Meet Ishmael

I met Ishmael through some friends of ours here in Jinja.  Cody and Drew called shortly after lunch one day and asked if I would look at a little boy's foot from the village.  They brought Ishmael over to our house for me to look at his injury. When he arrived I found a happy, sweet, smiling little boy with a gruesome injury to his foot.  We have been here for almost 10 months and I am still amazed and the toughness and resolve of the people here, especially the children.  Ishmael showed no pain as I cleaned the wound to his foot and heel.  The wound covered half the side of his foot and heel, it looked like someone had taken a knife and cut half of his heel away.   His whole foot was terribly swollen from the injury. From what we could understand he was in some sort of accident involving a bicycle.

Cody and Drew found Ishmael in the village by chance one day.  They had gone to the village to play futbol with some of the kids and they found Ishmael crawling in the dirt.   His foot was so badly injured that he could not walk so he was crawling around like a baby. Once we got him cleaned up and started on some antibiotics to fight off the infection he set off back to the village.  

On Saturday we went out to the village to check on his progress and to change the dressings.  As always when we arrived in the village the children greeted us with huge smiles as they ran up to the van.  Pierce went with me this time.  He had gotten himself dressed and had Auntie Apio put on his sandals and met me at the door saying "Daddy I go with you." How was a going to refuse him after that? We found Ishmael after a short walk into the village.  He was hopping around on his good foot with a huge smile on his face.  Some of the ladies brought out a grass mat and put in the shade for us to work on his foot.  His injury still looked gruesome, but at least this time is was clean and the swelling had gone down.  We were able to put on more antibiotic ointment and change his dressings.  We are planning on going back on Monday to check on his progress.  Before we left we got to meet his mother, she greeted us in the traditional way in the village by kneeling down on both knees and shaking our hand.  She was so very grateful for the help and kept saying "thank you, thank you" over and over again.  I was able to share with them that while I have bandages and some medicine, that God is the ultimate Healer and that it is through Him they will truly be "healed."

While I was treating Ishmael's injury, Pierce was playing with some of the kids in the village.  I turned around and found him with a goat saying "Daddy I walking goat."  Pierce seems to be a hit whenever we go into the village.  They love the  little blond haired, blued eyed Mzungu.

Pierce catching a ride out of the village

I know for that every Ishmael we treat there are 10 more in the village that we never find that need help.  Hopefully we can make a difference one life at a time.

I have included a link for some of the more graphic images for those who are interested in seeing the extent the injury.

http://www.healingfaithuganda.org/stories-from-uganda-2/images-from-africa/

Love is patient, love is kind

“Love is patient love is kind.”  You hear this at almost every wedding you attend, but today God kept tapping me on the shoulder and reminding me of this verse. “Love is patient, love is kind”…… but as a person am I  these things?

It is ironic that God was using I Cor 13:4 today on my heart because this was the verse we introduced to the kids last month for their “Keys to the Kingdom.”  He reminded me that while I am teaching the kids, He is still teaching me and that after all He is the ultimate teacher.  Boy does He have a lot of teaching to do in me still.  The last couple of days I have been struggling with my patience.  I know none of you have this issue, but at least hear me out.

One part of the culture I do not think I will ever get used to is timeliness or lack there of.  You can schedule a meeting with someone but that is just a general suggestion, not something anyone seems to take seriously.  On Tuesday we scheduled to go out to the Kagoma Gate Village at 9:00amwith the village team from Welcome Home.  However, when we arrived at 9:00 only one person was ready to go, the rest were still milling around inside.  When I asked if they were ready to go the overwhelming answer was “no, why would we be ready, are we going now?”   I was then asked if I would be providing juice and bread since they would miss tea at 10:00.  By this time it was already 9:30, so I agreed to come back at 10:00 to pick up everyone after they had taken tea. I ran a couple of errands in town and may or may not have had an incident with a Boda boda driver, but that is a story for another time. I did however end my “conversation” with the boda driver and his not so friendly passenger by spreading the word.  I sent them away with a simple reminder “Jesus loves you”….see love is patient, love is kind.   When we arrived back at10:00 to pick up the village team it still took about 10 minutes to get everyone rounded up and on the road. Love it patient love is kind; I kept repeating this to myself over and over albeit through gritted teeth, repeating it nonetheless.

