Malaria and wounds and brawls.....oh my!

We had an adventure this week in the village.  Come to think of it, everyday in the village is an adventure.  I do not ever recall coming home from the village and saying "well that was boring and uneventful."

We started the week in the village with two confirmed cases of malaria and began them on a 7 day treatment. We have also encountered some sort of mystery infection with the children in the village.  They get a small bite looking wound, it hardens, the middle sinks in and then it explodes into a giant wound. Most of them become quarter sized but I have seen some about 6 inches in diameter. Some of them heal and dry on their own, but too many of them become severely infected.  I have been researching tropical diseases and consulting with villagers and Ugandan nurses.  However, we have not figured it out yet. Up to now we are just treating the infection and dressing the wounds.  

On Tuesday Tiffany took her guitar out to the village, much to the delight of the kids.  She played a few, ok two, songs for the kids and we tried to teach them the words and hand motions to Waves of Mercy. We did not have too much luck, only a few of the kids actually followed along. Nonetheless we gave it a shot. 

Today, we went out with Welcome Home Village Team, we were able to sing songs of worship and the Village Team read a Bible story to them in their local language. Our day started off very slow in the village, as we could not find many of the kids.  The Welcome Home Team went around the village and even went to the school to round up the kids.  Pierce was very impatient for the kids to arrive   and wanted to make a circle with the few kids that were there.  That is how we    start each day in the village, we make a circle and we sing songs of worship.  Pierce loves this part!  Anytime there is singing or music Pierce becomes a  dancing machine! The Uganda kids think this is hilarious which only eggs Pierce on and improves his performance.

Unfortunately, due to lives full of hardship and not having a hope in Jesus yet, many villages turn to a life of alcoholism.  In Kogoma Gate there is a home brew made from sugar cane, which is plentiful.  There is a place in the center of all of the huts where this is brewed.  The smell is something that takes some time getting used to (or maybe never getting used to) and the appearance resembles black tar dripping into barrels.  I can't imagine the pain that has driven people to actually want to drink this stuff.  The last two visits to Kogoma Gate we have been confronted with a man who has been severely drunk on this, early in the morning.  Perhaps never having even sobered up from the night before.  It is always difficult to deal with someone that is drunk at this magnitude, but the first day I sat with him for over 10 minutes trying to just be someone who would listen and care.  It didn't appear that I was getting very far and he was becoming more and more demanding of things I couldn't give him.  Finally, I had to leave because there were still many kids that needed medical attention.  This same man was back again today in the same condition.  He began disturbing the children as they were singing worship songs, demanding that his picture be taken.  Unfortunately the scene ended with another man from the village dragging him away.  Please pray for him and for so many others like him that have lost so much hope of a better life and are just left trying to drink their sorrows away.  Pray that Kari and I can find a way to reach even them with the healing that can come through a faith in Jesus.  Pray for our patience and wisdom in handling hard situations. 

After songs of worship I began to follow up with the children who were diagnosed with malaria earlier in the week, both were still sick, but showing signs of improvement. We also had many children who needed follow up for wound care from the mystery infection. While all of this was going on Pierce, Hadlee and Karson were playing futbol with the kids and playing on the swings. After a short time I realized I had not seen Pierce around, he kind of sticks out in the crowd. I began to search for him, as I walked all the villagers began pointing.  I had my own roadmap of villagers pointing me in the right direction of Pierce.  He was not too hard to track, a little blond haired blue-eyed muzungu wandering through the village.  I found him making his way down to the primary school in the village.  After I brought Pierce back I returned to wound care for the kids, Karson came running up to tell me one of the kids got their fingers slammed in the door of the van.  So I ran over to find a poor kid with his fingers caught in the sliding door of the van, I got them out with minimal damage and only a few tears.

As we were finishing up our wound care and packing up, a huge fight broke out between 5-6 of the village men.  This was not a pushing and shoving type fight, but a swinging of fist and sticks at one another in an all out brawl. I gathered all our kiddos up and got them into the van and then gathered all the village kids around to get them away from the brawl that broke out. Never boring right!? Just another day in the village.

