August Newsletter 2020

Smile we are on Amazon Hi. We hope this finds you well. Thank you for being a friend of Gulu Connection. In these strange days, most of us are shopping online and much of that is through Amazon who have parted company with Give As You Live but have set up their own charitable avenue entitled Amazon smile.

If you use Amazon please select Amazon smile LINK HERE and nominate Nechells and Overseas Care Fund as your charity. Give As You Live LINK HERE is still operational so please use that and nominate us as your charity for online purchases – particularly big-ticket items.  We will be sending emails and whatsapps to many of our supporters to encourage them to help us in this way.null

Coronavirus still dominates. Coronavirus is still with us both in the UK and Uganda. At home there is a feeling that some control has been gained but the country has suffered dreadfully. The situation is dire but different in Uganda where it appears infection has been much less prevalent with currently one recorded death.Dr Nick’s prediction that there would be more deaths from lockdown restrictions, particularly transport which frustrated people's attempts to get to health units and acquire food would be more damaging than the disease itself has come to pass. A further major frustration is that schools remain closed with only a possible opening in September. As education is the single biggest most effective way of reducing poverty, this is potentially disastrous.

And now the good news - Pwunu Dyang The four roomed unit is now up to roof level and is about to be opened, and when it does, it will employ a midwife so that deliveries can take place in a safe situation. This will be truly life saving as there are no other facilities in the area and so births often take palace in mud huts without artificial light and with untrained attendants. (Apologies for the photo, better ones were sent but Pete lost them!) Nick sent us an update - see email excerpt below. ''Just letting you know the building is incredibly going great at Pwunu Dyang. Chris from Oberabic and Nurse Alfred out there are doing the most incredible job...As soon as we complete, we're going to get a midwife in there as soon as possible, as that's the greatest need of the community. Interestingly scabies is rife out there right now. We are doing our best, but it needs a more widespread public health intervention from the government, our treatment will cure a few but not solve the problem! Emma and I were on the radio last week talking about it. God bless, Nick.'' Story behind the photo Tessa cycled all the way from Gulu to Amuru – I guess that must be 50 km, and took the photo after visiting Pwunu Dyang (an extra 25km). It is heartwarming to think of the passion and commitment of Nick and Tessa as full time, long-term missionaries.

A dream come true. Below is printed a section from the blog of May 2018 which shows why Pwunu Dyang is so close to Pete‘s heart. ''Some years ago, on my first working visit to Gulu, I visited the District Health Officer to introduce myself as someone who was working in the diocesan health coordination department. He was dismissive to the point of rudeness. He asked what I was hoping to achieve and I mumbled something along the lines of improving the health care for the truly poor. At this point he got up and left the office. I thought I might have said something that offended him. He returned to his office with a big map of Gulu and surrounding area. He pointed to it, showed me large areas of the district that had no health care cover and said, “If you want to help the truly poor, open units in these areas.” This is what has happened, with the opening of Pwunu Dyang.

Oberabic This unit which has been the main beneficiary of our finance for some time was inspected on July 20. Once again there is great news with recording of excellent clinical standards in terms of diagnosis and following Nicks strict treatment guidelines. In addition, the buildings and grounds were in great shape. This team is doing an amazing job and it is a privilege to support them.

Through our funding the land on which the unit was built has been purchased and a path has been dug ion order to plant a boundary of trees.

Thanks Once again thank you so much for your support through prayer and giving. With love and blessings Peter and Gemma

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP... You can donate by : Bank transfer and adding your name as reference. Account Name. NOCF Account number : 00190468 Sort code: 30-90-95 Or by making a cheque payable to Nechells and Overseas Care Fund and then sending it to the following address : Mr Peter Hill - Charity Administrator 47 Heneage Street Nechells Birmingham B7 4NF

