|
|
| Circular -
December 2014 |
| We are coming
to the end of another year and it’s a good time to look
back at what has been achieved. By most standards it has been a
‘successful’ year, based on numbers of children
treated and outcomes. More children than ever have had their
lives transformed, moving from suffering to hope, starting to
realise their potential – and of course we see change not
only for the children but for their families. Whatever we do
there to maintain a Christian witness depends heavily on the
effectiveness of the treatment and care we provide, and how this
is perceived by those around us. Rather than just depending on
words, we give them clear evidence of change, and this speaks
very clearly in a culture where many people still have some
allegiance to or fear of witchcraft – but the witch doctors
couldn’t heal these children. |
| All this couldn’t
have been done without your continuing support as donors; so
many of you have remained faithful to this work through years of
change, when we sought to ensure that we reached those children
whose need was greatest and tried to maintain high standards of
leadership and accountability so that the work wouldn’t be
compromised. |
| Then there are
those who carry out the work; all the money we have spent would
have been to little purpose without our Acheru staff. Central to
the effectiveness of the work is Africare’s relationship
with the Acheru Board and staff. We have delegated running of
the work to them, and we try to conduct this in a relationship
of cooperation and encouragement rather than domination and
control. We as Africare require a high standard of
accountability but we must also trust the judgment of the Acheru
Board and the skills of the staff, so that our efforts combine
to maximum effect. |
| Accountability
means more than just looking at the figures, so there are times
when monitoring or evaluation are appropriate. Earlier in the
year two of our Board members, Solomon and Laura, visited Acheru
representing Africare and looked closely at the work. Overall
impressions were positive, but some issues were raised which we
have tried to address. This meant criticism where we saw
weaknesses, but we have to ensure that encouragement is given
too – the work is carried out against a difficult
background, and there will always be compromises enforced by
limitations of finance, equipment, staffing, or facilities. |
| I hope the
reports and updates on the website, which we want to improve and
develop, will give you some idea of the work of the staff, but I
think there are a few things worth mentioning here. Joyce
recently suffered extensive burns following an accident with a
pressure cooker, but is now well on the way to a full recovery.
Sam has been ill, with tests indicating appendicitis – but
surgery had been deferred for now, and while he seems fit at
present he will have further examinations in a couple of months. |
| There can be
many problems to contend with, and sadly we must always be aware
that some people will go to great lengths to try to get money
from us. We do all we can to prevent this, and thankfully we
have avoided the serious problems and losses incurred by some
other organisations. However, despite our vigilance, in this
digital age we can be targetted by increasingly sophisticated
attacks. We sometimes include sums of money with our bank
transfers and ask for them to be passed on to certain
individuals, and recently some of our emails dealing with
finance have been intercepted. Additional instructions have been
added to them before they have been forwarded, and this has
resulted in some money being transferred to bank accounts
operated by the fraudsters. Thankfully this was discovered
before much was lost – nevertheless, the loss of any money
is a setback, and there is the very serious concern that a
system which we thought was safe has turned out to be so
vulnerable. Sam is working with the police in Uganda, and they
are hopeful of tracking down the perpetrators. We are also
looking carefully at all our systems to try to minimise risk. |
| Acheru
continues to see many children from northern Uganda, and we had
hoped by now to have an eight bed hostel at Anyike to reduce
pressure on inpatient beds at Kabembe, but we have had to review
this. The building we had been offered wasn’t in an ideal
location, but it could have been equipped cheaply and quickly so
the compromise seemed worthwhile. Now, however, the cost
estimates have increased considerably as people who at first
seemed to want to help us now want to make money from the
venture. We hope this won’t be too much of a setback, we
have already arranged that we can pay to have children kept at
CoRSU if Acheru is full. They give us very favourable rates, so
while it would have been convenient to have more accommodation
in the north, we will try to ensure no children lose out on the
chance of treatment. |
| We have been
busy here too, trying to provide effective back up for the work
in Uganda. We have had to deal with changes in legislation which
require us to register with the Charity Commission, and it’s
a relief that this process has been completed before the
deadline and we have our registration. We are also looking at
our Acheru and Africare literature, recognising that some of it
is now rather out of date and we could be doing better in terms
of promoting the work, and keeping people informed. |
| There is no
room for complacency; there are problems to address, more work
to do, ideas and proposals to consider. We hope to have an
evaluation of Acheru early in the New Year, concentrating on
care and treatment, how we can improve, and what more we can do
to encourage the staff and listen to their concerns and their
vision for the work. We have seen such growth and blessing that
we feel compelled to do all we can to sustain it. Above all, we
must remain focussed on the needs of the children, with the
images of those successfully treated making us more determined
than ever to reach all those who still so desperately need our
help. We continue to ask the question ‘what will happen to
these children if we don’t find them and help them?’ |
| Looking back
over the last year enables us to face next year with renewed
enthusiasm and confidence. A heartfelt thank you to all who have
helped us, on behalf of children who otherwise were without
hope. |
| Brian Dorman |
|
|
|
