A 'taste' of real African life

If someone asked you to help out and carry a bucket of water you would right? 
Imagine you are in Africa and they asked you  to do this, to go to the water supply and collect some and bring it back. You’d join in, think it was fun – an adventure maybe? 


Well, that’s just what I thought last week when we were on another community outreach project. We were at the home of ‘the triplets’ who are known to GSF as they were previously on the feeding programme. I walked to the home in a local village alongside a group of wonderful teens who were giving their afternoon to serve others and arrived at the one roomed hut. As soon as we arrived we started with cleaning, washing up, washing babies, washing clothes, washing floors and then realised that we were using the families entire supply of water that they had collected for that day. A group of us offered to walk to the water supply with a number of jerry cans. This is where my sense of adventure and ‘fun’ suddenly came to a stark realisation that THIS is not fun. I quickly came to see (and soon to experience for myself) that this is not fun for anyone round here - Not if you are collecting water instead of going to school and getting an education. Not if you have to do it 2-3 times a day, every day of every year. Not if you are old , your bones hurt and you have no one to help you. Not if you are balancing a can on your head, have one in your hand and a baby screaming on your back. As we walked to the water supply (around a 15 minute walk) we passed women and children making their way home. They were all heavy laden and did not look as though they were having ‘fun’. This is their life and they do not have the option of ‘having a go’ but have to go and collect water every day for their family no matter how young, old, tired or sick they feel.

We reached the water supply and filled our jerry cans. The ‘not exciting and full of adventure’ walk back to the hut began. The road felt long, it was hot and I had no idea what I was doing or which direction on the small winding mud paths we were to take. The children were telling me that I was meant to be carrying the water on my head. I had a 20 litre container, ¾ full (not full – we tried that initially but I couldn’t even lift it let alone get it all the way back!) and struggled to just about get it onto my shoulder. The walk was long and hot and I stopped frequently. The children I was with kept me going. They were struggling as much as I was but kept pushing forwards and were encouraging me too. How could I not do my best when each one of them were working so hard? Every time I stopped I had these 'Western' thoughts in my head of ‘if only I could call a taxi’ or ‘if I could get some help somewhere‘ - basically 'if only I could quit'! but these options were not available. We were carrying a precious load of water and could not just give up. I was getting annoyed with myself too with every drop that I spilled or slopped as I walked. This water was needed by the family and I was worried that if I dropped and spilt it I would have to start again. We got back and I got a big ‘Muzungu’ cheer being met by a lot of laughter as the local women watched me walk the last stretch still carrying the container on my shoulder. I was wet, (mainly from the water spilling but yes, a lot of it was sweat too!) had a red face to match my red t-shirt and looked a state but what a sense of achievement! It also made me think and understand what challenges village life really holds.

Following our return to the triplets home I got my breath back and we continued cleaning, sweeping, sorting and helping the family as best we could. Before we left I heard Auntie Juliana say that we needed to refill all the water containers so to leave the family with a full supply. If we did this the mother would not have to go again that day. My heart sank a little but then I pulled myself towards myself and remembered that this was not about me. I was here to serve and be the hands and feet of Jesus to this family. Off we went again, me with a much smaller can this time – I knew my limit and would never of made that trip again with the same amount of water in that big can!

We left the family after praying with them and saying our farewells. On our walk home we talked about the exciting parts of serving, the really hard parts and remembered the real reason why we had been there and why we were called to serve. The young people again had been amazing helping out in any way that they could in order to lighten the load for that mother even if just for a few hours. I had only a tiny 'taste' of what living a real African life must be like and have developed a huge respect and admiration for these people who I am growing to love more and more each day.

Romans 12 v 9-13 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honour one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervour, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord's people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Betty

This is Betty.  


She is 6 years old and our newest addition here at GSF. 


She joined the family at GSF last week. We have been waiting for Betty for a long time and it is so wonderful to finally have her and her huge smile with us. 

Mark one of the directors joked that she should have been named ‘tomorrow’ as we have been told for nearly 6 weeks that she is coming tomorrow!! 

Betty has had a tough time in her short life and has experienced more awful things than anyone should ever have to in their time. We are loving on Betty daily, trying to make her smile, feel safe and at home. 

She is making great friends and is being very brave. I couldn’t not introduce you to this beautiful girl who has the most adorable smile and gives the best hugs.

Mercy Ministries

25 people, 1 bed, tools, 
cleaning equipment,
buckets of water 
and a very bumpy road!

Part of the work that is carried out at GSF is something called “Mercy Ministries”. This is a community outreach programme led by GSF to offer practical help and support to those in our local communities. We are so blessed here at GSF that it is great for the young people here to get involved and ‘give something back’.

A few weeks ago we gathered a group of teenagers and travelled to the home of a family that we have been helping through the feeding programme here. I have also blogged about them recently - the malnourished twins and their grandmother. This grandmother, as well as caring for the twins is also the main carer for her other 2 grandchildren. This means she is caring for 4 children under 5 years old and also managing her home -  trying to earn money, cook, clean, collect water and buy food.

We took the truck to their village and walked to their home carrying a number of items that would help us work and also some new furniture including a bed so that the children no longer have to sleep on the floor.

