Teaching Mechanics to save lives

Phil demonstrating the Bicycle Ambulance, a low-tech answer to a very real problem. These ingenious devices enable trained medical personnel to go out to the more remote villages where access to medical facilities are often very basic or lacking. Click here for some more photographs of the bicycle ambulance in action.

On my first visit to Uganda I quickly noticed that Ugandan vehicles are different from the British vehicles. They are mainly Japanese, with a lot of four wheel drive vehicles, for use on the non-existent or poorly maintained roads. I noticed it was obligatory to have a cracked or broken windscreen and at least one bald or nearly bald tyre. Rear doors on some vehicles are tied up with string and sticky tape!

The most disturbing thing I found is that most, if not all, of the faults above are found in passenger carrying vehicles (Scary stuff). M.O.T testing on vehicles appears non-existent, except after the vehicle has been involved in an accident. Rather like locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. Anyway, unperturbed I went and had a look at the testing centre. It consisted of 2 pits under a large barn like structure and that’s all there is. They test the brakes by driving at great speed and applying them hard, then they check in the red dust to see if each wheel has left a skid mark; if it has done then the brakes must be O.K. The only jack they had went missing, presumably sold, so they now have no means of jacking up the vehicles to check such things as bearings and play in suspension but hey! who cares when a good shake on the wheels will do!