Globetrotters in Chester
Presents
- Easter Island – a remote puzzle`speaker Mike Jones
- “The Pearl of Africa”speaker Sarah Hoyle.
Doors open 1pm for 1:30pm Start till 4:30pm Entrance Fee £3.00 includes refreshments and two talks Grosvenor Museum 25-27 Grosvenor Street, CH12DD
Enquiries to Hanna tel: 01244383392 or Angela tel: 01244 629930
Here are the reviews of the two talks presented at the last Globetrotters meeting on 19th July 2014.
THE PEARL OF AFRICA – with Sarah Hoyle
Sarah first gave a talk to Globetrotters in 2010, having walked the Inca Trail in Peru to raise funds to purchase a washing machine for the Church if Uganda KIZIIZI hospital. Having retired from practice at the Countess of Chester hospital in 2010, Sarah continued to be the project lead for the partnership developed in 2008 between the Countess of Chester and KIZIIZI and other hospitals in Uganda. Sarah was accompanied by 4 Ugandan medical equipment technicians who were in the UK to gain further knowledge and skills in repair of medical equipment.
Sarah initially gave us an overview of Uganda, followed by updated information about KIZIIZI.
The population of the country is now approximately 34 .5 million, with a life expectancy of 59 years. (Calculated in 2012). The country gained independence in 1962, and 60 per cent of the population are employed in agriculture. Wild life is abundant with 10 national parks and 12 wildlife reserves, and an uncommonly known fact is that the river Nile begins near to JINJA. The climate generally is warm with two rainy seasons.
KIZIIZI is a Christian Missionary hospital, founded by Dr John Sharp a British missionary doctor in 1958 An interesting comparison to the Countess of Chester, Sarah showed us photographs of the various departments in the hospital, which comprises a chapel, surgical ward – where the method of traction for a fractured sharp of femur is traction with the use of an old paint tin filled with pebbles, (what did the medical technicians think of our traction equipment, I wonder?) Other facilities although basic include medical and psychiatric ward. An orthopaedic surgeon from the UK visits the hospital twice a year to provide surgery to children who suffer from limb deformities. These children are supported in a rehabilitation unit post-surgery.
With the help of funding that the Countess have received from The Tropical Health Education Trust staff from the countess have been able to improve the knowledge and skills of staff working in a number of departments at Kisiizi. These include the radiology department, pharmacy and laboratory. Specific training programmes have been offered go nurses and midwives. Sarah herself walked the Inca Trail to purchase a washing machine. This is now installed and has improved the working lives of the laundry staff.
To give an idea of distance Sarah explained that after an eight hour flight from the UK to Kampala, – the capital of Uganda, KIZIIZI hospital is then an eight hour drive from Kampala.
Since starting to visit Uganda in 2008 , Sarah advised that she and colleagues have taken the opportunity to visit national parks and other places of interest. These include – Queen Elizabeth Park and Kitagata Hot Springs, 250 km S.W. of Kampala, staying at Mweya Safari Lodge. This park is home to 6oo species of birds and 100 species of animals, including elephants, antelope, lions, zebra, buffalo, and hippos. On then to Lake Bunyonyi, the second deepest lake in Africa, and close to the Rwandan border. One of the islands on the lake was previously a leper colony and was founded by Leonard Sharp, the father of John Sharp the KIZIIZI founder.
The third venue was the Bwindi National Park, bordering the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is the place for gorilla trekking, a wonderful sight to see silver back gorillas. The park is also home to tea plantations and of course rain forest. The itinery also included a trip to Mabamba Bay, some 50 km from Kampala and from here day excursions can be made along the wetlands to view the birdlife. Sarah was fortunate enough to see the Shoebill which is relatively rare. The final destination was a visit to Entebbe Botanical Gardens which dates back to 1898.
Sarah’s talk proved most interesting, giving us an insight into the development of KIZIIZI hospital and other hospitals in Uganda, thus making us appreciate just how fortunate we are in the UK. Added to this we were given a “mini tour” of the country which may entice us to visit in the future.
EASTER ISLAND – with Mike Jones The speaker on this occasion was Mike Jones, an intrepid traveller who visited Easter Island in 1999 along with a like-minded group of travellers.
Easter Island is a remote island belonging to Chile . It lies in the Pacific Ocean some 2000 miles from the coast of South America, and approximately 2600 miles from Tahiti. It is approximately 60 square miles in size, and as it lies on the air route to New Zealand thus making it a suitable location for a stopover on a round the world trip. Easter Island was opened up when the runway was upgraded for the space shuttle.
Due to the remoteness there are various theories about its origins. – Having shared a common language with the people of the Gambier islands, one theory is that it is a result of a fishing fleet going off course that it was discovered. An interesting fact is that then, the staple diet was dolphin meat. The first European visitors were the Dutch, followed by the Spanish, French, and then Captain Cook visited in 1770, but none stayed.
Peruvian invaders took the Easter Islanders to work in the mines and sadly diseases were imported to the island resulting in a decline of the population. In 1877 the numbers fell to 111 and eventually there were only 36 people left. Nowadays the population numbers in the thousands with many Chilean people settling there.
Among the moon/sun based religions is the “bird man” – The first man to swim out to an outlying island, collect bird eggs and return to Easter Island is honoured for the following twelve months. The island comprised of three extinct volcanoes and was covered in rain forest. It lacks harbours and also coral reefs, but due its proximity to the Equator it benefits from warm seas and a temperate climate.
The main attraction of the island – It contains over 1000 statues all located to face inland. The statues are in varied states of construction and have traces of paint on them, The eyes were made from coloured shells and the height may be nine or twelve feet . There is an incomplete statue that is carved in relief form from the volcanic rock face . The statue would have then been separated from the rock face and then using logs and pulleys be moved to its new location and erected using infill to locate it. The tragic result of this statue making was that all the trees were felled, therefore no boats could be made for fishing or leaving the island. The collapse of society on the island was caused by a number of factors, but the loss of the trees was perhaps the most significant one.