LATEST UPDATE FROM YOSUKE:

 On Monday I arrived at Teule hospital in Muheza, located about 300km west of Moshi and 50km east of Tanga which is on the coast. It’s a lot hotter here (fortunately there’s air conditioning in the office where I am), lots of mosquitoes (yes I’m taking my antimalarials), and currently no running water but they sell drinking water so I’m surviving for the moment! The conditions do mean that there are many malaria cases – about 50% of admissions, and also no surgery can take place at the moment due to the lack of water…

I’m here to implement a study on the malaria rapid diagnostic tests with the research team here, which is keeping me busy. It’s given me good insight about how much clinical research brings to the hospital as well, in terms of equipment such as oxygen, ECG, paediatric venous access (butterflies), etc, and more importantly qualified staff. The research team here consists of four medical officer/doctors, seven clinical officers/nurse practitioners and six nurses, who spend as much time on the wards as performing research. Fortunately it’s now the dry season so the prevalence of malaria is low and the paediatric wards are quite quiet, although there are still some interesting cases, which we’re still trying to diagnose…

AUGUST 28, 2009

Received today, information about the work which ex-head boy Yosuke Matsuyima (Masuda) is now doing in a hospital in Africa, after (almost) getting to the top of Kilimanjaro!

Here is a link to Marangu Hospital. (A general website, go to Hospitals at the top, then see Marangu, middle right).

And here is his message (printed with permission):

Thank you for your donations - they are very much appreciated and are being spent well for the education of the children in Marangu. I've started spending my mornings on the paediatric ward, where I am experiencing the harsh reality of the morbidity of the ill children here. I spent this morning resuscitating a one year old child three times due to septic meningitis and sadly I don't think he's going to survive the weekend.

AUGUST 25, 2009

Thanks for the pictures, received a couple of days ago. Note that they were resized, and it is hoped to have a better quality page when the intrepid adventurers return.

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AUGUST 16, 2009

Message received yesterday. A little more on their website.

Thank you for the supportive messages. Some of you may have been following our progress on our website/twitter/facebook already , but you'll be glad to know we all descended the mountain safely yesterday. It was an amazing week with some of the best views we have ever seen. The summit day was incredibly tough in terrible conditions with freezing cold winds. Still, six out of ten made it to Uhuru peak (5,896m). Three, including myself, made it to stella point (5,700m odd), and one had to turn back at 5,400m odd due to severe altitude sickness. Most of us suffered some altitude sickness to some extent, but I guess it was all part of the experience. We're all fine now! Pictures will be uploaded onto the website soon.

I'll be off to Moshi tomorrow to start my malaria research.

AUGUST 4, 2009

Email received from Yosuke.

As you may or may not know, I am off to Tanzania tomorrow for just over two months for my elective, which is part of my final year of medical studies. To keep things brief, I will be carrying out malaria research with the Joint Malaria Programme, based at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre in Moshi (Northern Tanzania), aiming to increase awareness and correct usage of a Rapid Diagnostic Test for malaria.I am also leading a charity expedition up Mt. Kilimanjaro (5,896m), consisting of nine colleagues from Churchill College, Cambridge. We are raising money for Village Education Project Kilimanjaro, a local education charity, with whom I had the pleasure of working alongside during my gap year. Some members of the team will be remaining in the area after the climb to volunteer with VEPK. Details regarding the expedition, VEPK, and if you are feeling generous, how to donate, can be found at www.cam-kili.com

JULY 2009

Yosuke Matsumiya (originally Masuda), ex-Head Boy of Caldicott, is now a medical student at King's College, London.

He is climbing Kilimanjaro during the summer to raise money for the Village Education Project.

Much more information is on the event website: http://www.cam-kili.com/. This is from that site:

Yosuke, known as Yoz among his non-Japanese colleagues, is a medical student, currently in his penultimate year of his clinical studies at King's College London having completed his first three years at Churchill College, Cambridge where he was President of the Medical Society and obtained his BA degree. He spent part of his gap year in the Kilimanjaro area, volunteering with Quest Overseas as well as travelling within Southern Africa. He also has much interest in malaria having written a dissertation on the prospects for a vaccine and has spent some time working in the Malaria Lab at Guy's Hospital, London. Yoz will be carrying out clinical research with the Joint Malaria Programme at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre after the expedition as part of his elective programme.

Here he is in 2004: he returned to give the first concert in our newly-openened Centenary Hall.

Here is the Village Education Project website

Caldicott is supporting this by advertising here, and lending two school cameras. Please support this charity if you can, through justgiving.com:

http://www.justgiving.com/cam-kili/