Me with some of the village children in Zambia (a small village)
Lauren and Soloman squatting
Ronald
All of the girls at Murchiason Rapids
Macomma Aquaway Omexa (May God Bless You)
Today marks the fourth week that our team has been in
Uganda. Its crazy to think about all that has transpired between when I left
U.S. soil and now! This journey has been filled with joys and sorrows, but
through everything God has been so good. This week our team was blessed with
the opportunity to visit Gulu (a city in Northern Uganda.) While we were there,
we did outreach clinics for the children in the small rural villages where
nationals normally have no access to quality care. Unfortunately there is only
one small rehabilitation for children in Gulu and most locals do not know about
it. Children in Gulu (and the surrounding villages) are sometimes hidden away
or locked up in cages because disability is viewed as a curse and families are
shamed to be seen with these children.
Two
employees at the center, Sam and Steven, make the trek to Gulu once a month.
After experiencing Gulu, I’m not sure how they do it. Gulu is a grueling 8 hour
drive from Mukono. What makes the drive grueling are the horrible road
conditions and the traffic. Most roads are not paved, and if they are paved
they are full of potholes and speed bumps. After arriving in Gulu (with sore
butts and headaches), the trek to each small village was about 2 hours (one
way). We spent Wednesday and Thursday in the hot sun ushering disabled children
into lines to be seen by the physiotherapist. I had a bad attitude about it the
first day because I felt like nothing that I was doing was really making a difference,
but the Lord opened my eyes on Thursday in a small village called Otwal.
After
patients had waited in the hot sun for several hours, we could tell that they
were tired and uncomfortable. Some of our team members decided to start singing
Sunday School songs to try to entertain and minister to the people. The people
loved it! The nurse translated the song lyrics and the people began to sing
along and follow our hand motions. The nurse, Susan, told me later that one
sick pregnant women had told her that watching us has helped her to forget her
pain for a few hours. The trip was definitely stretching (especially with ice
cold showers in a sketchy hotel and being woken up to Muslim chants at 6AM),
but God showed us His sovereignty through it all. I never realized how unfair
the playing field is for quality healthcare. I thank God for people like Sam
and Stephen that go to those in remote areas to offer services that would not
otherwise be available.
We
headed back to ACHERU on Friday. As a tourist adventure, our group went to
Murchiason National Park. After four hours of driving around lost, we finally
made it to the top of the waterfall exhausted. Unfortunately, we only saw
rapids because we were too far up stream, but even the view of the white water
was breathtaking.. Time constraints forced us to continue heading to Mukono.
Luckily, the park was filled with wildlife including antelopes, water buffalos,
warthogs, and giraffes. Unluckily, the park was also full of man-eating flies…ok slight exaggeration…
the flies did deliver some spiteful bites, but no fatalities occurred. By the
end of the trip Ethan was offering a 5000 shilling bounty to anyone who killed
a fly.
Okello
Who knew that one three year old could invoke so much
mischief? Once after Lauren and I spent a half an hour cleaning crayon off of a
white wall, Okello appeared 5 minutes later with a red crayon of destruction.
After he marked up the wall happily, I wanted to strangle him. The
physiotherapist has learned how to say “I will beat you” in Okello’s native
language because of how much trouble he causes. The problem is that you can’t be upset because he has a
smile that melts any jagged heart and a laugh so joyful its impossible not to
smile. There is a layer of sweetness and warmth under the ornery façade of
Okello.
Okello
is a victim of Osteomyelis like many patients here. Although I’m unsure of all
the medical specifics, Osteomyelis basically describes a condition where the
bones rot inside of the child. This is caused by a bone infection brought on by
malnutrition and a host of other factors. Okellos arm rotted on the inside and
therefore his arm is deformed. He
is awaiting surgery at Corsu in Kampala. He will be unable to be operated on
until October. Please continue to pray for him and his family.
Heres another good word from the Live Dead Journal.
"In the mid-1800s, a ship took two missionaries to the New Hebrides, present-day Vanuatu. The missionaries went ashore and while the crew of the boat watched, the missionaries were captured by cannibals and eaten. Twelve years later in England, Patton felt the call of God to take the gospel to the New Hebrides. An elderly gentleman in the church--I believe his name was Dixon--rebuked him: 'You can't go to the New Hebrides. You'll be eaten by cannibals!'
Patton replied: 'Mr. Dixon, your own prospect is soon to be laid in the grave, there to be eaten by worms. What does it matter then if you are eaten by worms and I by cannibals? For in the day of resurrection, mine will be much more glorious." Live Dead Journal, Dick Brogden, pg. 83