Kisiizi Hospital

Today we went to Kisiizi Hospital. (We didn’t find out about the fighting at the DRC border about 60km away until we got back!) The main reason was to take a Global Care sponsored

boy there, who had been seen by the local doctor but was still unwell. I also wanted to see the place, as we’d heard how good it was locally, and because there is a big waterfall there.

Moses thought it would be a two-hour drive south so advised we should set off at 6, to be well-placed in the queue for treatment. So we were treated to a beautiful African sunrise and stunning hill scenery as we drove, initially along a tarmac road, and munched our take-away chapattis made for us last night. This road is called “Besigye’s Road” because the leader of the opposition made so much fuss about the roads in his district that the Government had to cave in and improve it. However, the area where his rather grand home is situated is one of the few round here not to have an electricity supply, so his neighbours are suffering with him for his politics. I digress. We turned on to a murram road, most of which was surprisingly good, though I have to say I would have slowed down more through the villages and my photos out of the window are all unusable due to shaking.

To our surprise the trip only took an hour and we were fourth in the queue at 7am. As nothing much was happening by 8 we left the lad waiting and followed the call of the drum to the morning service in the packed chapel, where we were introduced to the staff. African church singing in harmony accompanied only by drums and clapping is marvellous. We were warmly received in the hospital and chatted to a lot of people and we were jumped up the queue a little. Our patient was eventually seen and tested for HIV, brucellosis, anaemia and UTI. Meanwhile we were given a tour of the hospital by a supporter from the UK. It was better than I had seen elsewhere in Uganda, no suggestion of corruption, cleaner and more respect shown to patients. They manage to keep premature babies alive before 30w gestation, which is pretty good, and have a psychiatric ward, of which there are few in Africa. Barbara was impressed with the use of large paint tins to provide traction and lift the bed foot in the orthopaedic/surgical ward. Medical wards seemed to have some vacant beds and we were told that because the plantain crop locally was damaged by an outbreak of banana wilt bacteria, there were fewer patients because they couldn’t afford to attend. Several UK doctors and nurses were working there by various routes, and we saw some good work being done in rehabilitation, including the making of bespoke seating out of stiff cardboard reinforced by papier mache made with paste from cassava flour. We wondered if these skills could be disseminated more widely.

Back at the consulting room about 12 o’clock we found out that our boy was mildly anaemic and might have a peptic ulcer. I am not entirely sure we have got to the bottom of his problems but Moses will take him back if he doesn’t respond to initial treatment. We chatted to some expat staff over drinks and bananas in the staff room and went out for some snacks before walking across to the falls. It’s a 30m drop so quite impressive, despite some of the flow having been diverted to provide hydroelectric power to the hospital and surrounding communities. Apparently it used to be used to discipline young women who went astray, by tying their limbs and throwing them off the top to drown. We are assured this is no longer the case.

After returning to Rukungiri, we took our patient home. He lives with his grandmother and younger sister in a two-room mud shack with a little land to provide their food. Cash is very hard to come by, so the support of his Global Care sponsor makes a world of difference, not least in enabling him to access the best healthcare available in the district. Makes you thankful for the NHS, and even for taxation!

Returning to the hotel we were told that the fish supply problem was still not resolved, perhaps a problem with the boats at the fishing village we visited a few days ago on Lake Edward. However later the manager appeared to say that there were now fish for our dinner. As we arrived in the dining room, there was an abrupt power cut. Usually the generator is started straight away, but this time there was some faffing about with torches and it was started very briefly. We asked what was afoot and were told that someone had gone for fuel for the generator. It’s a cloudy night so very dark apart from the flashes of lightning. Then our meal appeared and the waiter seemed to be going to stand with the flashlight from his phone directed at our food while we ate. I went down to our room for my head-torch but while I was there the generator started up and the lights were back. Something was still missing in the dining room though, and we realised it was our adversary the cat. With a bit of luck she has succumbed following yesterday’s clobbering. Or maybe someone else got bored of eating chicken.

Tomorrow is our last day here, we haven’t planned a lot but I dare say will be busy finalising our assessments and plans and doing some training, and perhaps a little shopping.