**Photos and Videos taken since the floods started have been sent to me from Kagando Hospital to be used for this fundraising blog** ____________________

The Rwenzori Mountains in Uganda are majestic but they can also bring great hardship. An area where poverty is raw, where reliance on the dry and wet seasons, indicating the time for planting or harvesting of crops, is vital for the survival of many families.

The much needed rain came, but on May 9th over a period of 12 hours it caused devastation with landslides and several rivers breaking their banks. So far 13 people are known to have died, with one family losing three children when their house collapsed under the sheer force of a landslide. Over 50 houses destroyed. Many more simple abodes badly damaged, making them vulnerable, uninhabitable.

Kagando hospital and the surrounding community has also suffered. The source of the river which provides water for Kagando (then filtered) was badly damaged, with much of the infrastructure swept away.

The hospital Executive Director Canon Uzziah told me that there is enough rain water in the hospital tanks to last 2 days. He issued a statement to staff saying “the hospital water intake on River Rwembyo is badly damaged and it has cut off the supply….the tide of the river is still high and rapid, and no repair works are feasible….use water sparingly…”

A hospital without water. The only water available may be contaminated. Unthinkable.

A full assessment of this devastation is being undertaken, but people have lost homes, been displaced, their precious crops destroyed: many are hungry in an area where malnutrition is already high, and of course, a great concern is that disease will follow.

Your help no matter how small can make a real difference: it can feed the hungry, provide shelter and clothe the homeless, can comfort those who mourn, help restore vital water supplies to the hospital and nearby community.

It will enable hospital staff to do this work: to reach out to the needy with food and provisions. Staff will offer support and address the necessary health concerns as they arise.

A simple thank you never seems sufficient but rest assured your donation will get to where it’s needed .

The money donated will be sent directly to the hospital by Friends of Kagando

Rita