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...