WINCHESTER Rotary entertained midwives from the Royal Hampshire County Hospital at a meeting at the Winchester Hotel recently.

They shared the Rotary team’s recent experiences of education work in Uganda.  The Mayor and Mayoress, Councillor Ernie Jeffs and his wife Barbara were also present.

The midwives, led by team leader Laura Aspinall, will travel to Uganda this July to work with the people of Hoima district to help improve healthcare.

They intend to support local maternity services by providing training with the aim of reducing maternal and neonatal mortality. Currently 400 women per 100,000 live births die each year from pregnancy-related conditions. This compares with seven per 100,000 births in the UK.

A team of senior educationalists including and led by two Winchester Rotarians have just returned from a successful visit to Uganda. They have been working with 22 Primary schools in the Kasese District, close to the Congolese border.

As a Rotary Vocational Training Team, funded by a Rotary International Global Grant, they trained teachers in reading and the use of books and helped establish libraries.

They also worked in partnership with Kasese Rotary Club and the Hampshire based charity, Education Uganda.