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| Circular -
March 2014 |
| We are still in
the process of evaluating all the work of Acheru; the unit is
very busy, and we want to look at ways of maintaining standards
of treatment and care and hopefully making improvements which
will enable us to help more children. The following are some
figures to show what was done last year – our expectations
are that from what we’ve already seen 2014 will be much
bigger. |
| In addition to
789 children who continued to receive treatment, a total of 365
new patients were registered in 2013. Some of the conditions
treated were cleft lip & palate 10, cerebral palsy 80,
osteomyelitis 31, post injection paralysis 33, post burns
contractures 3, club foot 29, fractures 18, deformities of the
knee or lower leg 33, plus 128 others. |
| A total of 448
children were treated as inpatients, 43% of whom were new
admissions. Children were also seen in the north at our Minakulo
base just south of Gulu, and at our two rural clinics, Otwal
45Km east and Zambia 25Km west. Conditions seen included 101
orthopaedic, 26 burns contractures, and 68 cerebral palsy. 52
were referred to Acheru for surgery at CoRSU. We still see a lot
of potential for development in the north. |
| We’re
having a meeting of our Africare trustees in March to look at a
number of issues including our arrangements for dealing with new
charities legislation, and how a number of people can now take
more responsibility in the management of the work. Please pray
for us as we, as trustees, work with Acheru to seek the best way
forward for the work. We’ve been encouraged by all that’s
been done, but we want to ensure the Acheru staff feel
encouraged too. |
| Hazel and I are
just back, having been in South Africa since mid January,
staying near Alan Clegg in the Western Cape. It’s been very
encouraging to see the level of interest in the Acheru work, and
meet a number of people who have read my books. We had an
opportunity to talk about the work when, for Valentine’s
night, our local church, Lakeside Chapel, held a ‘Road to
Kabembe’ evening when I showed them the work of Acheru and
its development, and we shared a meal afterwards. Although it’s
not a big church, we were impressed by their commitment to
mission. |
| Brian Dorman |
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