Meet the Trustees

Helen Smith MBE (married to Alan) is the founding chairperson of Kisiizi Partners. She qualified as a doctor in 1980 and specialised in obstetrics and gynaecology. She worked as a junior doctor and then as a Consultant Obstetrician in Berkshire for 29 years. Her interest in health care in developing countries has continued to develop since her first visit to Kisiizi Hospital in 1999, leading to her current job as a Senior Specialist in the Department of International Public Health at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. She is particularly interested in projects which address the problem of maternal mortality and morbidity in developing countries and has travelled to many countries in Africa and Asia to engage in implementation and evaluation of capacity strengthening interventions in maternal health. For many years Helen led teams of junior doctors and midwives on working visits to Kisiizi Hospital.

Alan Smith MBE (married to Helen) has been the secretary of Kisiizi Partners for most of the time since its inception in 2000. He worked as a film editor with the BBC News for 25 years. In the course of his work he travelled extensively, working in many war zones and areas of tribulation. After leaving the BBC he trained as a teacher and taught secondary school science for more than a decade. He is now supposed to be retired. His travels with the BBC served to ignite a concern for people in low and middle income countries, whilst at the same time equipping him with considerable logistical skills. Alan is Kisiizi Partners’ Safeguarding Officer and is also responsible for ensuring that the charity is GDPR compliant. Currently Alan is acting as the UK coordinator for Kisiizi Partners’ Child Sponsorship programme until someone else takes over.

Philip Haynes (not married to another trustee) has been a trustee of Kisiizi Partners since its inception. He is a doctor who spent 12 weeks at Kisiizi as an elective student in 1982 and then returned to work in the hospital between 1985 and 1987 before returning to the UK to work as a GP. He has visited the hospital four times since then. Philip has hosted the annual Kisiizi Friends Day in Reading for the last 30 years.

Katie Mayers (married to Richard) has been a trustee of Kisiizi Partners since 2018. She went to medical school following what she felt as a Christian was a call on her life to work in low income settings, and first visited Kisiizi in 2008 as a medical student after meeting Richard at university. She graduated as a doctor from the University of Leeds in 2012, having also completed a BSc in International Health in 2010 completing research in Tanzania. Katie and Richard (having got married and completed foundation training) worked in Kisiizi for a year from 2014-5 as junior doctors. She is now a paediatric trainee in West Yorkshire following completion of the broad based training scheme. Katie is passionate about supporting the work and people of Kisiizi and uniting Kisiizi’s many friends worldwide. Her time in Kisiizi also sparked an interest in childhood malnutrition, and she has ongoing involvement in developing the malnutrition project.

Richard Mayers (married to Katie) has been a trustee of Kisiizi Partners since 2018. He first visited Kisiizi in 2006 during a gap year prior to university, and it was this visit that sparked his interest in healthcare in developing countries which has developed throughout medical school and his career as a doctor. He graduated as a doctor from the University of Leeds in 2012, having also completed a BSc in International Health in 2010. He is currently working as a Consultant in Acute Internal Medicine in Yorkshire. Richard worked as a doctor in Kisiizi Hospital for 1 year in 2014-15. During this year he came to appreciate the huge potential of Kisiizi both as a place of hope and healing for the local community, and as a place where health workers can be trained to impact healthcare in wider Uganda. He also recognised the invaluable support from friends overseas such as Kisiizi Partners.

Elliot Smith (no relation to the other two Smiths) has been a trustee of Kisiizi Partners since 2020. He first visited Kisiizi Hospital in 2016 with his wife, Marie (a doctor), and became interested in rural healthcare, insurance and technology. He returned to Kisiizi in 2019 for six months, working in the accounts department, health insurance and with the Stre@mline computer system. Since 2024 Elliot has been the charity’s Treasurer, responsible for the monthly accounts, payments and communications with donors. He is passionate about improving the charity’s processes and increasing support for Kisiizi Hospital, taking inspiration from his day job as a project manager with a large international company.