Special People - Nurse Ruth

Meet Nurse Ruth. She is the next special person that I want to introduce you to.

Ruth is an answer to so many peoples prayers here at GSF and at home who have also been praying for her to come. Those of us here were all starting to wonder what would happen when I left as there was to be no nurse on site. We did not have anyone to replace my nursing role. We wondered how would the medical side of things keep running and how would the current Missionaries manage the nursing duties on top of their already huge work loads and then......as an answer to prayer, along she came :)

If I am totally honest I returned back to GSF after being at home a little despondent and unsure how I was going to hand over this mammoth task of nursing and who I would even hand it over to as all previous attempts to recruit a Ugandan nurse had failed. When I had been at home I had spoken to a few people about my feelings; I was feeling disappointed that I had spent a good part of the year organising, revamping and implementing (what I thought was) a fool proof medical notes system. Also, after having juggled the nursing role on my own for the best part of the year whilst ensuring that all the children were up to date with immunisations, medical appointments, medication etc, I was concerned that this may not be keep going. I had implemented spreadsheets and charts to ensure all medical jobs were completed each week/month/year and that nothing could get missed. I was worried that these small things, which actually make the system work well, would just fall by the wayside if I wasn't able to physically hand it over to another nurse. This does not mean in any way that those living here would fail to ensure the kids were in good health but I knew that with the day to day running and the management of everyday illnesses and hospital appointments some of these other small things might have to be dropped as each person already had a too big work load in their own roles. I kept fighting with God wondering why on earth I had spent so long this year working on those things which I believed were good if I was just going to leave them behind not knowing if another nurse would even see them or understand my system if I wasn't there to explain and hand it over.


So, I returned to Uganda with this heavy heart to find that whilst I had been away a nurse had applied for the job! One of the directors here and the administrator had already done a provisional interview but had asked her to return so I could complete the interview with my questions and so I could meet her. When I met Ruth on the Wednesday, instantly I knew that everything was going to be ok. We all loved her and knew that she could handle the role. We told her Wednesday afternoon that she had got the job and asked her to start here with us asap. She said she might be able to come by Saturday which was amazing. Then on Wednesday night she telephoned the director and asked if she could come the next day! She arrived with us on Thursday and started work Friday morning - I had only been back at GSF 3 days when God confirmed to me that this one burden that had been weighing on my heart was going to be ok. I feel so passionate about the medical role here that I couldn't bear to see that it wouldn't be fully managed to it's full potential and that our precious children might not have a nurse here on site.


Ruth has been here almost 3 weeks and has settled into the role amazingly. She is confident, experienced and is great with the children. We are blessed to have her working here at GSF and I know she will do a wonderful job continuing to implement all of my systems that I have been so precious about!


I received an email a couple of weeks ago from a friend at Church who had been singing the hymn;                                  

'Great is your faithfulness' 

...Morning by morning new mercies I see.

All I have needed your hand has provided,

Great is your faithfulness, Lord unto me.

This friend reminded me how true these words are and how she knew how God will be faithful to me right until the end of my time here in Uganda and beyond. What a great promise we have in that and how much I can rejoice these days in our new Nurse and see how God, in his timing provided just what I needed

A little funny for you to enjoy.....

I was taking baby Ben to the local hospital yesterday and was preparing to leave GSF to take him there. His housemother had him prepared for me and I collected him from her. He was dressed smartly in a vest, babygrow, hat and had 2 thick blankets around him. You may think that I would have gasped in horror at this poor baby being swaddled in so much clothing in 30c degree heat but this has become normal to me. When I first came here I used to be in a constant battle with the mothers who had their babies covered up in the heat here. I would unwrap them and then as soon as they would take their babies back off me they would wrap them back up again! It's cultural here to wrap babies under 3 months up and is the custom wherever you go. I have somehow got used to seeing it and and had to decide a long time ago which battles I would choose to fight here, that being one I gave up on long ago!

So, off I went to the hospital with a bundle of blankets and my tiny baby inside. I carried him in where straight away a nurse stopped me and told me off for over-covering the baby!! She said he would be too hot. I know, I thought! - I was just doing what I was told so I wouldn't be told off by the housemother. So, off came the covers and we attended the clinic to see the doctor. When finishing there we moved along to the pharmacy where I sat down to wait for the medicine. Baby Ben was asleep and comfortable in my arms when two mothers came up to me and told me that he would get cold as he wasn't covered properly and that would make him sick. They took him from my arms and swaddled him again in the blankets I had with me showing me how I need to keep his head and face covered so that the wind doesn't 'catch' him!

