Together we have raised over €3500! Half of the money will go toward medical supplies and equipment in St Mary's Hospital, and half will go to St Jude Children's Home in Gulu, Uganda. This is a huge sum of money and I am so grateful to everyone for supporting such worthy causes!
My family and I organised a fundraising concert on Sunday night in the Hawk's Well theatre, Sligo which was a great success. We had almost a full house, raised over €2000, and had a fantastic night of music, song and dance. Many thanks to all the musicians who played including: The Grange Post Primary and Sligo Community Youth Choirs, Peter Mooney, Sean Nós ar an tSionnan, Michael Rooney, Iontas, Sarah Crummy, Deirdre, Niamh and Sean Farrell.
Also a HUGE thank you to everyone who has contributed either in cash, cheque or through bank transfers online - I have really been blown away by your generosity and appreciate it so much!
I am currently on the train to Dublin from Sligo, the first leg of the journey to Uganda. Tomorrow I'll be flying to Entebbe, Uganda via Istanbul. I am so excited to be on the road, and even more excited to start work on Monday!
I will be working in the critical care/anaesthesia department in St Mary's Hospital, which will be very very different to the departments we have in Ireland, with very limited resources. However they still manage to deliver life-saving treatment to patients on a daily basis. I am delighted to have this opportunity to help out in St Mary's - to lend an extra pair of hands and an extra noggin to hopefully ease the workload of the doctors and medical officers over there. The next three months will also be a hugely beneficial experience for me - to experience medicine and surgery without the frills of modern tests and equipment and get back to the very basics and fundamentals. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a bit nervous!
I'll try to update this blog regularly to keep friends and family updated on the trip... Thanks to friends who have been to Gulu before I have a good idea what to expect, and they have contacted most of the town to let them know about my arrival so I know I'll be well looked after!!
Wish me luck!x
PS: If anybody would like to make a donation these are the bank details: All funds will go directly to the hospital and childrens home!
Bank: AIB, Stephen St, Sligo
Name: "St. Jude Children's Home" (c/o Mairéad Clancy) Account no. 24159081 Bank Sort code: 93-72-58 IBAN IE21 AIBK 9372 5824 1590 81 BIC AIBKIE2D