When we finally arrived in the Kagoma Gate Village I was instantly reminded by all the smiling faces of the children why we make this trip.  Once we started treating the injuries and medical conditions I forgot all about my frustrations from the morning fiasco.  We were able to confirm 4 cases of children with malaria and get them started on medication.  I am excited about the work we are doing in theKagomaGateVillage, I will highlight this village in an upcoming post.

An exciting thing happened while we were in town after our adventuresome morning. Every time we were in town we would see a teenage boy names Asan, everyday he was begging for food.  Day after day it was the same thing, he would ask for food.  Everyday I would tell him ministries he could visit that would help him get off the streets. Yet, the next day we would see Asan again and he would beg for food…love is patient, love is kind. After one of our many conversations about begging for food, I told Asan he should put as much effort into finding a job as he does into begging on the streets.  He is a healthy strong 17 year old boy, so I told him he needed to find himself a job.  Well patience paid off, as we were pulling out to leave Asan came running up to the van with a purpose.  He found a job!  He was so excited to share with us that he had a job.  Asan is now the proud vendor of wallets and I am now the proud new owner of a sweet Velcro wallet ala 1980. He was so excited about his job and he was even more excited that he sold one to Kari and I, he must have said thank you 10 times.

“Love is patient, love is kind” I Corinthians 13:4

Miracle Child

As I write this update, I am truly aware that I have witnessed a miracle of God.  I received a call from the mother of the young burn victim, Kobasinja, that she would be discharged from the Malago Hospital in Kampala on Monday.  Her mother called when she arrived back in Jinja and we were able to go and see her.   When Kari and I walked in to find Kobasinja standing up under her own power and actually smiling it sent chills through my body.  This was a girl that screamed every time she saw one of us coming because she knew the pain of having her wounds treated and dressing changed.  The day we made the decision to take her to Kampala, I honestly thought she had about an 80% chance of dying.  The infections were so bad and the burns that covered 80% of her little body were so severe, I thought surely she would succumb to the injuries.

The miracle we saw yesterday came in something as simple as a smile.  As we walked up and began talking with her and her mother, she smiled.  The only thing I had seen on this child’s face in the past was pain and anguish.  The only sounds I heard her make were crying, screaming and begging her mother to make us stop working on her injuries.  Yesterday, she was giggling and being a silly 3 year old little girl.  She was able to stand on her own, walk on her own, hold her mothers hand, and move her arms freely while enjoying a lollipop.  All the things a 3 year old should be doing.  Her body still carries the scars of her horrific injuries and she will forever carry some of those scars.  However, those can be reminders of how God carried her through this tragic incident in her life.  He never left her side during this whole ordeal.  She still has some healing to accomplish and will still have to go back to Kampala for her wounds to be assessed in the healing process.  The skin is still pink and tender in spots, but the child we saw today is so far removed from the child we saw a few short weeks ago.

Selfishly her recovery is also a healing process for me as well.  There have been several things here that satan is trying to use to bring us down and to frustrate our family.  However, this little girl’s miraculous recovery reminded me exactly why God called our family here.  The small part we were able to play in her getting the medical care she needed and able to recover puts things into perspective. I new found friend and brother in Christ shared this message with me just a few hours ago.

"Remember, the enemy always fights the hardest when he knows God has something great in stores for you. Keep pressing forward."

So...we will keep pressing forward. Kobasinja will keep pressing forward. God has something great in store for this precious child. He brought her from death's doorstep and restored her body back to the smiling, giggling little girl we saw yesterday.  Stay tuned, I know there will be more stories from Kobasinja as God continues her path of recovery and her journey in life. 

