Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Learning Electronics .... not my calling!

HI again,

Since the container of equipment and supplies were shipped last year and the xray and processor set up successfully by the Grace Bible team, there have been some new developments. The processor worked great until a few months ago when the dryer assembly roller end broke some spikes of and no longer turned properly to expel the film. Prior to that it worked great! They were very happy to have an automated processor rather than hand dipping the film. They are back to hand dipping the film!
Also they are out of developer and fixer chemical Jeff sent and are unable to find the same kind here in Africa. Also, they could not find the manuel for the xray machine, so fiddled with it and now have apparently disconnected it from the power source. So, after getting some information from them...sending a "Help" message to the Grace Bible team, with Jeff so kindly responding...giving me further instructions and questions to ask for more information, we are slowly figuring out some solutions to the problems! I even looked through the manuel and sorted the entire tub of extra supplies for parts. There were more rollers but not the right ones...so plan B was to take a picture and send it to Jeff to see if a part can be found. We have found a potential solution for the chemical. As far as the volts, amps..etc..it is all greek to me..so I just relay it to Jeff...and he tells me the power is there...so they will have to figure out what they disconnected with the xray and fix it themselves! There other xray is now working however so they are not without! Seems that is how it is here. They have about 4 different ways to take xrays and pray one of them works on any given day..imagine that?!
On a bright note..the ultrasound is working beautifully! Dr. Hinshaw is using it a lot and also Dr. Patient and the Japanese surgeons! It was the fuse on the converter that blew and was easily reparable...whew! The colposcope donated by my sisters company Welch Allyn, was a demo so quite new and is working beautifully!
Dr. Hinshaw set it up and is teaching on it and using it well! They are so grateful! Sr. Vincentina tells me story after story of women coming in with advanced cervical cancer and dying, leaving many orphanged children. This is a huge blessing! Thanks Sue and Welch Allyn! We are so grateful they moved the earth, really to get it to me in time to take over while Dr. Hinshaw would be there to set it up and teach!

Well, I better go..am in Kitgum which has much better internet service! However the morning is going by and I must get on the road back to Kalongo! We had a great outreach in Awal camp yesterday, not without mishap and adventure of course...will need to relay this in another blog! We also visited a very poor school with Ashley near Kalongo a couple days back...there are so many ideas for community health education and needs as well..so Dr. Patient, I and the nursing school are putting our heads together to figure out a way to get the teaching and knowledge to the people at the community level. As, Dr Patient says...when the 3 year contract for the surgeons is over, it is over, the surgical service they provided would have helped some people while here, will be gone after they leave, and the community will be the same. Prevention is the key! Which goes back to our Post War Recovery Model! Now just need a grant, time and a lot of prayer! The need is so great and we have the ability to train and teach...need the resources to do it with. Wipolo is a great example, and the farm as to how successful even a small amount of knowledge can make a huge difference in prevention of illness and death.

Thanks everyone again for following along and for the prayers. They are sustaining me and our team. I feel very strong this year as far as my energy and ability to do all of the work and travel required without tiring easily. God is good!

