Winding up 2013

Friends, viewers and followers of this my blog, i bring you greetings from the deepest part of my heart and congratulate upon the successful completion of 2013 which i believe by God's grace we shall complete.
Every human being on earth has ambitions, goals, dreams name them and am sure when we started 2013 you must have set what you want to achieve in the year.

However as the saying goes that life is not a straight line, and that if all wishes were true then............. so many things have helped you achieve and so hindered you not to achieve but we give glory back unto God.
You must also be evaluating yourself by now and look at a number of things you had set at what %age you've been able to accomplish.

You must be rejoicing if surely you have achieved and scored as you expected though it may not be 100%. For those of you who have not been able to perform as you expected, you need not to hang..it's never too late but you should also be looking at the factors that hindered you so you can set better priorities and strategies for 2014. God is always on our side for Isaiah 59 says that his hand is not too short nor his ears deaf (You can read the exact text), but our iniquities have separated us from him. So if we can be focused do the right things he can never foresake us and trust me you will live to be a winner all the time.

As Christmas sets in may we all focus and reflect on our lives, renew our relationship with God, friends and neighbours. It is not a period of heavy alcohol drinking, theft and robbery and all evil things as other people perceive it but rather a season to relax and reconcile our issues. merry x-mass.

To those who have lost their dear ones, the Lords gives and takes away thus the bible says. lets remain strong in him and praise his holly name. Those that are ill lets join 2gether and pray for them, all those that are tied up by chains of this world lets kneel and pray for their release because we have the power.
The Bible says in Luke 10:19 that "I have given you power and authority to stample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome the power of the devil, nothing shall harm you" this is Gods declaration. Can we receive it in his name.

Lastly to the employers and employees you could also resolve issues, forgive each other where you've gone wrong and those job hunting please don't give up your God will give you that dream job jst when u're almost giving up, so don't.

I wish you a merry Christmas and prosperous 2014.
God bless you all.  

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Support the little ones realise their dreamz

We reached out to them to help them improve their writing skills and Art skills. In a Rwenzori region competition of secondary and primary schools organised by RIC-NET, we reached out to them and we were grateful by what they produced.
It was worth to be rewarded.
The competition ran under a number of themes like How adequate have the government interventions in boosting Agriculture and education sectors been in light of the different, NAADS, USE and UPE initiative”, Art and painting under “A child friendly environment”, poems among others.
I bring you here proceedings of the rewards in one of the Districts Kyenjojo that participated.

A pupil at Nyakasenyi primary receiving his certificate. the theme was "A child friendly environment"

Mr.Kalwana the teacher in charge and the Officer who delivered the certificates poses for a photo with the winners

Pupils of Kyembogo PS eagerly waiting for their rewards.

The rewarding-shaking hands with the Deputy H/teacher.

The winning team-Kyembogo primary school.

SUPPORT THE BLIND

Mass wedding Part A

Accessing health centers is becoming nighmare part B

Atutur Hospital: Running without water for a year

Kumi

The adage “water is life” sounds unique to some people who often seek medical care at Atutur Hospital in Teso sub-region. For one year, Atutur Hospital, one of the public referral facilities in eastern Uganda, has been grappling with numerous challenges, including lack of water and better equipment.

The water system at the hospital has since been dysfunctional and just when the spare parts were purchased early this year, Umeme disconnected power supply to the water pumping plant. Authorities at the hospital, whose sewerage system is entirely waterborne, are in a dilemma and now spend at least Shs50,000 on water purchase each day.

“The problems affecting the hospital are many. Some casual workers have not been paid for over a year. There is no water and we are trying to look into ways of helping the facility operate normally,” Kumi District Health Officer, John Opolot said. He said the hospital is meant to be a highway referral facility but is still lacking in standards required of it to be able to perform its roles well.

How important water is
An estimated 500 litres of water are required for proper running of the hospital’s needs associated with water each day but the administration is only able to secure 100 litres. “There are standards required for effective control of infections at a health unit and the water crisis is making it difficult for us to achieve this,” the senior nursing officer, Sr Berna Isale, said.

Patients lie outside a ward at Atutur Hospital. For more than a year, the public referral facility in eastern Uganda has been grappling with numerous challenges including lack of water and better equipment. 

