Dial-a-Cab driver Steve Bryant (Y41) and NHS Practice Development Facilitator, Jane Barr – who as a nurse is in charge of 22 community hospitals across Devon - recently went to Uganda on something of a mercy mission (see August and September Call Signs). Jane’s mission was to give advice to Ugandan medical staff and hopefully help extend the lives of their patients. With HIV and AIDS so prevalent in many African countries, Jane’s task was a difficult one. The more practical side was to show how staff could re-use wheelchairs for young children - so often the victims of landmines.
   Steve, although going mainly to help where he could, also cheered a local group of young footballers – many with severe injuries - from the Kampala Kids League by getting Dial-a-Cab to provide them with a set of Spurs tops. The kids are soccer mad and know all about the English Premiership. Steve told Call Sign how it all went…
   "It’s hard to know where to begin. The Ugandan people are very friendly, the climate and food is great, everyone has respect for each other and there are no stabbings! Will it last? I don't know, it’s just a few years since it was all so different in a war-ravaged country…
   So to the beginning of our trip… the main mode of transport in the city is by motorbike. You just hail one, jump on the back and begin to weave in and out of the traffic. Three on a bike is a squash, but at 30p a mile what the heck! There are very few crash helmets worn on the very uneven roads and it isn’t for the faint hearted. To make it worse, there is no rate three! I don’t think our Dial-a-Cab drivers will be queuing up for work!
   With Jane, I went to Mengo Hospital to see if any of the British ways of working could help the staff, overrun with patients suffering from malaria. I assumed

that HIV would have been the main problem, but now drugs have become more widely available and seem to be helping to slow the death rate down.
   There is also a decade of people missing. These are the 30 to 40 year olds who died mainly from HIV. There are huge challenges in health care, especially the basics of preventing and treating malaria, which remains the biggest killer in children under five years of age.
   Next we travelled to Gulu where we were told the Dial-a-Cab football shirts would be most needed. It was a 7-hour bus journey away. An old bus with no aircon or suspension took us northwards from the city. On arrival, we went to the local football ground and witnessed children playing in bare feet on a sports day. They had some football shirts, but these were old and following the game were handed back, washed and kept safe until the next match. Some had been washed so often they had almost no colour left.
   The Dial-a-Cab ‘Spurs’ shirts were handed out for photos and then given back for safe keeping ready for the next game. You can see by the two cover photos how thrilled the kids were. I was told that if I returned in 10 years, the shirts

would still be in use! So from all at Gulu, we were asked to send a big thank-you to Dial-a-Cab.
   The Kampala Kids League is run by British born Ann and Trevor Dudley and some very dedicated local people who know exactly what the children need.
   Jane and I then moved on to Murchison for a brief rest before travelling back to Kampala and visiting an orphanage run by the Salvation Army. What truly dedicated people they are! We took pens, pencils, paper, balloons, blow bubbles and clothes. Our visit and gifts caused much excitement and my heart really went out to these kids. We don’t always appreciate how lucky we are in the UK – downturn or not. These children have very little going for them. 
   Whilst there, I met the boy who was pictured in an earlier Call Sign playing football as a goalkeeper. Winston’s feet were blown off by a land mine, but he is a credit to the Ugandan people for his sheer spirit. I hope life will become easier for him, but the country is so poor and his opportunities are limited.
   I hope this gives Call Sign readers a small insight into what an amazing place Uganda is."