APPRENTICE plumber Thomas Reed of Cardigan has witnessed the desperate plight of women giving birth when he went on a working trip to Uganda.

Thomas, who is an apprentice with Martyn O’Connor at Heatshine Limited, Llangoedmor, spent two weeks in east Africa erecting solar panels on a maternity unit and he said his eyes were opened to the severity of poverty and lack of facilities there.

He said: “It was definitely an eye opener. I was told by a colleague what to expect, but it was crazy. The capital was quite nice, but the further out you travelled, the more mud huts you saw and life was very different and it really puts things into perspective.”

During his stay, which was part of the Cyfle Building Skills Shared Apprenticeship Scheme, Thomas dug for tank bases for a rainwater harvester as well as building more wards in the maternity unit. The old unit only had two birthing rooms.

“It was a massive reality check. People around here complain if they have to wait 10 minutes for an ambulance or half an hour in the doctor’s surgery. Out there, there is only one ambulance for a population of 66,000 people, only one place to give birth and only one doctor. So you can imagine the urgency of having more birthing wards,” said Thomas.

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