She said the hospital has been able to control infections resulting from shortage of water through health education on better hygiene practices by the patients and their attendants, quality of core health services and maintaining standards of cleaning. “Water is very vital in a big health facility like this one. Poor management of the crisis can lead to a serious disease outbreak,” Sr Isale said.

The hospital largely serves the rural population in Bukedea, Kumi, Ngora and Pallisa districts but it is understaffed and the infrastructure has been poorly maintained. Previously meant to be a 100-bed health unit, the services at the hospital have since been overstretched and the facility can no longer handle the mounting pressure.

Mr Fred Malinga the hospital administrator said: “There are only four wards at the hospital and yet more patients are admitted every day. The hospital is supposed to have 190 staff but only 82 have been posted here.” Delivery of health services at the Hospital, located about 40km on the Mbale - Soroti highway has also been hampered by dilapidated old equipment that are in a sorry state, including the theatre machines.

In 2007, the Atutur Hospital Support Network was set up to support staff training and help in the redevelopment of the hospital in relation to infrastructure and equipment with help from Sheffield Medical Group (SMG), a UK charity but these have since stopped the aid.

Mr Malinga said the hospital requires
Shs18 million to reinstate water supply at the facility and put some of the immediate needs in place.
“We have been advised to secure a three phase meter for electricity and also upgrade the water pumping equipment but the funds are not there,” Mr Malinga said.

In my own opinion i still believe something can be done in Uganda to have the health sector given priority. Government and civil society organisations either through donations and more other strategies can resolve this problem.

Lets work together for a better Uganda.

Adopted from The New Vision-Uganda

PWDs not catered for in public buildings

This is a serious challenge especially here in Uganda that most Public buildings do not put into consideration People with Disabilities.

A survey has indicated that there is difficulty in accessibility to buildings and facilities in Kampala by persons with movement limitations.

Most buildings don’t have facilities such as ramps and lifts while many of the existing accessibility facilities were not designed according to the required standards.

Can’t access services
While addressing the media about the status of People with Disabilities (PWDs) the chairperson Uganda National Action on Physical Disabilities, Mr Arthur Blick, said it is in these buildings where services crucial to human survival are provided. “This contributes a lot towards unemployment and inadequate involvement in community by PWDs,” Mr Blick said.

The survey indicated that only 95 per cent of public buildings in the central business district (CBD) conform to the required standards.

According to Ms Phyllis Kwesiga, an architect, accessibility is not only for the wheel chairs but even all sorts of disabilities should be put in consideration like pregnant women, blind people among others.

Health Focus.

More elongated, thinner-skinned romano/ramiro variety peppers have a shade more taste. Photograph: Jill Mead for the Guardian

In theory, there's no vegetable better than the red pepper for bringing Mediterranean sunshine to a dish, but the majority of red peppers on sale in Britain are the thick-skinned glasshouse-grown "bell" variety. A combination of growing method and variety means they are full of water. So roast or grill them to drive it off and concentrate their sweetness; try not to add any more liquid ingredients. If you have the time, leave red peppers at room temperature for a day or two to dry out and darken in colour; this improves them.

More elongated, thinner-skinned romano/ramiro variety peppers have a shade more of the taste profile you get in chillies, but without the piquant heat. They are the closest in flavour you'll get to those voluptuous, curvy red peppers on sale in southern European and Middle Eastern markets.

Why are peppers good for me?
Red peppers are one of the best sources of the red-coloured carotenoid pigment, lycopene. Some studies suggest that eating lycopene-containing foods could lower the risk of prostate, pancreatic and cervical cancers. They are also ideal for topping up your store of two other carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, which are naturally found in the retina. Some research suggests that eating foods rich in these pigments can help prevent macular degeneration, a condition that can impair the vision of older people.

Red peppers have notable levels of pyridoxine (vitamin B6), which plays an important role in brain function, plus antioxidant vitamins C and A

Baked red peppers stuffed with spiced chickpeas

Peppers and tomatoes are abundant at this time of year – this dish is really great alongside barbecued meat or as part of a mezze.

