During my visit to Mukuni I was fortunate to have Professor Doug Saunders from Sydney University acccompany for four days. After a brief encounter at Livingstone airport in May 2007 Doug was interested in my work, came to the UK to see me and this February funded a trip to Zambia to assist the charity. He is setting up a program to allow medical students from the University to do their internship at Mukuni Health Centre and Livingstone Hospital, giving the students experience and tropical medicine and in return the students will bring a wealth of knowledge for new treatments.

I took Doug to the morning clinics at Mukuni Health Centre, run by Mr. Mwewa, the clinical officer and Mrs Mukuni the midwife. From a medical experience he was fasinated but equally appalled by the lack of facilities, equipment and medicines. In fifty years in medicine, specialising in gynaecology and obstetrics, he had never seen cases of malaria, leprosy, TB in HIV positve women, severe pre-ecampsia or juvenile cataract.

Chaton Siloka awaiting an operation at Mukuni Health Centre

Doug offered to help with diagnosis and treatment. Two boys who had been suffering from ailments for several years; one had continual urinary infections and the other an enlarged spleen, neither could not be treated in hospital due to lack funds. They had been unable to attend school for much of the year and suffered pain and discomfort. Another boy, Martin Siloka had accidently been hit by a small stone, resulting in loss of sight in one eye as a a cataract had formed. The Butterfly Tree is funding treatment for these three children.

I have set up a program to fund four children a month who need hospital treatment. Although Mukuni Health Centre has some excellent staff it has not got the facilities to operate or treat certain cases. Idrin Ghani who The Butterfly Tree has been funding since last October had her final operation last month and has recovered from the osteomylitis that could have taken her life.

We all complain about our medical care, in the UK it is a free service and we have very good facilites; these rural people cannot evern afford the transport to take them to hospital, where they have to pay for their medication and often the operation as well. Our Gallery shows photos of the Mukuni Health Centre.