April Newsletter 2020

It is Spring time. Greetings. Brighter days, blossom and flowers coming up, remind us that it is spring and although Coronavirus occupies the airwaves and causes us all to be careful and mindful of folk risking their lives in Hospitals and the community, it is good to be know that seasons like God do not change. Punu Dyang Punu Dyang, the tiny health centre started from scratch in the jungle in 2017 as a satellite from Oberabic, continues to meet the needs of the local population with large numbers attending the clinic and outreach to such an extent that it is now proposed to build a 4 roomed unit. Local folk have made and donated 10,000 bricks (see picture). We sent some money to try to get the foundations built ahead of Coronavirus restrictions but were too late. The money is now being used for medicines Annual Report Nick, (Dr Nicolas Laing) produced an amazing annual report with a huge amount of detail . It was very positive. Oberabic continues to do well and was able both to serve their population and enhance their finances through a USAid maternity project. The maternity unit was such a good investment. Thank you to donors. The USAid project has now ceased. As mentioned above the satellite clinic from Oberabic, (Punu Dyang) is doing amazingly well. The other clinic we support though nurse funding in Awere is also thriving clinically. Personel Fiona - Administrator Fiona recently had her first child. We wish her well (and Nick’s survival) through her maternity leave. Les and Sylvia Carter Not mentioned before but Les and Sylvia had to resign as trustees on account of Les’ ill health and sadly Les has subsequently died. He was a gracious caring man who embraced the aims of Gulu Connection and acted very efficiently as financial officer. Although Les passed some time ago we send our condolences to Sylvia who also served as trustee with compassion and great proficiency in her role as secretary to the Charity. Thanks Thank you everybody for being part of the Gulu Connection family; for praying, for giving and also for using Give as you Live, the website that enables us to receive money through any online purchases supporters make... Please do use this. If you would like any advice, please send an email. Thank you again for standing with us as we seek to support the health care team in Uganda With warmest appreciation Gemma and Pete On behalf of NOCF IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP... You can donate by : Bank transfer and adding your name as reference. Account Name. NOCF Account number : 00190468 Sort code: 30-90-95 Or by making a cheque payable to Nechells and Overseas Care Fund and then sending it to the following address : Mr Peter Hill - Charity Administrator 47 Heneage Street Nechells Birmingham B7 4NF If you would prefer not to receive our emails – please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line

©2020 Nechells and Overseas Care Fund | 47 Heneage Street, Birmingham B7 4NF

It has been a long time. “It has been a long time” is a gracious way to open a conversation in Uganda with someone not recently seen. It has been a very long time since our last newsletter but the work on the ground is continuing with good news flowing from the projects we are supporting. Thanks Thank you everybody for being part of the Gulu Connection family; for praying, for giving and also for using Give as you Live, the website that enables us to receive money for any online purchases supporters make.. Please do use this. If you would like any advice, just ask. Punu Dyang Massive Impact Punu Dyang, the tiny health centre started from scratch in the jungle in 2017 as a satellite from Oberabic has had a massive impact. Currently malaria is on the rise and the single nurse saw 386 patients, mostly malaria, in one month. What a man! Great work saving lives. In such a remote area, death is an ever present danger from Malaria. The picture shows the clinic with a different nurse working. Communal Violence The Puny Dyang area has been subject to communal violence consigning locals to live in very shabby huts or make do with ones that have been torched. Tessa has been researching the conflict and sent some photos. Success Story Fiona sent a moving story Contributed by a grateful father. It is printed here in full. “It was on a Friday when my son fell ill, me I thought it was malaria because he was looking weak, I had some malaria medicine in the house (caortem). I started giving him to take, and he took 2 tablets each day for 2 days. There was some improvement on Saturday and I thought it was okay, on Sunday at around midnight he could not even breath well and was not even walking, I did not know what was happening to him, we carried him very fast and came to this facility but it was closed, we had to run to the nurse at his place, he then came quickly with us at night, he looked at the child and put him on the bed, he started touching him with his machines, he gave him some drugs there and then to take. The nurse also stayed there with us for some times to watch him then he went back and told us to stay there until morning as he will also be coming to check on him. At least he started breathing well when it was coming to morning. The nurse came back again to check on him and told us it was pneumonia and not malaria. Again he added another medicine and gave us some to take and be giving him from home. I don’t know what would have happened if punudyang health centre was not brought here by the Diocese, my son would have died. I give thanks to the nurse, Innocent the nurse you brought here is a good person and also in this facility at least there is always drugs given to patients not like other places and the price is low for us the poor people. Thank you Diocese for bringing this Health Centre here.” Am Opio Stephen. Oberabic Maternity Earlier this year Nick commented “Oberabic had 22 deliveries last month, which is fantastic to see, and the wonderful new delivery suite certainly came at the perfect time both for the health center and the community.” The Trustees say thank you to Gulu Connection supporters who enabled us to get this important unit built. Land Dispute A long-standing niggle with the landowners who provided land for Oberabic came to a head some months ago. Nick was in the UK (see below) and so the matter was handled with great skill by Fiona, administrator to the health care coordination office. Fiona managed to negotiate a fair price for the land in exchange for a document from the family that signed the land over to the Health Centre. Of course there was a cost, actually very modest for a large plot of land, and Gulu Connection was delighted to provide the money for this important settlement which will give much needed security. Meeting with Family Members   Signing Documents by Family Members Nick and Tessa Nick and Tessa returned to Uganda in July having spent some months in Cambridge undertaking higher degrees. It was great to see them shortly before they returned. I forgot to take a photo so here is one from Facebook Thank you again for standing with us as we seek to support the health care team in Uganda With warmest appreciation Pete On behalf of NOCF IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP... You can donate by : Bank transfer and adding your name as reference. Account Name. NOCF Account number : 00190468 Sort code: 30-90-95 Or by making a cheque payable to Nechells and Overseas Care Fund and then sending it to the following address : Mr Peter Hill - Charity Administrator 47 Heneage Street Nechells Birmingham B7 4NF If you would prefer not to receive our emails – please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line ©2019 Nechells and Overseas Care Fund | 47 Heneage Street, Birmingham B7 4NF