                            

Pray for Isaac

Keep Isaac in your prayers.  Yesterday we had to take him in to be seen at the Jinja Hospital, but it took some convincing for him to go.  I came home from running some errands in town around 10:30 or 11:00 and we realized Isaac had not come over; he was still in his room in bed.  When I went to check on him he was in a lot of pain and seemed very weak.  He was having abdominal pain and had been vomiting.  I gave him some pain medication and nausea medication and told him to rest.  As we checked on him throughout the day he continued to deteriorate. Meme finally convinced him that he needed to go to the hospital and that we would be with him every step of the way.

God was again surrounding us with the right people.  As we were checking on Isaac his landlord came to see what was going on.  As it turns out she is a nurse at the Jinja Hospital.  First, she was upset because she did not know he was sick, second, she went into nurse mode and started getting Isaac taken care of.  She put on her uniform, loaded in our van and took us to the hospital.  She took us right into the hospital, did an assessment and wrote a report for him to have an X-ray and ultrasound of his abdomen. By the time the report and assessment were complete the radiology department was closed. Rose was determined that they were going to open back up for her.  She said “I am in uniform they can’t refuse me.”  After much debate between Rose and the radiology staff she lost this battle, but this would be the only battle she lost.  We went to a clinic down the road that had X-ray and ultrasound capability.  When we got into the clinic there were 5 people waiting for X-rays, Rose pushed to the front and said this boy is very urgent.  We got to the front of the line and the X-ray Technician was nowhere to be found.  Rose went and found the man, who was taking a break, and had him come back to take an X-ray of Isaac’s abdomen.  Once we were done with the X-ray we went to the waiting area for an ultrasound.  Upon arrival we found at least 20 people waiting for an ultrasound.  This just wouldn’t do.  Rose went to the front of the line, went into the doctor’s office and told the doctor Isaac needed to be seen immediately.  Once again Rose got her way and Isaac was seen next.   

We took Isaac back to the Jinja Hospital where she had a bed waiting for Issace and Rose had the doctor come see him immediately.  He was diagnosed with adhesions (fibrous bands that form between tissues and organs, often as a result of injury during surgery) from a previous appendix surgery 4 years earlier.  The adhesions have caused an obstruction of the small bowels. The doctors have started him on IV antibiotics in hopes it will reduce the inflammation.  They are also trying to keep him comfortable with pain medication. If the antibiotics do not take affect by tomorrow they will consider taking him in for surgery.

Please continue to pray for him and that his health returns so that we can all see that infectious smile that you all fell in love with.

Perspective

As I began writing I was still riding an emotional roller coaster of highs and lows and my mind is still trying to process the images and conditions I experienced that day.  The events of the day, the favor and support we received and seeing God’s hand in every step of the way has forever changed my life and the true perspective of this world that we live in.

Monday was scheduled as a day of rest for the team and a “fun day” with some shopping in town and a trip to the source of the Nile.  I planned on using the time the team was shopping as some much needed down time to recharge and get ready for the days ahead.  However, I received a phone call from the Mafubiri Village that a young burn victim we had been trying to treat needed her bandages changed.  This poor child had been burned by hot cooking oil over 80% of her body with second and third degree burns. The burns covered half of her stomach, half of her back, one entire leg, most of one arm and part of her face. It was by far the worst burn victim I have seen in person and it is a miracle she was still alive.

Once we arrived I knew this was an issue that I was no longer capable of handling.  I could smell the infection as soon as I walked in the room, even before I removed the dressings to check the wounds. As I began assessing the wounds I knew we needed to get this child to a hospital capable of handling burn victims. I am trained to handle burns for a short time but not the longer term healing process.  We made the decision to get her to a clinic to better assess her wounds and get her the treatment she needed.  We took her to a local clinic where they were able to clean and dress the wounds.  However, they were not equipped to handle the severity of the case and she needed to go to Kampala.  My wife in her infinite wisdom knew that I was in not condition emotionally or physically to make the two hour drive to Kampala.  She hired a driver to take us to the Malago Hospital in Kampala which is a government hopspital. 

