The dining room for students in the nurse, laboratory and clinical officer schools is now almost finished. The building is behind schedule but that does not matter too much as there is no furniture yet! As a local contribution the schools were going to help fund the furniture, but they did not budget for any furniture in 2004-2005. When the students come back in September with their fees work can start on the tables and chairs! All that will remain to be done after August is to build the underground rainwater tank. This is being left until the Arch Bishop of Tanzania, Donald Mtetemela officially opens the building on the 28th August. He will open the Good Samaritan Church in the morning and then the dining room where lunch will be served. Simon Walton comments "Lunch could quite easily be supper at the way the day is already turning out. There will be four committees to organise the day and 10 choirs!

The Walton’s visited England recently on holiday and Simon had the chance to meet the Secretary, Graham Miller and Mark Schofield who have been helping at the UK end trying to sort out the ongoing problems with the pump. There were a number of new ideas around the wiring of the pump which are in the process of being implemented in Mvumi now. Hopefully this will be the final solution to the recurring problem of pumps being burnt out.

We have just had the

COTC (Clinical Officer Training School) Graduation on Saturday. It was a long day but each year comes with an increased amount of pomp and ceremony. This year we had gowns and mortar boards! All of the students passed.

The day was made all the more special because it was in the new dining hall. It will be handed over on the 15th August officially, but we have already used it for three special occasions. It is wonderful, spacious and airy.

One of the graduates this year was Tamilwai Raphael. He is a lovely very gentle guy who will make an excellent doctor. He is sensitive to the patients and has a good rapport with them. He was also top in every single exam except paediatrics.

I have long been a proponent of scholarships rather than just sponsorships, so that we can actually improve the level of professionalism in the hospital, not just fill our staffing needs. It is excellent that this year [Friends of Mvumi] have sponsored the best student and who will now work for us for the next two years. It will now be a challenge to keep him beyond that!

We are having a management committee meeting and OLC meeting this week and I want to try and get an assurance that all of our sponsored students will be offered jobs. In the last year many nurses have left and two clinical officers and two lab assistants want to go for upgrading, so we should be able to employ all.

TamilWai Raphael who graduated this year wrote this letter of thanks.

The Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness raised over £5,000 in their lent appeal to go towards a new X-ray machine for the hospital. Our thanks to all those who contributed.