Nadine

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Wipollo Bears Fruit

Hello all,

I am backtracking to Saturday....when we went to Wipollo village to visit the family of Sr Mary Rose. This area is about 45 minutes from Kalongo and is probably 16 km. The roads are so bad it is slow slow going! Terry and I visited a few years back when everyone was still in the Paimol IDP camp. It is refreshing to see people are moving back to their own land and trying their best to start over and begin again with re-newed hope for their future and faith in God. The needs are great, yet they presevere! A couple years ago AIDSpirit bought the oxen, cow and plow to begin farming and this has helped with some income generation for sure...and the family shares with the Wipolo village of about 100 families. Last year we trained Paula in village healthcare worker training and in gardening. Vinturnio, Sr. Mary Rose brother learned some farming and bio sand construction as well as atteded the village lectures on hygiene, sanitation etc. One of the older daughters has since been admitted to the St. Bakhita vocational school for tailoring, another older son is in carpentry training. Vinturino has great ideas for income generation with rowing ongions this year and wants t start a small barber and phone charging business. Their youngest daughter, baby Rose..Mary Rose Atuu named after Sister,has sickle cell...so I am very involved with her and educating the family. We arrived for an unannounced visit which was nice as it is easier to assess when less of the villagers are around. Of curse, culture and tradition is ingrained in them and they made a meal we shared with fellowship and prayers and sharing about our families, etc. It was very nice! Through the discussion, Sr. vincentina relayed the epideic of the Yellow Fever outbreak in Kalongo district. 14 people died in the hospital and many people became sick. Since there has been a mass immunization effort. The village next to Wipolo had one of the highest incidences of the outbreak and should have spread to Wipolo. Hoever, with the training and knowledge they have recieved last year....Paula and Vinturino went to all of the homes in the village and instructed them on how to make latrines and on good handwashing. All but 4 households made latrines and started using them! As a result there were no incidences of yellow fever!! Thank God! Sr. Dr. Vincentina was amazed! This is music to my ears and makes every hardship and struggle to impart knowledge in these remote rural areas well worth it and encourages me to keep on! We also found some mistakes they were making with the treatmen of malaria for baby rose and the need for her health in prevention of her sickle cell crisis' she has been having so it was a great visit! They have even started building me a hut! Ha! Me who is so nervous of eating the village food! We plan another visit with the AIDSpirit team when they come as well. More to come...including my adventures trying to be the "electronics person" for the xray! Ha! I miss you guys!

Thanks for the prayers! Love Nadine

Monday, February 7, 2011

Baby dies, Mother struggled in Childbirth

This is Nadine again...

The last post was from Ashley but I think it was cut off...will see if she can try again and finish.

I am writing to report for Dr. Hinshaw. He has been very busy in the hospital, delivering babies, doing c-sections, D $ C's etc. The ultrasound works great! Thank you! He was also able to set up and teach the colposcope and it works great too! He has trained Sr. Vincentina and will train the others. He is working with an intern also...Dr. Charles. I think it has been a bit of adjustment in the "theatre" operating room without anesthesia and they have been using ketamine.

The other night a mother arrived after pushing unsuccessfully at home for many hours with a village midwife. Upon arrival she was fully dilated with feet coming through wrapped up in the umbilical cord and head stuck. Dr. Hinshaw and Dr. Patient took her to the "theatre" and did a c-section emergently. The babies heartrate was low but after taking out the heartrate came back up, baby was suctioned, given dextrose IV. The only oxygen available was by Nasal cannula with a mask to go over. This was new to Dr. Hinshaw. The baby was retracting but stabilized on the oxygen, was transferred to the "special care unit". When Dr. Hinshaw did rounds in the am, he found the baby had died in the night. It was hard...and easy to second guess..."what if there was a ventilator here? What if they had ET tubes available?" And of course..."What if the mother had come in earlier and not depeneded on an untrained midwife?" God only knows...? This child was the mother's 8th baby. She is being treated for a uterine infection due to the ruptured membranes and prolonged delivery and doing well.

Meanwhile, Leigh, Ashley, Jackson, Bosco and I went out to Wipolo village, Sr. Mary Rose's family home, and had a wonderful time. Stay tuned...more later.

Nadine

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Wipllo

When we arrived in Entebbe late on the 26th you could already hear and feel the energy of Uganda. There was no doubt we had just arrived in Africa w/ the warm air and the welcoming chants of the women dancing out side. The people here are so beautiful and full of life which has been very refreshing enviroment to be absorbed into. They are so positive and thankful for everything that they have and their families units seem so strong form an outside point of view. Which sadly in the US seems at times to be almost none existant. But, I have been working with a wide array of the public in an urban setting so maybe I have just seen too much at home lately. The most eye opening thing I noticed in Uganda is the lack of water. You see it on tv, hear it on news, see products in the US that donate money to the cause and hear of even celeberties promotion the cause. But, actually seeing how many people live in these villages with not only enough water for washing and cleaning but, nothing clean to drink in this heat amazes me that their population is as high as it is. The only thing I missed from home here in the first week was my shower but, now I miss my washing machine possibly more than I did for the 3 years I didn't have one at home in undergrad and I feel guilty for that knowing all thes millions of people have never seen one.

