KRDP returned to Uganda in January 2025 to inspect our projects, particularly those that have been recently completed, and to meet with our partners to discuss their priorities for future projects. The team was Gareth Morgan (KRDP chairman) together with his wife Gill and son David, Dick Curry (KRDP Treasurer) together with his wife Moira, and Jan Stockton who is one of our trustees. We were pleased to see that projects to provide two protected springs, to carry out further work to protect the Neginah River Bridge and to provide much needed desks for Nalondo Butta Primary School, have all been completed successfully and to a high standard.
In 2009 we were asked by ladies in Uganda if we could find any second hand but good quality bras to take out with us on our next trip: apparently second hand bras from the UK were considered far superior in quality to anything readily available in Uganda.
Since that time we have collected literally thousands of bras and taken them with us when we have visited Uganda. In 2025, we ran into a problem. X-ray scanning of our luggage as we left the airport terminal led to two bags being taken for detailed examination. Both contained some bras and these were confiscated. Two members of our team were detained by Ugandan customs on the basis that it is now illegal to bring second-hand underwear into Uganda. They were required to make a formal statement explaining why we were bringing these items and a fine had to be paid before team members were allowed to leave. We have thought about the implications of this. Whilst we could take more in future and hope that we are successful in getting them through customs, we have decided that we cannot take the risk that KRDP might end up on some sort of blacklist that affects our ability to continue with everything else we do in Uganda. We have explained this to the ladies groups who used to receive bras from us. They were incensed and upset but agreed that our decision was correct. We would like to thank everyone in UK who has supported us in this venture since 2009, but we will no longer be collecting bras for Uganda.
As a short-term measure, we will accept donations if you have been collecting bras for us. We will not take them to Uganda but we do have links with a Scottish charity called Smalls for All. They deliver a range of clothing to African countries and will take bras from us. So, your collecting will not have been in vain but we would ask that you now stop.
Uganda was badly affected by coronavirus with the first cases being confirmed in late March 2020. In response, the Government quickly closed schools and banned public gatherings. Public transport was largely suspended and severe restrictions imposed on private transport. Some of these restrictions were a little odd. For example, motorbikes, which are an important part of public transport, were allowed on the roads up until 2pm but were not allowed to carry passengers at any time. Sam Watalatsu, KRDP’s representative, was able to obtain a permit which allowed him to drive his car within a defined part of the country. This allowed him to continue with his own work and that of KRDP. Rather than a complete lockdown, a curfew between the hours of 7pm and 6.30am was imposed. Food shops and supermarkets were allowed to remain open but open-air markets have been closed.
With the pandemic over, it is difficult to say what the impact has been on the country. Official figures from the World Health Organisation show around 40,000 confirmed cases and 318 deaths by mid-January 2021. Both could easily be optimistic numbers given the communication problems within the country and the limited availability of testing kits. However, in our regular contacts with friends, there has been no information shared to suggest a massive health problem. However, even if coronavirus is not a big problem, its knock on effects certainly could be. Transport restrictions caused problems with food supplies, particularly in towns and cities. Even if food was available, people could not work if they could not travel and so had reduced levels of income. The spurious interest, in the early part of 2020, in chloroquine as a coronavirus treatment in some countries led to massive increases in costs. It is used, correctly, in Uganda as a malaria treatment but the increased cost led to reduced usage for some months. Similar problems arose with children’s vaccines for measles, diphtheria, tetanus and a range of other diseases. Although vaccine availability has returned to normal, some modelling by a team of UK and Swiss scientists in 2020 suggested that additional deaths from reductions in these vaccinations could be over 700,000 for the whole of Africa and would represent a more severe threat than coronavirus itself.
If you have been following us for some time you will know that the funding for our Safe Motherhood Programme, from the Burdett Trust for Nursing, was due to come to an end this year. We have been so grateful to the Burdett Trust for their support for several years, making a huge difference to the lives of literally thousands of people as we have been able to deliver health care to the most remote areas surrounding our village project.
We are delighted to announce that Swettenham Chemists, a family owned chain of pharmacies based around Chester, have stepped in to offer sponsorship in their place. A huge thank you to Swettenhams for their help.
Measles has been a problem in Uganda for many years but has become more serious in the recent past. Vaccinations are provided at Kimtab Clinic and through the Safe Motherhood Programme. A door-to-door campaign was run during the four months April to July 2019 in which 2496 children were vaccinated.
For several years the school has wanted a hall in which assemblies, concerts and other similar activities could take place. They have access to St. John’s Church but it is not always available in view of regular church activities. Also, it was not possible to have displays of artwork for extended periods within the church.
Eric Morgan, the father of Gareth Morgan, our Chairman of Trustees, had been a loyal supporter of KRDP for many years. He contributed generously to several projects and gave encouragement to the rest of us. He came to Uganda with us on several occasions and developed very close links with our partners in Kimaluli-Butta. In many ways they became his second family and he was known as “Papa Eric” within the Community. Sadly, Eric died in 2017.
During 2018 KRDP funded the construction of the school hall. The community readily agreed that it should be dedicated in Eric’s memory. It is an excellent building which will be a really useful addition to the school’s facilities and a fitting memorial to Eric. We have subsequently provided seating and a public address system for use within the hall.
We are thrilled to have been donated this painting, ‘Rhosgadean’,
by Maurice Greenwood RCA, to raise funds for KRDP. Maurice heard a talk about the work of our charity and was so moved that he immediately offered one of his paintings to us; and of course we were delighted. Maurice’s work has been exhibited nationally in Wales and throughout the UK, and is in many private collections as far afield as Australia and China. He is an Academician of the Royal Cambrian Academy, having been elected in 1988.
The Mayor of Frodsham, Maillie Poulton, heard of Maurice’s kindness and immediately offered to arrange for an auction of the painting at the Annual Mayor’s Ball on Friday 7th April.
Thank you to both these men for their support for our work; we will let you know the outcome in due course!
From early 2015, a motorbike ambulance has been based at Kimtab Clinic to provide much better transport of patients to Kimtab Clinic from remote parts of the community, or to hospitals in Mbale or elsewhere. KRDP have set out to cover the operating costs of the ambulance and provide it as a free service to the community. We are grateful to the Burdett Trust for Nursing for providing funding for the next three years to enable us to make a solid start on this important initiative.
KRDP in Uganda is our Facebook page. You can follow all our up-to-date information from UK and during our visits to Uganda
. Maurice heard a talk about the work of our charity and was so moved that he immediately offered one of his paintings to us; and of course we were delighted. Maurice’s work has been exhibited nationally in Wales and throughout the UK, and is in many private collections as far afield as Australia and China. He is an Academician of the Royal Cambrian Academy, having been elected in 1988.
Kimbuta Rural Development Programme 