Our former CMS link Mission Partner, Toks Akinbadewa
Immanuel and St Andrew's supports the Church Mission Society (CMS), and, from 2001 to 2007, our support focussed on the work of Aimee Tokunbo Akinbadewa who was our CMS link Mission Partner.
Toks - she is generally known by her middle name and is called Toks by her friends - was based at Kagando Hospital near Kasese in south-west Uganda, near the border with Congo. She completed her work there and returned to the UK at the end of January 2007, having been at Kagando since May 2001.
Although Toks is no longer at the hospital we continue to have an interest in the work there as we sent them a gift towards a new generator just before Toks left - see below.
Toks was nurse in charge of the paediatric ward a the hospital, and also taught at the School of Nursing attached to it. You can read more about Toks in her 'Link Letters' - see below. The most recent letter not only told us of her return to the UK but also that she was getting married! After her marriage (in May 2007) she returned to Uganda with her new husband, though not to the hospital.
Toks is the youngest of four children. Being of mixed race (Nigerian/English), she has spent her life between two countries. Toks had most of her education in Nigeria, apart from her nursing training which took place in Bristol. Following her training Toks spent a year with UCCF (Universities and Colleges Christian Fellowship) working with students. She used the opportunity to share her faith and encourage others in their search for faith or walk with Christ.
Toks's desire to nurse and work overseas stemmed from her knowledge and experience of health care and facilities in the developing world. She had a lot of encouragement from her church in Bristol, Bristol Christian Fellowship.
Toks has worked in a variety of paediatric settings and, in preparation for her work in developing countries, she completed a course at the London School of Hygiene and tropical Medicine. She enjoys the company of friends and family as well as cycling, swimming and gardening.
(Map and biographical information provided by CMS.)
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Toks came to see us and tell us more of what she had been doing in March 2007 and, previously, in 2004 when she spent part of the year on home leave in the UK. She showed us some photos of Uganda, the hospital and her work there, some of which you can see here on the website.
Financial Support
Immanuel and St Andrew's supported the work financially, both from the general funds of the parish and with special collections from time to time. We gave through CMS and, more recently, were able to give some direct financial support to the hospital. In 2004 our Junior Church held a 'sponsored silence' to raise funds - you can read about what happened and see some photos in our special June 2006 News page.
In early 2006, we sent a substantial gift to the hospital from our 2005 Gift Day so that they could buy a new theatre trolley for the maternity ward. They had great difficulty getting hold of one, but, in the last weeks of January 2007, just before Toks was due to leave, they managed it. Toks described it as 'a dream trolley..... It does all we wanted it to do and more.'! There are some photographs of the trolley below. Toks said the people on the ward were absolutely delighted and spoke of nothing else. She tells us that many prayers were being said for us and many thanks for making life more comfortable for the patients and making taking patients to and from theatre less of a burden for staff. So was is great news, a fitting end to Toks’s time there, for which we praise God.
Left - A midwife wheels patient on the trolley. Right - a group of other mothers look on admiringly.
Photos © Copyright Toks Akinbadewa
More smiles - and they can even get the trolley level with the bed!
Photos © Copyright Toks Akinbadewa
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But that’s not quite the end of our support for the hospital, because we collected another £1600 for the hospital at our Gift Day in November 2006 and we felt that, as that is what it was collected for, it should still go there even though Toks was leaving. And Toks told us that the hospital’s next great need is for a new generator to provide their electricity supply – the present one is quite old and has been giving trouble! So our gift has gone, and although Toks is not there we can keep in touch with the hospital to find out what happens. Canon Benson Baguma, the hospital director, has already acknowledged it and says:
Greetings from Kagando Hospital in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I am writing to thank you and the members of your church for the support towards our work at Kagando. We are really grateful and God bless you.
Toks has left and we shall be missing her. We owe her our gratitude for the excellent work done and do believe that she will be a blessing to her new husband and whereever the Lord will call her.
It is true we have a great need for a generator to help us run equipment that facilitates our work when our hydro power fails. This happens in the dry season when water levels at our
dam go low...... Pray with us to raise [the necessary money] so that the blessings we have received from you and other partners - like oxygen concentrators, autoclaves etc - can be functional even when power goes off.
I do promise to send you the photograph when it is bought as an accountability for the contributions you make.
Greetings to all at Immanuel and St. Andrew's Church.
Rev. Canon Benson Baguma.
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Toks's Link Letters
Toks sent out 'link letters' from time to time to tell us how she was getting on. You can read or print these out by clicking on the links below. You can also read (or print) the 'personal profile' she gave out when she came to see us in 2004 and on which some of the information on this page is based.
These links will take you to Toks's link letters:
February 2007
Extra link letter, December 2006 (Word format)
September 2006
May 2006
February 2006
November 2005
June 2005
February 2005
October 2004
April 2004
December 2003
July 2003
and these take you to Toks's special letters for children:
February 2007
September 2006
May 2006
February 2006
November 2005
June 2005
February 2005
October 2004
April 2004
December 2003
July 2003.
(Link letters kindly provided by CMS and © Copyright CMS.)
To read the link letters and profile (except the December 2006 letter) you will need Adobe Acrobat reader installed. If you haven't got it click the Acrobat reader icon on the left of the page to visit Adobe's website and download and install a copy.
To read the December 2006 link letter - sent out direct from Toks by e-mail - you will need Word or a compatible word processor installed. If you do not have Word or a compatible word processor click on the words "Word viewer" to visit Microsoft's website where you can obtain a free viewer program which you can install to enable you to view and print Word documents.
For further information about the work of CMS visit the CMS website (www.cms-uk.org) or write to Church Mission Society, Watlington Road, Oxford, OX4 6BZ Tel: 0845 620 1799. CMS is a registered charity, no. 220297.
Kagando Hospital is not only supported by CMS - there is, for example, a 'friends' organisation - the Kagando Mission Hospital Foundation - for supporters in the USA. You can learn more about Kagando and the surrounding community by visiting their website, www.kagando.org.
Links to the main pages are at the TOP of the page.
Page last updated 03 August 2007.
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Page design by David Gray 2003
© Copyright David Gray and PCC of Immanuel and
St. Andrew Streatham 2003. Photographs copyright David Gray 2002-6 except where otherwise stated.
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