Day 13

Wednesday 7th March .

Were Leaving Mbale and heading south again towards Kampala and spending the night in the Kampala Mild May HIV hospital in their guest accomodation, so on the way we'll get to see some more of  the amazing Ugandan countryside and I'll post some pics ...

So its up early , and off we go ... stevens there to make us smile , help us load up ... in fact we need his help ...  a couple of the suitcases are so heavy and  full of shopping that I dont think there can be any produce left in Uganda that hasnt been bought and packed !!

The journey is as usual  , interesting on the Ugandan roads with its masive potholes, diverse scenery  etc.

Heres a few pics of the Journey , including a huge lorry which had fallen off the road .. I wonder if its still there ...??

not how I thought Uganda would look!

oooooppsss !!

truck stop - ugandan style

We had a nice lunch stop in Jinja and got a few little things for those at home who couldnt accompany us and then we were on our way to the Mild May Hospital in Kampala.

The hospital was a very impressive facility with large, modern buildings and was beautifully landscaped. For those whose lives have been  scarred by HIV I can only imagine the sense of benefit from being here and again I feel lucky to live where I live where the medical care can give good care to those afflicted with HIV. Its a shame the public health message about HIV seems to have waned and the UK rates of infection are , like those of STD's on the rise -- we have short memories.

Mild May HIV hospital Kampala.

We have been fortunate enough to have been invited to a german couples home for a barbecue this evening. They are called Natalie & Werner and they now reside in Uganda and run a charity called Foodsteps.

look them up on :-                           foodstep-uganda.blogspot.com

This charity rehomes children from a well known "institution" or incarceration centre called Kampiringisa. Children end up in this governement run centre and have no provision of anything and are basically imprisoned .. their crime .. having no family or no home and having to live on the streets. Barbara and Foodsteps have managed to get mobile dental clinics into this institution to give the children in there basic dental care , and the ugandan dentists clearly have a deep passion to help the children here and even if this was the only reason the funding came here for dental purposes it would be worth it.

The barbecue was splendid and much enjoyed by all and gave chance for discussion about many aspects of foodsteps, pathways that Dentaid can help on in the future and gave Mark and I a much deeper insight into the work of foodsteps as a charity .

Long night , time for bed- tomorrow is a meet and greet for the official Handover of the new dental chair from Rotary uk into the Guardianship of Foodsteps for use at Kampiringisa, but via Rotary Uganda as they have an official import number for getting items into Uganda from Uk charities.