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| January
2012 Report - A busy start to 2012 at Acheru and plans to get
more development work under way |
| It’s been
a busy month. I’ve been trying to catch up with work after
my spell in hospital – a slow process as I’m not 100%
fit yet. We are no longer sending containers, but have still
been handling some medical equipment, either setting it aside
for our own work, or passing it on to partner organisations. It’s
a way of using our contacts and experience without the demands
of trying to do everything ourselves. In January, we arranged a
good consignment for CBM in England, including image
intensifiers, an X ray machine and a scanner. CBM have links to
projects worldwide so should be able to put it to good use.
Through other groups we also passed on equipment for Somalia,
and quantities of dressings for Libya and Syria. In our workshop
in Carrick, I can now take time to carefully prepare specialised
items for Acheru or for Kiwoko Hospital; these can be sent by
air freight if they are needed urgently, or can wait till
someone else is sending a container. |
| We have been
very encouraged by the support we have received for Acheru, and
are now able to go ahead with further development. A number of
people have been raising support or organising fund raising
activities on our behalf for specific Acheru projects, and I
hope to have more news of this in the next circular. We hope to
get work under way very soon on a staff house, a hostel, another
underground water tank, and more pipework and tanks for water
distribution. The hostel is now badly needed as demand for
Acheru services increases; it is intended to accommodate
patients and relatives, and should enable us to take ten more
inpatients. |
| The big demand
is in the north. The Acheru team goes there every two months for
clinics at Gulu and Amuru but can only bring back a few children
each time as their treatment and rehab can take so long. The
waiting list of children needing surgery has been growing, and
on the last visit stood at 46. To try to deal with this they
brought back 9 children who required plastic surgery, such as
cleft lip and palate, as these can be ‘turned round’
in four or five weeks, whereas orthopaedic cases usually take
much longer. Instead of waiting for the next clinic run, the aim
is to take these children back as soon as possible and bring in
more in an attempt to reduce the waiting list. |
| It’s been
a good start to the year for Acheru, but we mustn’t forget
the extra demands placed on the staff as they try to treat more
children. |
| Brian Dorman |
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