At this point I started to become aware of the fact God was, and had been, working in this situation. Without hesitation two amazing men, Jonathan Stark and Dawson Skow, made the decision that I was not going on this journey alone.  They set aside there plans for the day to help this child and her mother.  Our amazingly strong wives, Kari Segner and Michelle Skow, stayed behind to handle the kids and continue on with the team.  As we began our journey, the mother held the burned child and Dawson held the infant who had to come with mom due to breastfeeding, God was already doing His thing.  We had to stop for fuel before heading for Kampala, the gas gauge was below empty and the first station had no petrol.  The second station again had no petrol.  As we turned around and headed down the highway the driver suddenly began swerving back and forth. After my initial alarm I asked what in the world he was doing. Jonathan informed me he was swerving to “slosh” the remaining gas around in the tank so that we could make it to the gas station.  As we coasted into the third gas station, with literally no gas left, we were relieved to see a petrol tanker truck filling up the tanks at the station.

Our journey to Kampala was as smooth as a trip to Kampala can be, and the child was thankfully able to rest and even sleep for some of the trip.  She did not even cry out until about 5 minutes from the hospital.  God also provided peace for the young infant who was absolutely mesmerized by Dawson and his goatee.

Once we arrived at the hospital we began searching for the right place for the baby to receive treatment. We were directed to the completely wrong end of the complex and we ended up turning around and heading right back to the place we started.  Momma was exhausted and was struggling to carry her poor child.  As we were walking a doctor saw the child’s leg and began asking questions and led us to the exact spot we needed to be.  When we entered the waiting area it was unlike any scene I had ever seen.  Words and even images cannot begin to describe the shear about of people waiting to be seen and the dire conditions some of the people were in.  We found favor once again and were taken in to see the triage doctor immediately.  Again the scene was unlike anything I have ever seen.  We were taken to a room with multiple patients, but it was the environment around me that shocked me.  There were hundreds of people lining the hallways waiting for treatment, blood on the floor, and the atmosphere of despair. The scene looked like something from a Hollywood movie set.  Only there were no cameras and no movie stars, it was real life. This hospital would make any under funded county hospital in America look like a pristine, state of the art facility.

 The doctor began examining this little girl in the midst of this chaos, the man next to us had been beaten so severely his eyes were completely swollen shut and blood was trickling down his face.  The woman across from us had a severely broken leg.  Yet among all this chaos God was there and was whisking this little girl through to get treatment. We arrived in a room with about 45 beds lining the walls and walkways, this was the area she was to receive more long term treatment.  Again, the scene was unlike anything I could begin to describe. There were people with all types of ailments and conditions in this small cramped room.  I was amazed at how the people came together to help each other.  Kobasinja had been wrapped in her mother’s shawl, but as soon as her mother unwrapped her and her wounds were revealed, the people in the room joined together to help out.  One Jaja (grandmother) took the infant and changed her diaper, another woman laid out sheets to make the bed for Kobasinja to lay on and yet another woman brought soup for the child to eat.  It was amazing to see all the people join together to help this mother and her children.  The doctors came in to start their rounds and I did not wait for them to make their way over to us.  I went and grabbed one of the doctors and told him this child was burned very badly.  He immediately came over to access her wounds.  He got IV antibiotics flowing and fluids for re-hydration and began a plan for long term care.   

The hardest part of the trip was the ride home…. The adrenaline stopped pumping and the reality and emotions all came crashing down.  To make matters worse we learned from our driver the true story of what really happened to Kobasinja. The story that her mother told us was that the cooking oil spilled onto her.  However, she told the driver that the co-mother, the second wife of her husband had a disagreement. The two wives had been fighting a lot since the husband had recently been killed in an accident.  The co-mother ended the argument by intentionally dumping boiling cooking oil onto the child.  The co-wife then ran away and authorities are still searching for her. It was so hard to hear that so much evil exists in this world that someone would intentionally burn an innocent child.

