An adventurous year
Simon and Jill Vines decided to have a change from racing Squib 'Magaroo' and have an adventurous summer. Simon is now back in Weymouth after completing a cruise in Sigma 33 'Harmony' but Jill is continuing her break from being a GP in Weymouth by working in a hospital Uganda.
"This year Jill and I sailed Harmony, our Sigma 33, to Helsingor and back, helped along the way by sixteen family and friends. We left Weymouth on May 31st and sailed, via the Kiel Canal, to Rungsted (just north of Copenhagen) for the Cruising Association Centenary Rally in the Baltic in early July (see photo). After the rally we carried on round Sjaelland and returned to the Kiel Canal via the Danish archipelago. On our way home we took the 'standing mast' route through the Netherlands from Delfzijl in the north to Vlissingen (Flushing) in the south. It took two weeks, but it was just as well we were inland because the mid-August gales would have made progress by sea difficult. We reached Calais before being held up by another gale, and then struggled back along the south coast against strong westerlies to arrive in Weymouth on August 26th. In all, a very enjoyable experience with quite a few interesting moments."
Click 'Read More' to read Jill's newsletter from Uganda
Newsletter from Jill: Kisiizi Hospital is in the SW of Uganda near Kabale and about 30-40 miles from the Ruanda and Congo borders. I have had time for walking and it is a spectacular and beautiful part of Africa. The region has been named Little Switzerland by one guide book. Kisiizi is in a valley with the falls at one end of the village. The road leads up towards Kabale and above the falls is Higher Kisiizi. It is possible to climb up near the falls and to see the dam and sluices which lead the water to the pipe that flows down to the generator shed for hydroelectricity. The turbines for the new plant are still held up in Mombassa, very frustrating for the engineers. The original hydroelectric plant is still operating and the aim of the new one is to provide almost double the electricity, some of which will be sold to the village beyond the hospital. More than 50 years ago there was a flax mill on the site that was powered by the falls. I don’t think it was very successful and that was how the site came to be bought by the Church of Uganda for the hospital. The height of the village is about 1,800 meters and the surrounding hills and mountains are from 2,200 to 2,600m. Banana plantations are on the lower hills and further up are eucalyptus and mimosa trees. The upper parts of the hills are grassy and rocky.
There are some lovely walks here. Best views are from the Kisiizi mountain where the radio mast stands and Ruberizi mountain . There are paths up to these summits. Between these 2 mountains is a pass that we took a few weeks ago to walk to Lake Kimbugu. Its considered safe to swim there, so we did. The rivers are varied: either meandering across wide valleys or steep narrow rivers cascading down rocky clefts. Bridges are makeshift : just a log or two. The birds are very colourful but I’m not quick enough to photograph them. We have seen varieties of ibis including the sacred ibis (white), and large cranes and vultures as well as many small ones. Swifts inhabit the chapel and there are some wagtails too. The flowers include roses (presumably imported), mimosa, shrubs with many different coloured flowers on the same bush, and strongly scented lily-like flowers hanging off a medium sized tree. Unfortunately Ugandans don’t seem to know the names of their plants.
The weather is a surprise. The bus from Kampala crossed the equator so I expected it to be very hot here and sometimes it is hot in the middle 4 hours of the day but it is definitely chilly in the evenings (I need a jumper, trousers and socks, and the Ugandans sometimes wear scarves and hats). Although there is no snow on the mountains we do get quite large hailstones as well as heavy rain, thunder and lightening and wind: probably 30-40 knots in a storm even in the shelter of the valley. In bad weather, the temperature falls to about 60F even at midday.
Food is pretty good here on the whole but we are aware that many poor people don’t eat well, and there are a few children here being treated for Kwashiorkor and marasmus. The adults look well nourished with the exception of those with wasting diseases such as AIDS The staple diet seems to be Matoko: a dish made with cooked bananas ( not the sweet sort that we eat). The indigenous grain is millet that is made into a type of soda bread, and sougum that is made into a dilute porridge to drink. The villagers live in mud houses, cook on charcoal fires in shelters outside their homes and use paraffin for their lamps.
I can’t write news without mentioning the tragedy that has hit the hospital. Sadly there have been 3sudden and unexpected staff deaths in a 2 week period. The effects have been wide ranging from grief to the practical issues of covering the wards.
There is a national shortage of disposable gloves in Uganda and we have none left. There are still some sterile gloves in stock and so these are used where necessary and the next visitors from the UK are bringing more gloves this week. There are sinks on the ward but the soap keeps going missing and towels (the size of a flannel) are scarce. Most staff carry small amounts of alcohol gel for cleaning their hands. Posters on the walls highlighting the dangers of staph aureus and urging hand-washing etc look down on us ironically.
On medical and isolation wards we continue to see lots of malaria, TB and HIV: sometimes in the same patient concurrently. Asthma occurs but is rare here. It still poses a problem as there are no steroid inhalers in stock and even when taught use ventolin inhalers incorrectly or not at all. Diabetes is much less common too and it occurs mainly in affluent private patients who presumably indulge in a western diet and lifestyle. Keeping insulin cool in a mud hut in the tropics presents a challenge and no one owns a glucometer, although fortunately there is one on each ward. Diabetics really suffer from walking barefoot and I saw a 3cm foot ulcer on a newly diagnosed diabetic. Ischaemic heart disease is also rare and the patients are usually over 70. Cancer seems uncommon and I have not yet seen a case of breast cancer in the hospital. There has been one stroke case in the hospital during my stay and she was elderly. Most people genuinely don’t know their age but this patient was attended by elderly daughters who thought she must be around 100.
The plastic surgery team from Smile Train visited last week and performed surgery on burns contractures (very common), syndactylly and keloids. A retired plastic surgeon from Frenchay and an anaesthetist from Great Ormond Street plus Ugandan doctors came for the week. The bearings of the generator needed changing last week so there was no power for more than 2 days whilst the job was done. Fortunately the plastic surgeons had brought a diesel generator, portable oxygen and other kit with them. Half way through an operation the generator ran out of diesel and since there was no money in theatre the visiting team had a whip round and sent someone out for more diesel. Their work was impressive and included grafts to the face and eyelids of a teenage boy.
The Ugandans are friendly, open and cheerful with dazzling smiles. Names can be confusing: Bethany turns out to be male, Jonah and Allen are girls, Grace is a popular name for both boys and girls and there are names derived from many virtues: Patience, Charity, Moderate, Generous, Confidence and even Anxiety. Interestingly I have not yet met anyone named Reliable or Punctual and these qualities are evidently of little value here!
