My dear family and friends,

Thank you for contributing to my 60th birthday celebration by donating money to Mildmay Hospital.

I first came into contact with Mildmay Hospital in 2001 when I and six other qualified reflexologists attended training in HIV/Aids at their London Hospital prior to travelling to Uganda to teach practical reflexology to hospital staff, carers and villagers.

The second time I came into contact with Mildmay was in their Ugandan Hospice where we trained several members of staff.  During our week there, we were given a guided tour.  One department in particular made a huge impact upon me.  It was Jagga's Home ('Jagga' means grandmother; many grandmothers now are the only carers of children orphaned by HIV/Aids). 

Every morning children were collected from Kampala and surrounding villages in bright yellow Mildmay land rovers and returned home in the late afternoon.  All the children had Aids and had lost family members to Aids.  Most of them required 24 hour care but only day care was provided so as not to disrupt the children's community life.  When the children arrived at the centre in the morning at about 10.30 they were given breakfast, bathed and played with and (most important of all) cuddled.  They each had their own toothbrush and bed for afternoon naps.  The place resembled a primary school in Enland.  In fact, the head carer was an ex-primary teacher from Worcester who was disillusioned with teaching in England.  Due to their horrific life experiences, the children received counselling by qualified staff through play, drawing and painting, and they had their daily medication minitored.

The first unit (for the 6-13 year age group) was opened on 1 September 2000.  It was decided to start with this facility as the demand for it was the greatest at that time.  The average age of the children attending the centre was 8 years of age. Eventually, it was hoped, that two further units would be opened which would enable Mildmay to cater for all ages of children with Aids, from birth to 18 years.

When building was first started, Mildmay was given funding for a two year period only and at the time I was there, Mildmay Hospice Uganda was tyring to find further funding through sponsorship.  There was major concern that funding would not be found as obviously the whole scheme would collapse without continued financial support.

From visiting Mildmay's web page (www.mildmay.org) it would appear that things are going well and that the Ugandan children are continuing to receive the care, support and love they need.

Your donation today will help towards the continuation of Milldmay's fantastic paediatric HIV/Aids care in Africa and is the best possible present you could give me.  Thank you.

All my love,

Gillian xx