Stand with us in prayer that the children with malaria will recover and we can find a solution to the mystery infection that is plaguing the children.

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Drunken village man requesting his picture be taken

Pastor John trying to reason with our "friend"

Finally a Village Elder had enough and dragged the drunken man away

Uphill battle...

Over the last year we have encountered countless number of cases of malria.  One of the uphill battles we are facing is the fact that many of the villagers equate any illness, ache or pain to malaria.  "It must be the malaria"  is a common phrase when we visit the village. That is where our soon to be launched education program will hopefully help out.  Our goal it to educate the villagers on the signs and symptoms of malaria and when it is necessary to seek treatment.

Treatment. Such a simple word and something very easy for us to obtain in the States.  At any sign of serious illness we make an appointment with our local pediatrician or in severe cases rush to the local ER.  If it is not serious we run to Walgreens or Walmart for medication. For the villagers we work with that is not an option, there is no Walmart on the nearest corner . Are there clinics? Yes.  Are there "free" government hospitals?  Yes.  However the issue becomes getting transport.  When you live off of less than a $1.25 a day in some cases spending 1000 Ugandan Shillings (40 cents US) for transport to the clinic and 1000 UG Shillings back is not an option. Your other option is to walk over 5 kilometers to the nearest trading center where there might be a  roadside clinic. The problem is even if the villagers can get to the clinic, they cannot afford the treatment.  The other option is to get into Jinja to the government hospital.  It takes us about 45 minutes to an hour to get there by vehicle. At the hospital the wait time is astronomical (our ER wait time is nothing compared to the wait times I have seen).  Even then the hospital may be out of the supplies or medicine that is needed and the person will be expected to buy the materials and bring them to the hospital.

One of the huge problems we have encountered is medication.  Medication is easily obtainable here if you have money.  No prescription needed, if you have money you can go to the pharmacy and get what you need.  If someone test positive for malaria they may not have enough money left to buy the proper medication for treatment of malaria. They do one of two things, they buy half a dose of medication or they buy pain killer because that is all they can afford.  This week in the village a mother brought me her child

Positive malaria test from the village

who was very lethargic and did not look well.  She told me she had started him on malaria medication because he had "the malaria." I was very excited she had started treatment and asked when he tested positive and how long he had been on the medication.  She told me she had not been to the clinic because there was no money, but she had given him one tablet for the malaria.  For children who test positive for malaria, they should be on a 7 day course of medication taken three times a week.  This poor mother had one pill and had given it to him in hopes of curing his malaria. As a parent I cannot imagine having a sick child and not having the resources to take care of their illness.  It breaks my heart on a weekly basis to see people struggling to take care of their kids with so little.  I am thankful for the mothers and grandmothers we encounter who are doing the very best to provide and care for their children.

One of the drawbacks of medication being so readily available is that it can be misused and misunderstood. As I was packing up to leave the village I encountered a woman who was having pain in her tubes.  She told me if I could give her some amoxicillin tablets that would fix the problem.  I tried to explain that amoxicillin was a penicillin based,  broad spectrum antibiotic (yes I know, that was the teacher in me kicking in) and that it was not a pain killer.  She told me she also had back pain when she worked for long periods of time in the garden and that amoxicillin generally helped.  She was disappointed that I did not have tablets for her and she left upset with me.   I also encountered a man who told us on one of our previous trips that he had "too much malaria" and he needed treatment.  When asked what signs and symptoms he had he just began to laugh and joke around.  This week the same man asked me what tablets I had for him today.  Same answer as last time, I don't have tablets for you.   When questioned about his ailments this week he had to think for awhile and then stated he was somehow tired and needed tablets.

This is just a couple examples of the uphill battles we face in the village.  Although we have worked very hard to establish relationship with the villagers, there are still a few who think that we are there to "give" things out. That is not the case, we are focused on malaria prevention and education. Although it is an uphill battle, it is one that needs to be  fought.

My prayer is that through education and empowerment we can shift the thinking process  and help those who are struggling to care for their children when they are sick.  Every time we are in the village I emphasize to them  that God is the Great Healer and the Great Physician.  True healing comes through a faith in Christ Jesus.