EASTER SEASON We have spring with hopes for another beautiful summer. It is Easter season and for many of us an opportunity to reflect on the powerful, life-giving event of the Resurrection. BOMBSHELL Out of the blue we received an amazing document from Fiona, manager of the project in Gulu which is a heartwarming summary of NOCF’s (Gulu Connection’s) support. It is copied here : Thank You Note to NOCF. Words can’t honestly describe how grateful we are to NOCF (UK) for the wonderful assistance and help you have given us as Staff, community of Oberabic and Diocese of Northern Uganda as a whole. Specifically we would like to appreciate you all these things which has brought huge change to the facilities in these areas to mention but a few. 1. Improvement in maternity services. The solar light installed in the facility has greatly improved night deliveries; currently we are conducting 150 ANC from 70 and 35 deliveries s10 on average three years ago. There is privacy with enormous space because of the new maternity block. Facility has gained much confidence from the community and office of the DHO. 2. Staff motivated and happy in a comfortable house. Staff are now happy with the feel of comfort from a small squeezed room to a fully furnished double room house.This has motivated our staff, this translates back to the clients. Amazing! 3. Availability of medicines and Immunization services. With your help, facility has been able to keep a constant supply of medicines at the facility to the clients because we buy in bulk to avoid shortage. Fridge has enabled us to provide immunization services on a weekly basis and promptly. Really good!!! 4. Clean water and easy transport means Borehole is now fully functional and in good working condition providing clean water and easy to pump, no more complain now from the staff and community. Moto bike has been of a huge importance to the staff and Health Unit Management Committee of the facility, they can easily access town and the facility without any difficulty and struggle. Thanks so much 5. Health Services extended to the unreached This among others is the greatest of all, Punudyang outreach Centre is established in a right place and at a perfect time. The small outreach Centre in its very remote location is playing a huge role in providing the basic health services to people Apaa/Pundyang who can barely access medical carebecause there is no health facility around in this area. Most importantly the community take it as their own. May God richly bless the works of your hands. MATERNITY AT OBERABIC One of the success stories is maternity care which has been assisted by the new unit financed by your kind support but is also is totally dependent on the staff. Scovia, a dynamic midwife, has been committed to the unit for some time. She trained at St Mary's Lacor and is fully invloved in ANC, delivery, family planning and outreach. She is very jolly and also very photogenic and so we have plundered Nick’s portfolio to place some pictures below. WHERE NOW? We are still doing the boring work of saving lives. We recently sent our regular support which included financing an annual bonus scheme for nurses. This was a NOCF/Gulu Connection initiative The standard of the diocesan nursing teams has massively improved in the last few years due to the excellent support and supervision of Nick, Emmanuel and Fiona.We hope our bonus scheme also played a part. THANK YOU We are truly indebted to you for interest, prayer support and financial giving. Without this our contribution would not be effective. We are humbled at the donations both regular and the one off's that keep coming in --- just when we need them. Every blessing, Gemma & Pete IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO HELP... You can donate by : Bank transfer and adding your name as reference. Account Name. NOCF Account number : 00190468 Sort code: 30-90-95 Or by making a cheque payable to Nechells and Overseas Care Fund and then sending it to the following address : Mr Peter Hill - Charity Administrator 47 Heneage Street Nechells  Birmingham B7 4NF If you would prefer not to receive our emails – please reply with unsubscribe in the subject line

©2019 Nechells and Overseas Care Fund | 47 Heneage Street, Birmingham B7 4NF