After a long 26-hour journey, I - at last - arrived safely at my hotel in Entebbe, Uganda.
Having been awake since 7 am yesterday, my body is beginning to protest, so I plan to turn in just before 9 pm. I’ve learned over the years that trying to grab a couple of hours sleep as soon as I reach the hotel doesn’t work for me, so I’m pressing on and will rise early tomorrow.
Sitting on the hotel’s rooftop restaurant, I’m enjoying a serene view - Lake Victoria on one side and the suburbs of Entebbe on the other. The ‘cool’ 25°C temperature is a welcome change from the sub-zero weather back in the UK.
After my last trip, where I unfortunately picked up both E. coli and Campylobacter, I’m taking no chances this time. No salads, no tap water unless it’s been filtered through my trusty LifeStraw, and only fully cooked local food.
Tomorrow, I’ll meet with Dr Yvonne Karamagi, the Executive Director of Mildmay Uganda, along with her team to discuss potential partnerships. Joshua, Dr Jan White’s PA, will join me, and the goal is to explore how Mildmay can continue making a difference in Uganda. But for now, I’ll sign off as my meal arrives - tonight’s traditional Ugandan dish is… pizza!
Day 3 - Part 1
They say a good night’s sleep can cure most things, and today I can vouch for that! I woke up at 7am after a solid 10 hours of sleep and was lucky enough to grab a table overlooking Lake Victoria at breakfast.
As I mulled over the toast and porridge it got me thinking about Mildmay’s vision for its international work, which is now focussed on Africa, and our current strategy. I don’t believe our vision needs to change and whilst it is true that we have pulled back from some of the projects we started, allowing local organisations to take the lead, Mildmay never stopped caring about Africa. The people and communities that make up this wonderful continent still need good healthcare – and the need is urgent. The real shift has been that, in some places, African countries are now more capable of delivering these services themselves. As such, our focus has had to adjust - we now need to identify and prioritise the communities with the greatest need.
Identifying which communities to focus on is no easy task. If you ask an African, they’ll often tell you that their community deserves the focus - and understandably so. It’s part of human nature to put family and community first. But when an NGO like Mildmay chooses where to intervene, it’s not enough to look at the relative wealth of a country. Some poorer nations may have fewer healthcare challenges, while wealthier ones may suffer from greater inequality, with serious health disparities between rich and poor communities. Even in countries with universal healthcare systems, the services might not always work effectively.
Then there’s the issue of corruption, which unfortunately impacts many parts of Africa more deeply than in Western nations. Corruption is everywhere, but here it’s often more deeply ingrained and accepted. Still, even in communities rife with corruption, the need for healthcare may be greatest, and that’s where our work must continue. I’ll leave it there for now…
Geoff Coleman
Chief Executive
Mildmay Hospital
See Geoff's previous Muzungu blog posts here:
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Mzungu, also known as muzungu, mlungu, musungu or musongo, is a Bantu word that means "wanderer" originally pertaining to spirits. The term is currently used in predominantly Swahili-speaking nations to refer to foreign people dating back to the 18th century. The noun Mzungu or its variants are used in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Comoros, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Mayotte, Zambia and in Northern Madagascar (the word changed to "vozongo" in Malagasy, but locals will still understand the word mzungu) dating back to the 18th century.
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