For I will restore health to you, and your wounds I will heal, declares the Lord  Jeremiah 30:17

Muddin' in the Village

Today we had an adventure getting out to the village.  We are currently in the middle of rainy season, April is the highest rainfall month in Jinja.  It seems to rain almost every night here.  When it rains, it makes getting into the village very sloppy and iffy at best. The trip takes about 45 minutes and the last 20 minutes of the trip is down a dirt road that is full of pot holes, which all the roads here are, and ruts made from the huge sugar cane trucks that travel down the dirt roads. 

As we turned off the "paved" road onto the dirt road to get to the village, we were immediately met by three big sugar cane trucks in front of us.  One pulled over and we were able to pass, but that left us stuck behind two trucks. They were literally moving at a snails pace.  They were getting bogged down in the mud because they were so overloaded with sugar cane. The truck immediately in front of us started sliding off the road and I was sure it was about to tip over. By God's Grace it did not tip over, but it did get stuck in the mud.  I made the whole van nervous when I went around it by splashing through a big mud hole. Thank goodness for 4-wheel drive.  We made it through and then spent the rest of the trip down the muddy road stuck behind the other truck.  We were going so slow I was worried we were going to get stuck due to our lack of speed.  We were literally passed by an old woman walking barefoot down the muddy road.  She had more speed on foot and definitely better traction than we did behind the slow moving truck. 

When we finally made it into the village the road was too muddy to drive down.  So we pulled into the village, I found a good spot to turn around and we walked the rest of the way. I wanted to be turned around and pointed in the right direction in case the looming storm clouds decided to let loose. You could see the confusion on the kids faces in the village.  They were all excited and started running to the van like normal and then all got really disappointed when we turned around to leave.  But to their excitement we  got out of the van and walked the rest of the way into the village. 

We were there today to check on a young girl who had a big knot on the back of her neck.  We found the little girl being carried around by her sister during one of our visits to the village. The knot was red, swollen  and was full of infection. It had to be painful.  As with most of the kids, she did not make a sound when I examined her wound.  On a follow up check today the knot was gone and the infection was cleared up. God is good!

We made our way back down the muddy road, this time with no sugar cane trucks slowing us down. We made it out before the looming rains came again. 

World Malaria Day

April 25^th is World Malaria Day. "The World Malaria Day was instituted by the World Health Organization (WHO) member statin in 2007. It is an occasion to highlight the need for continued investment and sustained political commitment for malaria prevention and control."  

Since Healing Faith has been working in the remote villages surrounding Jinja, Uganda for almost a year now, one of the biggest problems we have identified is malaria.  Each time we go to the village, I see at least 2-3 new cases of malaria each visit.  This comes as no surprise though; according to the World Health Organization (WHO) a child dies from malaria every 60 seconds in Africa. By the time you have read up to this point… a child has died due to malaria.   That is a very sobering thought.  The good news is malaria is a preventable and treatable disease.

Malaria is a mosquito borne illness, a life threatening disease caused by parasites that are transmitted to people through bites of infected mosquitoes.   Its main victims are children under the age of 5 years in Africa.  Malaria remains linked to poverty, the highest death rates from malaria are seen in countries with extreme poverty, people living on less than $1.25 a day. Living in Uganda, we are right in the middle of problem, 90% of all malaria deaths occur in Africa. Uganda is one of the six highest malaria burdened countries in Africa.  Over 47% of all cases of malaria in Africa occur in these six countries (Nigeria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, United Republic of Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique and Cote d’Ivoire).  These six countries account for 103 million cases of malaria.

Healing Faith has zeroed in on malaria in the villages.  Our plan is to not only identify, test and treat cases of malaria, but to educate the villagers about malaria.  We are working on a curriculum to teach the villagers the signs & symptoms of malaria, treatment and most importantly prevention.   The goal is to equip village leaders with the knowledge and skills to continue the education process and become self-sustaining in their battle against malaria.

How can you help?