When we arrived we could see that this grandmother had just too much on her plate. She was not managing to care for the children and maintain her home at the same time. Our amazing team of youth at this point jumped straight in!! They took themselves off into small groups to accomplish a number of tasks. Altogether there were 19 young people and 6 adults and in a couple of hours we had emptied the 2 huts (one for sleeping and one used for cooking), swept the huts and surrounding compound, repaired holes in the mud wall, cleaned and replaced furniture, hand washed clothes, bathed and dressed all 4 children in new clothes, sorted through pans of rice, washed plates, dug the garden and even had time to talk to and pray with the grandmother before we left.

Learning how to sweep with a Ugandan twig broom!

The 'clothes washing' team

Joel repairing the inside of the hut.

The young people were amazing. They worked non-stop in the heat and made us really proud. When we finished they were even asking when we could go back and do some more!

All 4 children bathed and in new clothes!

Sebastian

This is Sebastian. He is 2 years old and came to GSF around a year ago. He had to come here as sadly circumstances at home in the village meant that his mother and family could not provide the care that he needed. He was identified via the feeding programme and when it was picked up that he was remaining malnourished and not gaining weight he was brought into GSF. As you can see, he is very small for his age.

Since living here it was discovered that he had a bilateral Cleft Palate. I accompanied Sebastian and his mum to hospital 2 weeks ago so that he could receive the reconstructive surgery he required.  I was really impressed with the hospital who offer some free medical care for Ugandans which Sebastian qualified for. After a 5 day admission I went to pick him up. He looked well but had only had half of the Cleft Palate repaired as the hole was too large to do in one go and he suffered a bleed during the operation. He is now back with us recovering and is due back at the hospital at the end of the month.

 

 We recently had a speech and language therapist visit us from England. As Sebastain is already 2 years old and only makes minimal sounds she was unsure that he will ever learn to speak. Please keep this beautiful boy in your prayers for his forthcoming second surgery and for his future. He is wonderful, always smiling & waving and much loved here by everyone.

Daily Life

My working day is never the same. It's tricky to give you an idea of what I will be doing each week as I never know what my path will come across from one day to the next. I am however starting to feel more comfortable and settled in with my work here. I am making good friends, useful contacts and starting to find my way round all the clinics and hospitals that we visit. Most importantly and this is taking the most time to adjust to - I am learning to wait! To wait in line in the hospital, to wait for someone who is just popping to the bank for '5' minutes, to wait for a taxi. Waiting is draining and frustrating and something that is taking the most effort to adjust to. 

Giving IV Antibiotics

My working day will usually start at 06.30 when my alarm goes off. Myself and a Ugandan nurse who I work with on site share the drug rounds during the week so that I don't have to get up at this time every single day for the year that I am here! We have 6 children living at GSF who are HIV + and require medication at 7am and 7pm strictly every day. I will get up, dressed and make my way over to those children for 7am. The HIV drugs will need administering and the children will need to be closely observed to ensure that the tablets actually go into their mouth and they swallow them! After this I will visit  the other houses and say hi to every child, house mother and auntie and see if there are any illnesses, wounds or problems that I need to deal with. With around 80 children living here and 20 or so staff it can take anything from 1 hour (on a good day!) to well over 2 hours. Mornings are a great time to 'glance' over everyone before they all run off in different directions and it's a great time to chat to kids and house mums, answer questions and just spend time with them all.

After rounds I will come back to my house and have breakfast before heading over to the school to say good morning to Auntie Jane who works in the school office. Auntie Jane is the welfare officer and has a sick bed in her office. I will be called during the day to see children at school if they are unwell. 

So, if I have no hospital trips to go on during the day I will be based on site seeing children and staff in the school and on site. I will take the opportunity of being around to catch up with documentation in the kids health records. Also, to look at who needs deworming, ringworm treatment, weight checks and general health assessments. Malaria tests happen frequently and I will do lots of them and administer malaria treatment throughout the week. Also my role includes administering antibiotics to kids who are unwell and liaising with doctors in the local town how to treat certain illnesses and infections. Treating burns are common with school children as there are so many open fires used in the villages.

Weighing a malnourished
baby at the feeding clinic.

A day on site is never dull, I never know what will show up! Sometimes I will teach the house mums about a medical issues. They always have lots of questions and I spend a lot of my time trying to educate about basic skills like hygiene, hand washing and wound care. I will purchase nappies and ensure that these are given out to the house mums weekly. I will organise drugs for the week for those children on HIV and seizure medication. Hand in receipts and book transport for hospital visits and such like. There is also a Social Worker on site and she will often call me to go to the offices and see an elderly client or malnourished babies that need support and a health check.

On days where I am out I will usually be out all day. Nothing happens quickly here in Africa! I  accompany children on hospital appointments, dentist visits and trips to clinics. Routinely I go to Kampala once a month with the HIV kids. That is always a long day waiting in line to be seen by a number of different professionals. The kids enjoy their days out because they are missing school and they get lunch and a soda brought for them! We have a number of regular appointments that I go to with certain children - asthma clinic, seizure clinic, dentist appointments, hospital admissions for children having surgery. I will usually be off site at least once a week and often more than this.