Serves 4
3 red peppers, deseeded, 
cut in half lengthways
1½ tbsp oil
1 large aubergine, quartered lengthways then cut into 2cm cubes
2 red onions, peeled and sliced
15g butter
6 ripe tomatoes
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
3cm piece ginger, peeled and crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
A pinch of chilli flakes
400g tin chickpeas, drained
Juice of half a lemon
Small bunch of fresh coriander

1 Preheat the oven to 150C/300F/gas mark 2. Place the peppers cavity side-up in a roasting tray. Drizzle with half the oil, season and place in the oven.

2 Brown the aubergine in the remaining oil over a medium heat. Remove to a plate with a slotted spoon. Turn the heat down, then add the onions and butter. Soften gently for five minutes.

3 Blend the tomatoes, garlic and ginger until smooth.

4 Add the spices to the onion, toast for a minute then add the chickpeas. Toss around, adding the aubergines after a couple of minutes. Pour in the tomato mixture, simmer, then add lemon juice and coriander. Spoon into the peppers and return to the oven until soft.

5 Serve with rice or flatbreads and yoghurt mixed with mint.

Fear of needles prompts students to design software to test malaria

When Brian Giita, a 22-year-old first year student at Makerere University, got malaria at the close of last year, he had no idea that it would trigger his thinking into designing a mobile phone application that diagnoses malaria without drawing a blood sample.

His experience at a local clinic to have tests done was very painful since he hated needles, and injections all his life. And when the semester opened in February, he and his classmate Joshua Businge, both Computer Science students, were asked to develop a project as part of their academic requirements.

An application that could diagnose malaria without being pricked to draw blood, is the first idea that came to his mind. And that is how the idea, code named Code8, was born. It has since has won the group an award in the category of UN Women at the Microsoft Imagine Cup competitions in Russia.

“We wanted a mobile phone application that would diagnose malaria without having to draw a blood sample,” Giita, the brain behind the project, says.
“We have named it Matibabu, a Swahili word, meaning a medical centre. With this application, we want to bring medical centres to our homes through the mobile phone platform,” he adds. But the duo needed Simon Lubambo, a fourth year Electrical Engineering student and Josiah Kavuma, a third-year Information Technology student to join them since the former had software knowledge, while the latter was a mentor.

How the application works
The application uses a light sensor connected to a tablet that is passed over a finger to diagnose malaria. By connecting a custom piece of hardware (matiscope) to the windows phone, the user is able to diagnose and know their malaria status in the shortest time possible.

The results are sent to the user’s skydrive for medical record keeping and sharing with their personal doctors. “You just need to download the application on your phone, customise the hardware and all you have to do is connect the finger onto the hardware. Then it scans through your blood cells maximumly for one minute,” says one of the Code 8 members.

After diagnosis, it brings to your phone screen a results page showing whether you have malaria on not. Then you can either print or share the results with any doctors on your phone contacts or you can call the doctor and give him/her the results so that he prescribes medicine.

The team adds: “For now, we are using the windows phone and that means only those with that type of phone can access the application but since we are still in the development stages, we will bring it down to every mobile phone once we get approval from the relevant authorities.”

This is an inspiring story.

Google launches search tool to help firms retrieve data

An internet surfer views the Google home page. Google has launched a
tool that will help companies search for information
stored in their computers for a fee as the tech giant seeks to
diversify its revenues away from advertising

Google Wednesday launched a tool that will help companies search for information stored in their computers for a fee as the tech giant seeks to diversify its revenues away from advertising.

The Google Search Appliance (GSA) is a mounted device, providing document indexing service that enables firms retrieve information stored in different locations such as desktops, intranets or archive servers.

Users will pay between Sh4.3 million ($50,000) and Sh5.2 million ($60,000) for the device and a three-year subscription fees depending on the size of an organisation and the amount of data on its networks.

This is one of the few products that Google will be selling in Kenya where it has relied on advertising revenues from commercial items posted on its sites.

While it has been easy to search for information online through the Google search engine, corporates are finding it difficult to retrieve data and information stored in their internal systems and not in the web, a gap that Google intends to plug with GSA.

“The GSA is a scalable hardware solution that offers a Google-like search for your organisations internal file shares, databases, content management and ERP systems and other internal data as well as for your public website,” said Shai Morgan, Google’s regional manager for emerging markets at the Nairobi launch.

“Firms that wish to use our enterprise solutions such as the GSA will have to pay annual subscription fees.”

Google has been offering the service in the developed markets where it was launched in 2008 and in the Middle East. Kenya is the first market to have the device in Africa and Google plans to introduce to other markets.