The testing and treatment supplies for a single person infected with malaria cost less than $3, if identified early.  The most important tool in the prevention of malaria is an insecticide treated mosquito net. After the education process is complete Healing Faith hopes to supply the village with enough mosquito nets to properly equip every household  in the village. A durable insecticide treated net can be purchased for around 13,000 Ugandan Shillings, which equates to around $5.20. This is far out of the financial reach of most villagers that we work with; remember most are living on less than $1.25 a day.

The clock is ticking for these children, by this time another child has succumbed to malaria. Together we can make a difference. Your donations to Healing Faith have a direct impact on those in desperate need. By your efforts with Healing Faith we can “give the kids in the village a biting chance against malaria.”

To help donate to the fight against malaria you can visit.

https://www.egsnetwork.com/gift/gift.php

Pray for Kirere Joseph he tested positive for  Malaria today in the village. 

The Truly Simple Things

Awhile back I wrote a blog about how I missed the “simple” things from back home. The Simple Things 

The simple  things like autodraft to pay your bills and the simplicity of swiping your debit card at the grocery store were on my mind.  I have a new perspective on the simple  things. This perspective came from an unlikely source.  The children of Kagoma Gate Village taught me a lesson about the  ”simple things.” Last week we visited the village and one of our kids brought a balloon with them in the car. When we got to  the village we tossed it out the door as we were greeting the children.  You would have thought we had unleashed the  greatest thing ever.  The children all ran and chased the balloon trying to keep it from touching the ground. The older kids  and younger kids alike ran, jumped and screamed trying to keep the balloon in the air.  It brought so much joy to them to  chase and play with something  as simple as a balloon.

While visiting the village with friends from back home, it started to rain.  When rain comes it usually is a signal for us to  jump in the van and head out.  The red dirt roads can very quickly turn into red mud and rivers of muddy water.   My kids  described the rivers of mud one time as the chocolate river in Willie Wonka. They thought it was awesome seeing the water  run in literal streams down the road as we were trying to get home.  I was praying we would make it out.  This time the rain seemed a little different, so we stuck it out.  I huddled in the van keeping a watchful eye on the roads, meanwhile the kids of the village huddled under the edges of the grass thatch roofs of the hut and sang songs.  Nobody wanted to leave while we were still there.  They sang and danced in the rain.  The kids sang songs praising Jesus in both English and Luganda with huge smiles on their face.  They were happy to sing and dance and just to hold our hands. As I sat in the van watching the scene in front of me unfold, I thought what greater fun and joy is there as a kid than to sing and dance in the rain?

The children always get really excited when it is time to get out the soccer ball.  They all know that when we are there for a fun day and a social visit that when I go to the back of the van, it is time for the soccer ball!  We have a couple soccer balls that we take with us each time we go to the village.  Today was no exception.  There was so much joy and excitement when the soccer balls came out.  A group of boys immediately organized a game on the small field they have there.  While a group of girls played catch and keep away with another ball.  A ball, a simple soccer ball.  It didn’t make any sounds, it didn’t have any buttons to push, it was just in its simple form as a ball.  A ball brought so much fun and excitement for the afternoon.

I learned a lesson from the children of Kagoma Gate that day, the simple things in life are not the conveniences I miss from back home. The “simple” things in life  are sharing a smile with someone and holding their hand, playing with a balloon,  soccer for hours and singing songs in the rain. There are many days that I get busy with my to do list, job duties and the struggles of everyday life and I miss out on the truly “simple” things of life.

I have included a video of the joys and smiles of a soccer ball .  If this doesn’t make you smile, especially the little girl at the end, then just go back to bed and start your day over with this video. Soccer Ball Smiles

This is my Son with whom I am well pleased...

This is my Son with whom I am well pleased…

Kari and I had one of the greatest joys of being parents happen a few weeks ago.  Karson came to us and wanted to accept Jesus into his heart.  Everett was with him and they both wanted to accept Jesus together. It was an amazing evening for us!  We had been discussing with the boys about what it means to truly be a Christian and about accepting Jesus as their Savior.  However, we did not want to push them, we wanted it to be totally their decision and on their own time.  We had just started thinking about settling down for the evening when the boys came to us.  Right there in the middle of our bed the boys prayed together to accept Jesus as their Savior.

