While New Zealand is a wonderful place, the only downside – or at least the only one that could bring me back to Europe – is that it is a long way from family (& friends!). It is made easier what with mum & dad being in Uganda, but they’ll be back soon enough and I know I’ll be missing out on Sunday lunches!

But then here I can go climbing & biking & caving & kayaking etc. Hard to know. Last night though I went out with 3 friends (Isla, Brian&Mindy;) to see Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont. It is a beautiful story and one I would recommend (if you have a heart ;). It is a simple story of an elderly lady who takes up residence in a hotel and is pretty much entirely neglected by her family. She is a wonderful person of course, and quite full of life. And it made me (makes me) miss my pretty amazing aging grandparents. What brought it into sharp relief was my Great Uncle Michael passing away this week.

He had a pretty interesting life! and one I only got to see a little of really. When I lived in Dublin I would make the effort every 3 or so months to hop across the water to see my grandparents – and it would be nice to have the cash to do that from here! So yes, there certainly are some drawbacks to living here…. It’s a hard one really. I am fortunate enough to have an Aunt & family living on the North Island – that does make quite a difference.

A recent letter from mum and dad in Uganda. They’ve been there for almost 3 years now (as long as I have been in NZ). Their blog is always good for a read – recently the Presidents Wife (First Lady) was visiting.. so all quite exciting.. anyway – rest of this is from mum.

Pat and I have now been working in Uganda for 2 1/2 years and are beginning to think it is time to make plans to come back to Ireland and our families.

However, it is not quite so simple, in spite of having a contract that expires in November!

Having set up a functioning “University” with six sets of courses running and second year intake enrolling, Pat wishes to hand over to someone who shares the commitment and enthusiasm that he has put in.

IF ANY ONE KNOWS OF SOMEONE WHO WOULD RELISH A STIMULATING, VARIED AND REWARDING STINT as Vice Chancellor of the Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal, Western Uganda, please contact Pat asap !

pj-kmdXXX@infocom.co.ug(remove X’s) . The person must have a PhD and preferably should have an interest in applied science.

The second snag is for myself ! I have been working as “Funding Coordinator” for a project to set up a unit to produce Intravenous [ IV ] Fluids here in Fort Portal. It is has been tried and tested most successfully in Moshi, Tanzania for the last 30 years but we have been finding it very difficult to raise the necessary funds. This is partly because some charities do not like the fact that it will have to charge commercial prices for much of its product in order to be sustainable and also to provide, out of such surplus as may be generated, the fluids to those who cannot afford them, who otherwise would simply die.

Building is about to start [ 28th Aug.] . There is £119,000 in the kitty. The building will cost a total of £206,000 to complete, leaving a gap of £87,000 !

Looking at the whole picture, ie the cost of equipping, training and to the start of production there is a further need for £93,000 to complete the project.

So you can see, it is quite an act of faith to have decided to start building.

There are one or two irons still in the fire for funding and it is hoped that VAT [ at 18.5% ] may be waived.

This is a plea that if you may be thinking of “Send a Cow” at Christmas, and would like to anticipate your work of Charity please “Send a Brick” to the IV Fluid Unit, knowing that it will go straight to the building site. I mention this just to let you know the situation and give you the opportunity to contribute if you wish; no hard feelings if it doesn’’t suit you ! Maybe you know of funding I could apply for or individuals who would be in a position to help, or maybe you could consider doing a fundraiser? Any amount will help and be very gratefully received. Our money goes so much further out here!

I am attaching a brochure which outlines the project, but I will be happy to give you any further information. (download brochure here)

Finally, though we look forward to being back with family and friends we know we will very much miss the life here, full, varied and frustrating as it is. It is a wonderful experience to have had?….highly recommended !

Looking forward to meeting up again one day,

Best wishes, Kathie and Patrick Davey

PO BOX 809, Fort Portal, Uganda

Actually a very lazy weekend, no boarding, no tramping, just a short bike ride with Glynn on Saturday – and met up with Graham, Myra, Glynn & Jayne for geocaching (basically a treasure hunt with a GPS) on Sunday. One of the clues was at the lake below…

… I left them early but they went on to find three more clues and the actual cache.. I’ll put a link to it when they’ve written it up! I went off to have my Sunday dinner cooked by Mark – and then watched Dr. Strangelove. It’s a film I’ve wanted to see for a long time (well, since my friend Lorcan told me about it!). And I joined up with Alice in Videoland a very funky video store in ChCh. Great choice – they even have Tripods on DVD! (now I wonder who remembers the tripods..)

One of the reasons it was such a lazy weekend was so I could study for a project management course. I will be lucky to scrape a pass as I really don’t know nuffink about anyfink to do with managing anything – let alone projects. The course is called Prince2 and is a UK Government standard. It’s not easy, and has a 3 hour invigilated exam at the end. I haven’t done one of those since finals in college (which I still have nightmares from!)

Anyways… we’ll see – it’s nice to be learning again.

Finally – well worth checking out this http://www.dublincoastaldevelopment.com/ site. A video on the future housing development in Dublin (skit)

Friday night it was off to Rosendale Winery with the work social club. Lots of fun. Fortunately there weren’t unlimited quantities of free wine…

Bus was kinda fun, came all the way from Bristol. Probably just as much drinking done on the bus here as there! ;)

The Cycle To Work.. from leaving home to getting to work.

Home
On The Way Through The Park (Japanese Mayple)
Still In The Park
Exiting The Park (nice weeping willows though aren’t they :)
Random Punter
Into Town – Canterbury Draught Brewery
Smile – without a reason why (it’s a song)
No idea
Work – it’s nice on the inside :)