Kenya has been the headquarters of Google’s sub-Saharan business covering operations in Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda.

In Kenya, Google has partnered with e-momentum to integrate the solution to organisations’ networks and offer support maintenance service.

IN SUMMARY

• The Google Search Appliance (GSA) is a mounted device, providing document indexing service that enables firms retrieve information stored in different locations such as desktops, intranets or archive servers.
• Users will pay between Sh4.3 million ($50,000) and Sh5.2 million ($60,000) for the device and a three-year subscription fees depending on the size of an organisation and the amount of data on its networks.

http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/Google-launches-search-tool-to-help-firms-retrieve-data/-/539550/1925420/-/5kn5dnz/-/index.html

Rivals Microsoft and Oracle team up on push into cloud

Microsoft Corp said on Monday it would support Oracle Corp software on its cloud-based platforms, a tie-up aimed at improving the rivals' chances against nimbler Web-based computing companies chipping away at their traditional businesses.

The two industry leaders have competed for decades to sell technology to the world's largest companies. But they face growing pressure from new rivals selling often-cheaper services based in remote data centers, and they are rushing to adapt.

The two companies have long collaborated out of the public eye to meet customers' needs, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on a conference call. "In the world of cloud computing, I think behind-the-scenes collaboration is not enough."

The tie-up does not resolve major competitive challenges the two tech pioneers face in the cloud market, but their cooperation was seen as a symbolically important step.

"Is it a game changer today? Not at all. It shows both companies are serious about their cloud endeavors. The fact that historical competitors are now friends speaks to how big the cloud opportunity is. And it opens up potential avenues of growth down the road," said Daniel Ives, an analyst at investment bank FBR.

Under the agreement, customers will be able to run Oracle software on Microsoft's Server Hyper-V and on Windows Azure platforms, the companies said.

Microsoft warns of new Trojan hijacking Facebook accounts

Microsoft has issued a warning that a new piece of malware masquerading as a Google Chrome extension and Firefox add-on is making the rounds, threatening to hijack Facebook accounts

First detected in Brazil, Trojan:JS/Febipos.A, the malware attempts to keep itself update, just like normal, legitimate browser extensions, Microsoft noted in a security bulletin late Friday.

Once downloaded, the Trojan monitors whether the infected computer is logged into a Facebook account and attempts to download a config file that will includes a list of commands for the browser extension. The malware can then perform a variety of Facebook actions, including liking a page, sharing, posting, joining a group, and chatting with the account holder's friends.

Some variants of the malware include commands to post provocative messages written in Portuguese that contain links to other Facebook pages. The number of likes and shares on one such page grew while malware experts at Microsoft were analyzing the Trojan, suggesting that the infections are continuing to occur.

Microsoft did not indicate how the malware installs itself or how many infections might have occurred.

 There may be more to this threat because it can change its messages, URLs, Facebook pages and other activity at any time. In any case, we recommend you always keep your security products updated with the latest definitions to help avoid infection.

So while the malware appears to be designed to target users in Brazil -- where Portuguese is the dominant language -- Microsoft concluded that the Trojan could easily be modified to target users in other regions.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57584111-83/microsoft-warns-of-new-trojan-hijacking-facebook-accounts/

Kasese needs relief

Following the recent heavy rains that poured in Kasese on May 1st 2013. most people have been left homeless. This occured when the major rivers in the District over flooded leaving property worth millions of money destroyed.
The major bridges in Kilembe collapsed beyond immediate repair implying some schools may not be able to open in that valley like Kilembe secondary school.
Two days ago the other major bridge connecting the District to the rest of the districts showed signs of collapsing having been hit by the same floods (Mubuku river bridge).


Thousands have been put in camps and of course having left their homes. They don't have what to eat, where  to sleep irrespective of the efforts being made to make them comfortable.

Words can not explain the whole situation in Kasese-Western Uganda but when you have a close look at these pictures you may try to see what it means. so pain full to the level that one of the major hospitals in the district was affected and thus being closed till further notice.

Kilembe (Kasese) in Pictures

One of the bridges suspected to collapse soon

River Nyamwamba having burst its banks

Our people are suffering..where are they going??

Words neither these few pictures cant describe it all but the situation is alarming. we need serious prayers friends.