| January 2024 report: Party season at Acheru |
| I haven't all the details yet, but I've heard from Acheru about the Christmas parties. It seems to have been a very busy time for the staff. These parties aren't just about entertainment or celebrating Christmas. They're carefully planned to bring together former patients and relatives - the wider Acheru family, and also people from the local community to raise awareness of what we're doing. Others from church, government, and NGOs are invited in the hope that they can make the work more widely known, ultimately benefitting disabled children. |
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| Acheru party |
| 265 people (92 of them former Acheru patients) attended the party at Kabembe, and they certainly managed to eat a lot including cakes, which no party there can be without. But not all the food was eaten, packages were also prepared for distribution to the needy in surrounding areas. |
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| Acheru staff |
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| Receiving gifts taken by Harriet to families unable to attend the party |
| Several people here have contributed to the cost of these parties for many years; we certainly want them to continue as a way of reinforcing relationships at Acheru and making the work and the services available more widely known. |
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| Receiving gifts |
| Another party was held in the north. Discussions continue about establishing an Acheru base at Napak, and when two organisations suggested jointly holding a Christmas party there it seemed an ideal opportunity to make connections in the area. It was a big event; Joyce and Harriet went there to assist and among other things put in a lot of work peeling a huge quantity of Irish potatoes. This was a great opportunity to introduce the work of Acheru to the area and the organisations involved are ideal partners for Acheru, one providing relief for disabled children, the other engaged in outreach and pastoral care, both ideally placed to help Acheru identify children who could benefit from our intervention. In addition to a big party, food parcels were delivered to 500 needy families. Even on this preliminary visit a number of children were identified for Acheru treatment, and through networking Joyce found connections to well placed people there who can help Acheru become established in the area. I find all this very encouraging. We've still a lot to do but I hope to be able to report soon in more detail about the work we want to establish there. |
| The Napak party was held on Christmas Eve and Joyce and Harriet intended to leave at midday to get back to Kabembe for Christmas day, but as these things tend to do everything took longer than expected so it was after 4 pm by the time they got away. I was very uncomfortable with this as I know how dangerous travel at night there can be, so it came as a great relief when Joyce sent me a message at half past midnight to say they were safely back at Acheru. |
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| Joyce and Harriet at Napak |
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| Joyce peeling potatoes at Napak |
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| Napak party |
| They must have been exhausted, but Joyce was determined not to miss church (and choir) on Christmas day, and later a big family celebration. There was also a separate party for the staff - very important, they're a team and it's good for them to relax as well as work together. |
| On a personal note, we've had an enjoyable Christmas with family, with Alan and Claudine here from Seattle for a few weeks - it's six years since I'd seen them. However, I want you to be aware that we've faced some health issues here so please accept my apologies if I've failed to return calls or reply to letters. I'm trying to catch up and can assure you that, whatever our situation here, it will not impact on the work in Uganda. Joyce and the rest of the staff are geared up for another year's work, and Phil continues to handle banking and ensures timely transfers of the monthly budget. |
