enough to be able to meet a number of the beneficiaries of the springs, who expressed their gratitude with some African dancing. One of the beneficiaries expressed to us that the spring has enabled him to also keep his livestock healthy. It was amazing to see how access to clean water can benefit all aspects of someone’s life.
Group 2: Hospital Visit
The second group went to visit the local hospital called Nyakatare. There are five levels of healthcare in Uganda. Level 5 is what is known as a regional referral unit and there are 4 of these in Kampala. Level 4 is a regional unit (like the Kinkiizi Hospital we visited earlier in the week). The one the team visited was level 3 and had two doctors. Normally a Level 3 is run by nurses only. At the main site, there were clinics including dentistry, outpatients, immunisation and a laboratory. One thing of note was that there was no separate ward for male or female. The only privacy available was some old school roller dividers for the women. The facility is available to anyone within a 30km radius.
The team spent some downtime in the evening playing volleyball against a picturesque sunset. It was an early night for the team. Sadly we have been unable to do any physical labour on the local project due to a delay in the delivery of materials but we have been assured that this will get going in the coming days.
Please Tell Sarah that Abigail into grand final xx