Firstly apologies for being so slow at posting once again. We will have a Facebook page soon and it should allow for a faster rate of news! These past few months have sped by as we worked hard to be ready for the next group of students on the BSc Degree. We had a further intake to Year 1 (Diploma) as well as the first Year 2 group (pictured on the left) . All the latter had already completed a Diploma in the past. What an inspirational group of students. They now represent 8 countries across the continent and have stories to tell of the sacrifices they have made to be able to take part on the course.
One student from Zimbabwe shared how she had only received confirmation of her funding in the last week of her teaching month and had come to Uganda as a 'step of faith'.

We have a mentorship programme to support the students and you can see me with my Year 1 Malawi students (Linly, Idah and Alex). Lameck is one of my Year 2 mentees and leads the palliative care association in Malawi and brings many years of experience. This is the first opportunity he has had to undertake a Degree level course and is already a leader for palliative care in his country. Notice the Scottish connection - a present from Highland Hospice on a previous visit. Elizabeth is from Nigeria and is the lead nurse at a major hospital. The faculty is led by the Director of Education at Hospice Africa Uganda, Flavia Bukandana and coordinated by Consilous who you can see here with Frida from my Mulago team and Francesca from Zimbabwe. We have a great team in partnership with Makerere University (especially our Palliative Care Unit) and the African Palliative Care Association. You can see Dr Jo with some of the men (Batholomew, Gideon, Willy and Alex). We also have a link with UK faculty via THET and it was a pleasure to welcome one of my old Scottish colleagues from Glasgow - Dr Mike Basler. He fitted right in!!  We not only learned from each other with the students working hard for a long month but we also sang and danced and even paddled in Lake Victoria. Please remember these students as they are now back in their own countries studying at a distance and sending in their course work.  At a social event in Dr Anne Merriman's home they symbolically lit one candle and gave it to her before each lighting in turn. Light spreading across Africa to bring relief to those in need. Let the flame burn brightly.....
While we were welcoming the students I also had a wonderful team visit from Gerrard Street Baptist church in Aberdeen. This deserves a BLOG post all in its own right so will add very soon.