Kari and I had discussed how nothing as parents scared us more than having children that did no have a relationship with Christ.  We were not scared moving them across the world, we were not scared having them grow up in Africa, but we were scared that somehow they would not accept salvation. All of our fears for the boys were taken away that night.  We have the joy of knowing that not only do we get this brief  time with them here on Earth as their parents, but we get to spend eternity with them in the Kingdom of Heaven.  They are our sons and now our Brothers in Christ. There truly is no better feeling as a parent!

We also had the joy of getting to baptize them in the Nile River or “babatize” as Everett would say.  We loaded up and went to our favorite place on the Nile River to baptize them.  I talked with the boys and made sure they were ready and understood everything that was going to happen.  As it got closer to evening we loaded up on a boat and went out into the Nile, we found a great spot to pull over and the boys were baptized right there on the banks of the Nile River.  It was such a joy to be able to share this moment with Meme and our good friends from the US, Michelle Skow and Holly Downs.  What a joyous day, I have never been prouder and more excited for my boys.  Hadlee asked when it was her turn, so the seeds have been planted with her as well.

God is so good to us and the boys have quit a testimony to share about accepting salvation together and then being “babatized” in the waters of the Nile River.  I am so thankful for the gift of Salvation and even more excited that the boys received this gift!

“And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like and dove and coming to rest on him; and hehold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:16-17

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Village Victories

Today during out visit to the Kagoma Gage Village we had the opportunity to see one of God’s victories.  Several months ago we had a prayer request for a young boy named Vincent.  Vincent was in bad shape when the villagers brought him to us.  He could not walk or stand on his own, he could barely hold his own head up.  His eyes would not focus and they continued to roll back in his head and his breathing was shallow and labored.  He had visited the clinic and had been discharged with the only findings that he was anemic.  We did everything we knew to do for him.  He was negative for malaria, a test for meningitis is very dangerous and almost non-existent here, and the test for Polio (which was my big concern) was negative.  The only thing we were able to do for him was to raise his iron levels and to fight an infection he had going on.  For several weeks it was the same thing every time.  Vincent was carried  up to see us with no improvement. Today God showed us His Glory in a big way.  As we were wrapping up and packing things up to leave, a little boy walked up to see us.  At first, I did not recognize  the boy,  but it was Vincent!  He was walking on his own and seemed recovered from his mystery illness.  God reminded us that He is the Great Healer.  For all the reference books, testing materials and medications we have available He reminded us that He is ultimately in control.  It is hard for me, especially as a man (must be a guy thing) to not be able to “fix” something.  I want to see a problem and fix it.  This time I could not find the problem and it frustrated me.  I saw this child in need, but could do nothing about it but cover him in prayer. And pray we did.   Sometimes I forget the power of prayer, I get so caught up in what “I” can do and what “I” can fix.  Humble was the word of the day today.  God humbled me and reminded me He is the one in control of circumstances, not medicine, not medical testing and surely not me. Prayer was the best medicine we could provide Vincent and prayer healed him!

“O Lord my God, I cried out to you for help, and you have healed me.” Psalm 30:2

Not only did we get to see God at work, we got to have fun as well.  There is a small team visiting from South Carolina, with a ministry called Voices for the Voiceless, that had the opportunity to visit the village with us.  They had the chance to see the excitement of the kids when we brought out the soccer ball.  The big hit of the day was nail polish.  Some of the girls sat down to paint nails and to say they were mobbed was an understatement. The kids were all so excited to get their nails painted and even more excited to show us once they were done.  One of the team members even had the chance to check on a pregnant woman with Kari.  The report came that a young woman was 7 months pregnant, having stomach pains and that her water had broken.  My first thought….we are going to deliver a baby on a dirt floor in a hut in the middle of the village.  Kari went and checked on her, they determined she was starting to dilate, having some contraction (Braxton Hicks) and her water had not broken. No baby today. Never a dull moment.

It was another amazing day in the village filled with blessing and another day for God to reveal His Glory.

Pierce and his buddies

Vincent!