Apwoyo!!

Apwoyo!! That is 'greetings' in Acholi, the local dialect that is spoken in Northern Uganda. I can't believe I have been here for over two weeks, and it is nearly time for me to head back across the ocean. It has been a fantastic trip, and so great to reunite with old friends and meet new ones. There are so many highlights, I don't know where to begin.

The Farm looks fantastic, with all kinds of new buildings going up, including the Clinic, the Vocational School, a teachers quarters, and many new tukels for all the help that is part of the Farm community. We christened the Clinic building with a small medical treatment day. Only about a hundred people showed up. It was supposed to be primarily pregnant women and small children, but you know how that goes, so we worked until it was too dark to see the medications. It has inspired us to strive for solar panels so we can see in the evenings!! All in all, it was great to be working in the space of the new clinic!! So many more works days to come in the future.

The seven women from the Village Healthcare Training are doing fantastic. Alice, Christine, Pauline, Evelyn, Katie, Paula, and Jennifer arrived once again with work bags in hand, ready for more learning!! Brenda, we missed you, it was not the same!!! Richard helped me translate, and everything we reviewed they had in their memory!! Last year Jennifer was pregnant during our sessions. She had twins in the spring, two girls and they named them Brenda and Leigh!!! What an honor!! They almost did not survive as Evelyn was there and had to perform CPR on both babies. The story was unbelievable!!

As I said there are so many stories, I can only tell a few. However, I must share the adventure of Murchison Park. Another highlight because we got to see the lions!! Two cubs that were resting under a tree while there mother was off hunting. It made us a little late to meet Str. Vincentina(I was afraid I might be in trouble), but was so exciting for Ashley, Jim and myself!! Everything worked out fine in the end. We also spent a night at the Red Chili inside the park, and took a boat ride to the bottom of the falls. From the boat we got up close to the elephants, the crocodiles and tons and tons of hippos!! From the advise of Suzan we also got out at the falls and hiked to the top. Bosco accompanied us, and showed us all the places he had worked in the Park. Everywhere we went he knew people. We felt very safe!!

Finally, I want to share our arrival to Kolongo. Str. Vincentina and the whole community have been so gracious. Immediately they put Jim to work, while Nadine, Ashley and I have been visiting with the nursing students and planning our trip to Wipolo. This morning we hiked the big hill behind the hospital. We were up at 5 am and were accompanied by Bosco, Jackson and Lucy one of the students! We saw the sun rise and it was very beautiful. That should be all for now. Alex, a friend here has joined me for a conversation so I had better go. Apwoyo to everybody!! I hope you are all well and staying warm!! Leigh

Thursday, February 3, 2011

Onward to Kitgum

2/1/2011

It is time for me to move on to Kitgum and assess the Northern Uganda Orphanages Hope 2 One Life supports with quarterly funding for medical care. Far Reaching Ministries has graciously accepted the responsibility of our funding through the help of their missionary in Kitgum who then sends reports back and reciepts. They have downsized their ministry in Uganda and are concentrating more in Sudan, therefore have asked I find another way to send the funding and coordinate the care. One of the orphanages, Tender Trust, is run by a New Zealander, Lois Ford. I have met her some years back and have good communication with her as well. She was leaving for her furlough and rest back to New Zealand the morning of Feb 2nd, therefore I needed to get up to Kitgum before she left. Leigh and the Hinshaws remained on the farm to finish up the last of the teachings and get the next jewelry/craft income generating project going. Then they were on to the game park at Murchison Falls. We will meet up in Kalongo on the 3rd. Dont worry, Sr. Vincentina is picking them up in Gulu and escorting them all the way to Kalongo...safely!

