Four men from Tullamore recently took part in a large 30-person expedition, during which 15 vehicles, donated by the Japanese government, were delivered to Kampala, Uganda.

The fundraising initiative “Drive for Hospice Africa”, connected to this trip and organized by Tom Doyle, originally from Tullamore, and John O’Kelly from Carlow, also raised more than €114,000 for Hospice Africa Uganda (HAU) as of Tuesday, January 14.

During the recent trip to Uganda, three other men from Tullamore joined Tom, founder of the Promise Gluten Free Bakery Group. They included Kieran Walsh, owner of Simpli Bakery; Luke Carberry, a Screggan native and retired from Palfinger; and Alan Waters, originally from Dublin but whose parents come from Tullamore. All took part in delivering the convoy of emergency service vehicles.

In total, five fire trucks and ten ambulances were shipped from Japan to Tanzania, and the group of Irish volunteers drove the remainder of the journey from Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to Kampala, Uganda.

Speaking about the fundraising, Tom said: “It’s a huge amount for them, and it is actually the largest donation ever made to Hospice Africa Uganda.”

“They can provide morphine to a patient for €25 per month, employ a full-time nurse for between €3,500 and €4,000 per year, and train nurses in palliative care. A donation of this scale will make an enormous difference.”

The group embarked on this journey in memory of a deceased friend, Irish pilot Ambrose Blaine, who lost his life in a motorcycle accident in Mexico in November 2021.

“We were a small group traveling together, and Ambrose kept us in touch. He loved adventure,” said Tom.

“He frequently traveled to Uganda, and on one of his trips, he discovered Hospice Africa Uganda. About five years ago, he took all of us to Uganda to visit the hospice. After his death, we decided to do something in his memory.”

The group of friends had previously made a similar trip to deliver vehicles to HAU on behalf of the Japanese government.

Tom explained: “One of our friends lives in Japan and works with the Japanese government to help them choose where to make donations. The first time, we drove vehicles from Mombasa, Kenya, to Uganda.”

This time, Tom added: “The roads were extremely bad in some areas, and sometimes we could only go 15 km/h. We arrived in Tanzania on New Year’s Day, and we reached Uganda on Friday, January 10, where we met everyone at Hospice Africa, including the founder, Anne Merriman.”

Hospice Africa Uganda was founded by Professor Anne Merriman in 1993 after she discovered that terminally ill patients in Uganda had absolutely no access to palliative care. Professor Merriman focused her work on providing affordable oral morphine to people across Africa and was recognized for her remarkable work when she was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014.

Today, Hospice Africa Uganda provides palliative care to around 2,000 people each year. “Before this, if you were terminally ill in Africa, you would die in pain. The government in Africa does not provide palliative care,” noted Tom, highlighting how Professor Merriman’s work has transformed countless lives across the continent.

Donations for the “Drive for Hospice Africa” fundraiser remain open until March 10. To donate, visit: https://www.idonate.ie/fundraiser/11552806, or search for “Drive for Hospice Africa” on iDonate.