Sebastian being admitted for Cleft Palate Surgery

On top of this I keep busy by playing with the kids, visiting the babies for cuddles, going out to the villages to help with community projects, learning Luganda and currently avoiding snakes!  There are some great highs that I am experiencing - building relationships with the Children being the main one. Some of the lows are that life is often frustrating here. It's hard to get things completed in any sort of fast to 'normal' time scale and everything is complicated, there are no straight forward answers to any problem! It saddens me that for some of the HIV kids there will be little that is able to be done for them if they get really sick. One of the boys here is on his last line of HIV drugs that he can be on and that are available in Uganda and drug tests have shown that he is resistant to these. There are currently no other options available here in Uganda but it is frustrating to know that these drugs are available in the West but are not allowed here by law as they are not licensed. 

Micah - one of our beautiful and healthy boys!!

Well, that is a taster of my day to day life here. It's hard to describe a typical day as no day is the same. There is lots of variety and every day is interesting, challenging and full of learning opportunities. Last night I was called at 3am to see a little girl who was unwell with breathing problems which is the first time (and I'm sure not the last!) that I will called out of my bed nursing during the night. I thank God daily for energy and the ability to be able to preform my role here in the midst of all the uncertainties with health care provisions and in dealing with 

varying standards of hospitals here. Also as I learn to work in and deal with the culture that is all new to me. I pray that I'll be able to work to the best of my ability and to keep going during the good and bad times and those times when I have run out of energy, taking each day at a time and taking time each day to walk with Him. 

Snake Shock

On Sunday morning I was sitting outside teaching my Sunday School class a few houses away from mine.  We were getting to the end of the session and closing up when I heard lots of screams and shouting. Living on site with 80 children, this is not uncommon but then I heard the words “Snake”! Children were running past where I was sitting to go and see it and I then was told, “it’s at your house”! My Sunday school class was quickly rounded up as I also wanted to go and see this snake. Now please understand, I wasn’t rushing there because I like snakes or have any sort of interest in them at all. Not in the slightest – in the 8 weeks I have been here there have been 4 sightings of snakes, I have come to conclude that this is not a good sign for avoiding them over the next 10 months! The first, I was more than happy to have been told about and never actually saw. The boys had seen one near the guesthouse, which is far from where I sleep. The second was at one of the children's homes and they found it near their latrines.  The third snake had been found at the building opposite my house and so I was happy to be at a good enough distance to watch the commotion but feel very safe. This time it did not feel safe – this snake was at MY house!

As I approached the house I could see the stoning in action. A few of the brave boys were killing the snake and have amazingly good shots with rocks! ‘Stoning’ is not uncommon here and we have even had some first aid casualties that have been stoned in the head accidentally when rocks are chucked about :(

I slowly and tentatively came closer so that I could get a look. The children that were standing a good distance behind the stoners screamed every time the snake twitched which did not help my nervousness. I had a peek and saw the snake, which was pretty much dead with just it's tail twitching and moving around. The offending snake was lying on my front porch about 2 metres from my front door. Too close for my liking. It had a small head, which apparently meant that it was poisonous?!  The children finished their job and then everyone wandered off to Church with something very exciting to talk about. I was left on my porch, which was covered in stones, rocks and blood feeling very freaked out!! Mark and Amy who live in the other half of our duplex house and share the same porch disposed of the snake in the bushes. However, the thought that it had been so close was enough to keep my mind distracted all day!

We have a number of poisonous snakes (Forest Cobra & Black Mamba) here in Africa and often here in the long grass at GSF. Fortunately the children do an amazing job of ‘slashing’ the grass, keeping it short and keeping the risk of snakes appearing to a minimum. I have been to the local hospital who assure me that they have the correct medicines to deal with snake bites but let’s keep praying that we never have to test that!

I have got over my snake shock now and everything appears back to normal. I will from now on always have a careful look behind the bench when leaving my house just to make sure!!

Deuteronomy 31 v 6 "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you".

New shoes!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting the factory where Sseko ('Say-ko' from the Ugandan word laughter) sandals are made. 

Sseko is a shoe company based in Kampala, Uganda. They make leather sandals with interchanagable coloured straps which are sooo cool! They are a fair trade company and employ young women in the 9 month gap that they find themselves in between school finishing and starting university. In Uganda, work seems to be heavily male dominated and young women often find it hard to find work. Sseko employ these women and give them a place to stay which means that they can earn good money which will enable them to support themselves through university. The women will then be able to go on and get a good education which will hopefully lead to great employment opportunities.

I had the pleasure of going to the factory here in Kampala. This meant that as well as being able to purchase my very own cute pair of Sseko's I also got to meet the talented and wonderful women who are the driving force behind the success of this company. The sandals are mainly shipped to America (some are purchased here in Kampala by tourists) and I would encourage you to check out the website and buy some. From the UK you would have to  pay for shipping on the P&P but I totally support this charity and think that it would be worth the extra pennies knowing the the money will help one of these beautiful ladies further their education.

       http://www.ssekodesigns.com/