However, God even had a plan for our trip home.  We had received a recommendation for a guest house, which first of all we could not find in the dark.  Second, once we did find the guest house, it looked liked an abandoned warehouse. Once we saw the place and the surrounding, Jonathan said “to Jinja.” We drove in the dark back to Jinja which was an adventure in its self and is about a 2-2.5 hour trip. On the way home we were able to talk to our driver, David, about Jesus and his relationship with Christ.  David is on the brink of accepting Christ, he knows all about the Bible, the story of Jesus and that He is the only way to salvation.  However, he has not yet accepted Christ, but he is close.  So it was awesome to be able to talk with David and to hear his story and to share our stories as well.

God moved that day in a big big way.  It is a reminder that we serve a very big God.  The images and experiences from this day have forever changed me as a person and my perspective.

*Update on Kobasinja’s conditions:  She was taken in to surgery to have wound debridement (the removal of unhealthy tissue).  She had been put on an NG tube for feeding, but that has been recently removed.  She was taken today into surgery for skin graphs. She came through the surgery fine but she still has a long recovery process. Please continue to keep this young child and her mother in your prayers.  

Encouraging Week

We have had a really encouraging week and God is really presenting Healing Faith with some great opportunities to serve. We met with a ministry called Welcome Home this past week.  It started as a place for the kids to visit on “Field Trip Fridays”.  Kari came up with the idea of taking the kids on field trips on Fridays since they have home school Monday through Thursday. We visited an orphanage called Welcome Home.  This led to a meeting with the Ugandan Director of the ministry which led to a meeting with the American Director who happened to be in Uganda this month. She shared her heart and her vision with Kari and I and we did the same. This led to an opportunity for us to provide medical care to the villages they already have relationships with and minister to.  This is exactly the vision Kari and I have for Healing Faith.  We want to come alongside already established ministries to help provide medical care and alleviate medical expenses for those ministries.  We are not here because we want to start another orphanage or children’s home, we want to help fill a a void of  medical need in those  that already exist.  God is really providing us with great  relationships

I was able to go into a couple of villages deep in the sugar cane fields with a “Village Team” from Welcome Home.  They have teams already assembled that have relationships formed with the villagers and they provide Bible lessons. This will be one of the areas we work with the team that is coming from Brazos Fellowship.  Our goal, deworm a mere 600 kids and check for jiggers. It was really encouraging when we visited the second village.  There was a malnourished baby in the village and the director of Welcome Home took matters into her own hands.  She asked the villagers which one of them owned chickens.  At first nobody raised their hands, but after some persistence she found one man who stepped forward.  She asked him if he wanted Jesus to bless him, to which he answered yes.  She told him that in order to be blessed he needed to bless this child.  She told him to bring the mother one egg a week for the child for two months.  She told him she would be back to check with the mother and to check with him to make sure he followed through. It was great to see how she got the fellow villagers involved instead of just  giving hand outs.

We also had the opportunity to do a follow up visit on two of the malnourished babies from the village team with Arise Africa.  Baby Aminia was the only one who was at the meeting but praise God she looked much better. She had more life in her eyes, her face was fattened up,  her skin was not sagging nearly as much and she was able to sit up on her own.

Follow up 2 weeks later

Original photo 2 weeks ago

The only down side was that her belly was infested with parasites, however we are planning on getting medicine back to her village.  We did find one little boy with a severe rash that he has had for two years.  I am planning on doing some research on his condition and going back for a follow up.  There was also a child with a large half dollar sized wound on her leg that was severely infected.  I was able to clean it, wrap it and send her home with materials to keep it clean and dry. We  will have to return with medication since there was such severe infection.   It was encouraging to see the improvements in some of the kids we had visited at the end of June, the power of prayer is at work in their village. It was also encouraging to see the children more welcoming.  The first visit they were very afraid of me and cried when we I was assessing them.  This time they only cried when Megan was around, she seems to have a knack for that in this village.

Here are some pictures of the children we are treating.