I, on the other hand, decided to take the bus to Kitgum as it is a lot cheaper! Jackson graciously volunteered to escort and help me as I was carrying 4 tubs of supplies and medicines with me. Originally, I was told the bus left at 7am..but that was probably a matatu that would stop many places along the way and then have to change in gulu. Suzan recommended the direct bus to Kitgum that comes by Kikumba around 11 am or so. At 9:30 am, I left the farm after hurriedly packing,to wait for the bus. Suzan had called letting them know I was expected so they could save me a seat. Well, the bus was delayed, no surprise. We ran into Gilbert who works with Connect Africa in Kikumba (our connection and consultants with bio sand filters). They are coordinating a rain water collection system for the roof of the tailoring building being built via Far Reaching Ministries donation. Therefore, I thought it good to do a little business while waiting and discuss our ideas for the clinic rain water collection system we plan on having. All went well and another person from Connect Africa also came over to chat. They are going to draw up plans and a budget! Yeah!

Well, the bus was even later..I decided to wait by the side of the road. It finally came and there was no room for me! Now, I was forced to take one of the other buses. So Jackson got us on a bus to Gulu. We made it to Gulu fine and then could not find a bus to Kitgum. Finally, a small coaster was going to Kitgum but they did not have ability to carry luggage! I ended up paying for the whole back seat of the bus to put the 2 tubs, me and Jackson. This was also after they informed me they were going to squeeze another person back with us because usually the back sits 5 people even though there was only 4 seats! Ha! So I paid for 5 seats! Still it was about $25 and worth it to me to get to Kitgum. We waited and waited in Gulu in the blistering sun and finally left. On the dirt Kitgum road...all of a sudden something flew off the front of the baby coaster..then a large panel above the driver fell open! They stopped the bus and went back to look for the part. This all took about another hour in the blistering sun! Finally, just as it was getting dark I pulled into Kitgum. Lois met me at the bus station. We talked briefly about the arrangements she could assume for the medical care and coordination and talked about other needs. I stayed with Summer and Zane McCourtney and family..who I know well from CC Entebbe. I stayed with them each year in Entebbe as well. They have 2 children with sickle cell, so we have become good friends.

After a restful night of sleep, the following day began with visiting the Kitgum Infant Care Center (KIOCC). A lot of new changes for the better have occurred. They now have 10 infants 2 and under and 2 mamas to care or them. A new manager also who is very organized! I was impressed with their log of the medical care and inventory! I saw a few of the sick children and taught a few signs to look for in the childen. Also, needed to get Rabunga Kenny, the HIV child we have followed since 2006 and also caregiver, Michael back in school. Next, I went to Northern Uganda Community Based Action for Children with Disabilities (NUCBACD), the deaf and blind school, and met with Sr. Teddy. There was some confusion about the medical care there which was clarified when I met with the doctor who is going out weekly to both sites. Overall, I am very encouraged and feel the medical support for these vulnerable children can continue! Hallelujah!

Needless to say, I was going to go back to the farm, to meet FRM, and then go to Kalongo the next day, however after the first bus experience, I decided to take the easier way of travelling direct to Kalongo..on the back road of course!

Leigh and the Hinshaws had an experience of their own, however were just fine. Sister picked them up in Gulu, they had lunch with her family late and just arrived Kalongo very safe, just as the sun was going down. I insisted she be sure they don't drive in the dark! Although, Sr. V can talk her way through any situation as she managed all through the war. There were no worries! All is well! We will be seeing the hospital tomorrow and keep you informed!

Thanks for the prayers! We are very blessed!

Nadine

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

1000 Cups...

Jan 31, 2011

Hi again...catching up on news from a few days ago when I did not have internet access!

Monday, the day after the clinic...we did a follow up outreach at Katamarwa Primary School. This is the school all of the kids on the farm go to and those of neighboring Rakayata Village and Kampala village. A total of 957 kids! This is the school where the love covers outeach, VBS and Love Pack distribution took place with partners Far Reaching Ministries and Calvary Chapel Billings. As you may recall, I was not able to go as planned as Kenny was in the hospital with a serious sickle cell crisis. The outreach was fantastic and pictures great!

