Kampala

Thursday we all squeezed into the van and made a long road trip to Kampala.  Peterson, the injured boda driver with the shattered right femur, had a follow up appointment to check the progress on his leg.  It is mending but, very slowly.  We also had Emma (Gabriels little brother) who required a surgery, that was performed later that day.  He did well and was discharged the next day.  While we were at the international hospital (IHK), we also visited Olivia.  She will be there for an indeterminate time for treatment and surgery for stage 4 decubitus ulcers.  It is a serious condition and might take more than one surgery to correct.  IHK is one of the best hospitals in Uganda and we feel comfortable taking patients to them.

We started the day on the long drive (3 hours to go 45 miles) at about 06:30.  We passed a boda accident that was obviously lethal to the driver.  (there was no ambulance, they just loaded the body into the back of a truck)  We ate breakfast at Java Cafe.  We had a full day taking care of patients and arranging for their hospital care.  That evening, we had a second treat!  Java Cafe again!  (twice in one day is a first for us)  We had an opportunity to meet with Susan and Anthony, pastors at Harvest Mission (a branch church of the one Paul & Pam attend) in Entebbe.  It was a great evening.

It was a longer trip to get back to Jinja.  We arrived home at 11:30.  We were all tired but, it was a good day.

DK

Wednesday we returned to Bugambe Christian Worship Center (David Waisana's church) for a medical clinic.  We saw a quite a number of church and community members.  One patient was a four year old who had a limp and a contractured wrist.  The ja-ja (grandmother) who was with him said that she had found him in a dustbin (dumpster) wrapped in a plastic bag, still attached to the placenta.  Ja-ja took the infant to the LC ( the mayor, more or less) who asked her if she wanted the baby.  So Ja-ja adopted  Phillip, and she was asking what could be done for him.  We fitted him with a wrist brace and sent food home with him. This little boy really got into Chris's (one of the Africans who lives with the Hunters)heart. I told him about our Big Brother's & Sister's program, so it will be interesting to see if he becomes one himself . We had an 11 year old girl who had a very high blood pressure. It was discovered she had kidney problems and hypertension, but could only refer her to a family doctor for following her condition. Then we had a young lady who had a cyst above the right ear, which Dr Klinger drained by aspiration.  We had an excellent interpreter named Hope helping us this day.  She was giving home remedies to mothers to help their children weather colds, this consisted of egg white, fresh orange juice, and honey.

Kakira - Sugar Plantation

January 19th & 20th, Monday and Tuesday we were at the Sugar Plantation, where so many poor workers needed so much care. The smell of molasses and alcohol smell is always in the air and draining through the village in small ditches. There were burn cases, a heal with a hole in it, a deep insect bite. Many people had serious sharp pains in their stomachs when they didn't eat. They have beautiful names like Joy and Peace and Robert. The happiest man that left was an eighty year old man that couldn't see to read. We gave him glasses and a Bible and he started to read it clearly in English and was so happy. Later we learned that he was a retired school superintendent.
We are always reminding them to drink water, my interpreter was talking to a young Mother in Swahili. I thought we need to tell them how important water is to all living things. When he finished I said tell her that just as plants like sugar cane, food and animals need water so do we as humans. His mouth dropped open and he said, "Wow, we must really be in the Spirit, because that is just what I told her." So with the Holy Spirits guidance we are serving the Lord each day with the National people.  Barbara

Saturday morning, the 18th we visited Kwagala Boys Home.  As we came in the gate Moses, one of the street boys now at the home, was laying against the fence and crying.  He had fallen during a soccer game and hurt his wrist.  We checked out the boys and took Moses and Emma to Al Shafa Medical Center for exams and  xrays.  Moses only had a sprained wrist, but Emma may have to have further studies for issues of a personal nature.  We visited with Raoul and Brian, as well as the newlyweds, Malia and Robby, all are involved with Kwagala.  Afterward we went to the site of the future women's clinic and got the tour by Dale and Daurelle Chapman, overseers of clinic.  The perimeter fence is almost complete.  Dale and his wife will be returning home for 2 months, but they hope to break ground on the new building soon after they return. When we got back to the house Don and Byron took apart an old Boxer motorcycle that needed new wheel bearings.  Paul was feeling under the weather this day so he stayed close to home.  After going to bed we were awakened at 2;30 am to help Paul, who was in lots of pain.  We gave him IV fluids and medications, and he was able to get to sleep after a couple of hours.  Dr Klinger stayed up to sit with Paul, then cooked breakfast for the crew.  This was written by Byron.

On Sunday we attended Pastor David Waisana's church, As usual we had a wonderful time worshiping with his congregation. They really love singing & dancing for the Lord. We get a kick out of watching the little kids try to do the same motions as the adults. It's such a blessing to be with so many of the people we are getting to know from our trips. The afternoon was spent just hanging out at the house, after being up part of Saturday night. Hopefully we will get some pictures posted soon. Don Neufeld has been posting some on facebook & so has Paul Hunter.

Friday.........."where the dogs turn around"

     A long hot journey down a bumpy and dusty road brought us to Luwanika, the village where the dogs turn around.  It is then end of the road to "no where" and is home to a large group of Ugandans that eek out a simple existence on the North shore of Lake Victoria.  Two years ago, that village added a serious upgrade, a community latrine.  They have made other improvements since last year like adding thatch and mud to the new school house.  (it was the pole building where we have had clinics the last two times)

     This time, we had clinic outside under a large poly-tarp that tore and collapsed on us before we could even get clinic started.  After a great deal of engineering by the locals, and with the assistance of Don Neufeld's rope stores, they were able to repair it.  We saw many patients that day and treated all of the kids to "ice cream" (frozen flavored ice on a small cone).  Some of the kids had never had anything like it.

     Many patients were seen.  We diagnosed, with rapid testingu a few that had malaria and gave them the appropriate treatment.  One 85 year old lady presented with severe "clubbing" of her fingers and toes.  After an exam and extensive history, it became obvious that she was in end stage pulmonary disease.  She does not have much longer to live and she did not know.  When the severity of her illness was shared with her, a discussion of where she would spend eternity was had.  Paul led this dying lady to Jesus under that torn tarp on the windy North shore of Lake Victoria.  It was a good day.  This blog was by Dr Don. We will try to post pictures & more updates tomorrow.

Medical Team

Hello everyone,

Uganda Team Hope made it safely to Jinja, Uganda once again. Happy to report that all our checked totes made the trip with all the supplies in them. We got to Paul & Pam's about 1;30 am, quickly unloaded everything & went to bed. 2 long days of traveling wears you out.

Today we started going through all our totes to get things in order for our first clinic tomorrow. We also had to go through all the stuff we have left over from past trips. Paul has had some shelves built in the smaller house behind theirs so that we can put supplies on them & find things easier. In the past we have always had to leave everything in the totes & dig through them each time we needed more of a particular item. Once we start going out for clinics it will be much easier to restock, & know if we need to buy more. The team also went & checked on a young guy who had a compound fracture (where bone breaks through the skin) & had to have surgery, to see if he is healing ok.

Tomorrow we will head to Buwaniki (where the dogs turn around) with Pastor Jimmy Kiwanuka, to do our first clinic.