Playing futbol with the kids. Their ball is made of plastic bags tied together with a banana fiber.

Wakisi Village

We started the day by driving into theWakisiVillage, traveling deep into the village on nothing more than a dirt walking path.  At times it was questionable if there was enough room for the vehicle to make it down the “road”.  The surroundings were amazing, with the village just at the edge of the Nile River. The area could not have been more beautiful.  When we arrived we were met by a large group of kids eager to greet us and to sing and dance with some welcome songs they had prepared.  Most of the songs were upbeat and welcoming; however there was one song that was really sobering.  The song’s lyrics were as follows:

“We are the younger generation

We arise from our elders

AIDS AIDS have killed more people everyday

Maybe from your advice we’ll see what shall we do”

After the songs we began the process of beginning our medical clinic. As we started assembling our medical supplies and setting up stations, I realized how big the line was that had gathered.  We started with the elders and began assessing their needs. The biggest thing we found was that jiggers had infested the feet of the villagers. Jiggers are small flea like insects that live in dirt; they burrow into your skin and lay eggs.  The only way to get them out is to “dig” them out with a strong needle.  The process starts by washing and soaking the feet, then the removal process can begin. Once the jiggers have been removed the area is cleansed with iodine and bandaged. Kari and Megan did an amazing job and just jumped right in to help. Luffafa Emanuel (Emma) and Kari set up a jigger removal station and Megan and I had a medical assessment station. I looked up after about an hour or an hour and a half and the line had grown instead of getting smaller. There was a storm rolling in over the river and the hills in the distance.  We kept watching as the storm crept closer and closer and the thunder got louder and louder.  Finally the storm let lose and we were forced to move inside into a building made of sticks and mud with a tin roof.  Once we got inside and set things back up, I realized our numbers had once again grown. I also realized how tough it was to listen to lungs sounds through a stethoscope with rain pounding on the tin rood.  We saw many cases of jigger infestation, malaria, respiratory infections, open wounds, parasite infestations, TB and people requesting HIV tests. The worst of the cases was an emaciated old man that was severely malnourished and a woman with severe abdominal ascites, which is fluid in the abdominal area.  By far the worst case of the day was a 10 month old baby that had such severe malaria she vomited every time we tried to give her medication. We got her temperature down by bathing her and we will have to return with malaria medication for infants.  Amidst all the sickness and despair there was some humor as well.  One of the men asked if he could buy Megan for his son.  I was able to negotiate for 5 meat goats and one dairy goat. Afterwards, I learned I should have held out for cows…..oh the learning curve.  Next time I will be more prepared!

The line began forming for medical care

One of the elders in the village who needed some serious care

Kari at work washing feet and removing jiggers

The rain forced us indoors to continue medical care

The team began working at 10am and we did not stop until 4pm, none of us wanted to stop until we had seen everyone that had been waiting.  Finally, we resounded to the fact that we were physically and mentally exhausted and our medications were almost depleted as well. We are planning on going back next week to finish our treatments.

After we had packed up the last of our medical supplies they brought us a dish of posho, beans and roasted maize.  It was the first time our team of 4 had stopped for food or rest.  I am not normally a big posho fan (see former post “Culture Club” about my opinions of Posho http://www.healingfaithuganda.org/stories-from-uganda/culture-club/) however today I ate a large serving of posho, all my beans and an ear and a half of roasted maize. While we were eating five more people showed up seeking medical care that we had to tell to come back next week.

Dirty and exhausted we loaded back into the van and headed back down the foot path. I was so very proud of Kari and our intern Megan, they jumped right in and began working to remove jiggers. Having Emma there to work by our side was an amazing blessing. It was the most exhausting day physically and mentally since we have arrived in Jinja, but it was one of the most fulfilling days.  It was so exciting to see God in action and see the impact of the work being done in the WakisiVillage.

You can see more images from the day on our Healing Faith Facebook page:

*some of the images and medical conditions are a bit graphic*

https://www.facebook.com/healingfaithuganda