Since we had the 1000 soaps and toothbrushes to go with the packs...we decided to do a follow up with hygiene/sanitation and handwashing. Leigh and I had also talked with Tex last year about school benefitting from bio sand water filters, and learning better when well hydrated. Most children do not eat breakfast or drink water before coming to school. Many do not even get lunch or drink water throughout the day..so no wonder they have headaches and have trouble concentrating! So we also introduced the bio sand water filters to the school! And will be implementing 2 at first with the goal once they are successfully learning and using it we will implement one for each of the 7 classrooms. It was suggested the kids could share cups for drinking the water. Right away...I thought..they should each have there own cups! It is not healthy to share drinking cups and we teach not to do this. So, one of the stops in Kampala was at Nice House of Plastics, the same place we bought the clean water Jerry cans for the bio sand filters last year. At first they said they were out of inventory and to come back next week. I was..oh no..we are doing the outreach on monday in masindi...could they be ready early am. Finally, a very nice woman...must be the manager, said" Give to them" So we piled 1000 brighly colored green, blue, and red plastic cups on the roof of our van (along with other items) and away we went...north the the farm in Masindi! And they didn't fall off! Mostly because we added a tarp and some rope partly enroute! Ha

We were so excited for the first day of school to do the outreach! It was also a chance for the village healthcare workers to teach in public. Pastor OJ began with John 4:9 and telling the story of the woman at the well. Following, ladies began with the diarrhea, worm, intestinal illness transmission story..with the animals pigs around the compound, playing with children and mothers cooking all contaminated with feces. Then the whole family gets sick! This was all with pictorials! It was great! Then I quizzed them and summarized about prevention of illness. Ashley went through when to wash their hands..before...and after...eating, using the toilet, cooking etc. Dr. Jim utilized kids from the audience and gave a great analogy of the older kids looking after the younger kids when encountering danger of motor bikes, cobras etc...same..should look after them washing their hands as diseases are a killer! It was fantastic! Leigh went on to cover the importance of clean water and hydration. Following the Uganda bio-sand technicians we trained taught about the bio sand water filters. They will follow the school, install the filters and tippy tap and report the progress. It was fun and we hope impactful. During the outreach, the kids sitting in from were noticed to be eating paper and leaves...they were so hungry! Another thing to tackle!

When we returned to the farm, there was a surprise visit from Wes, Vicky and crew from Far Reaching Ministries! They were on there way to Kampala and wanted to see baby Abigail! Suzan and Richard's one month old baby...she is so so cute and the best dressed baby in Africa! They thank everyone for the gifts!

Sr. Mary Rose's family from Wipolo had also previously joined us on the farm for continued training and also for me to check on Baby Rose who has sickle cell..she was recently hospitalized and had a transfusion. Thankfully was doing well and eating well and drinking water now. Also, one of their son's had a hyrdocele problem that was operated on and became infected..so Dr. Jim saw him and some more OB patients in the afternoon.

Overall, it was a very blessed and fruitful day! We are grateful!

Next post will include my travel to Kitgum...ugh..another adventure on the bus! Leigh and the Hinshaws are off to the game park and will meet Sr. Vincentina in Gulu for transport and escort to Kalongo. I will meet them in Kalongo after I assess the new medical program in Kitgum. Stay tuned...

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Emmanuel clinic is innagurated!

With the foundation complete, the walls up...the rooms divided...the roof on...Emmanuel clinic is shaping into a usable space and we held our first clinic! There are no doors or windows and the floor is still dirt and the ceiling rafters. However, in the brick shell, Dr, Hinshaw saw OB patients and even found a breech! I saw the others and Leigh did the pharmacy. We saw about 100 people in an afternoon. Dr. Hinshaw saw more the next day. He and Leigh had done a lot of community teaching before I arrived. It was great! Ashley helped us in the clinic and kept us well hydrated! One of the families..was Jennifer's one of our village healthcare workers who was pregnant last year..and was having a tough time with leg swelling. Well, she had twins and delivered on the farm! And guess who the twins are named after? Brenda and Leigh!! They brought me the 4 year old child who is very sick..had medical records showing hemoglobin of 4..so I wonder if the child has sickle cell? Mom, Brenda and Leigh are very anemic so put them on vitamins and iron...and talked with dad about family planning! All is well...tomorrow is the school outreach..stay tuned!