I was pleased to get the medicine from the pharmacy fairly quickly as it meant that I was then leaving to head home and away from the gaze of these mothers who thought I was incorrectly caring for this baby! As I was walking out of the hospital the nurse that I had seen when we first came in saw me again and for a second time began telling me off about the amount of covers on him.....poor baby Ben was once again stripped off. We took the car journey back to GSF and I handed him back to his housemother who...guess what?!!.....Yes, told me off for not having had him warm enough and covered from the chill whilst we were out on our trip!

Seizure Clinic

Each month whilst I have been here I have escorted four of our lovely special needs children to the Seizure clinic in Jinja. Today I went along to introduce our new nurse to the delights of the clinic and to try and teach her how it is done. As we arrived I informed her that I would walk her through how I thought it went but I have realised after almost a year of attending I actually still have no idea how this clinic runs!!! Every time I have been to the seizure clinic the format has been slightly different and we spend anywhere from 2 to 6 hours there waiting in different areas, seeing a different amount of professionals and feeling like its the first time we are attending as we have no idea what is going on!

Lilly and Nurse Ruth excited about the trip 
to the seizure clinic!

This is what I told Nurse Ruth what I thought happens...We arrive at the triage desk and hand in the children's hospital books (a bit like medical notes but the patient keeps them). The books go to the bottom of the pile so that you are placed into a queueing system behind those who have already arrived. When it is finally our time we are called forward to be weighed and have the children's temperatures taken (this happens even though I inform the triage station every time that all of our children have recent weights that I have taken myself). We then move inside and join another queue to wait and see the doctor. When we are at the front of that line (which is a series of 5 wooden benches that you move along and forward on) we are allowed into the corridor where the doctors room is and we sit in another short queue until you are called into the doctors office. We see the doctor and then walk out to the pharmacy door and hand our books in there. We will then move around to the front of the pharmacy and sit and wait until our names are called and the pharmacist tells us if they have or do not have the medicine we have been waiting and have come for! That's it! Simple you would think.....except.....

During our 2 hour weight at the triage station this young
 boy taught me how to play 'Doru'. A game similar to
tiddly winks but using stones instead.

Some days I have totally skipped the triage station. A nurse will recognise one of our children when we arrive and will usher us straight away to the queue in the corridor or to the inside building. We have been another time and waited and waited to have their weights and temperatures taken and when I go to the desk to question why we haven't been called I am told we are in the wrong line and we have to go to another desk?! (that just happened once and I have never seen this other desk before or since!) Some days we have waited in all the lines and then the doctor has left before we even got to see them....there is no knowing what surprises seizure clinic holds!!

Lilly fed up with waiting and catches a few
winks!!

As this was my last time attending this clinic I was secretly hoping for a brief, easy visit and something that was straight forward so that I could show Nurse Ruth how it is done. That was not to be and at every stage of the process last Wednesday something didn't quite go according to plan! The books got lost amongst some others when we handed them as the triage guy in charge didn't seem to have any sort of system in place. This meant that we waited over 2 hours just for the triage nurse to take our children's weights (which I had taken last week but he didn't want those ones, however he was happy for me to take them on his scales and write them in the books myself whilst he did someone else!) We then moved inside and found out that the general paediatric doctor was not at work so the seizure clinic doctor was seeing everybody that day! We sat inside for 4 hours and 25 minutes on a wooden bench until it was our turn to be seen. Once we finally made it to the front of the line my four very patient, tolerant and well behaved children were only in with the doctor for 9 minutes at which point he said 'just continue'!! Aaaargh! It can be so frustrating some days! Off to the pharmacy we then went where they only had a 2 week supply of some of the medicines that we needed so we had to go to the drug store to buy the rest.

Lilly making us laugh! Her and Moses entertain us for most of the wait and were making hats from their jumpers :) They have such beautiful personalities and their laughs are infectious.  

My poor derriere was numb and I was so bored from having waited 7 hours to see the doctor for all of 9 minutes. I was frustrated, discouraged and annoyed for our children and all of the sick children that have to go through this system each time they are unwell or have a hospital appointment. The majority of the children that attend seizure clinic, like ours, also have special needs and it asks so much of them for them to have to sit for this length of time. 


I am still learning patience - it has certainly improved this year but still isn't quite up to Ugandan standards!!

Moses still happy after waiting nearly 6 hours and having missed lunch!

L-R: Auntie Marjorine, Moses, Auntie Joyce, Auntie Rose and Tom

I can't say that I am going to miss seizure clinic in the slightest but what I will miss is spending time with these special ladies and children who have entertained me, chatted to me, shared jokes, sodas and stories with me over the last 11 months during the many, many hours we have had together in this clinic. 

Tom

Rosie

New faces

We have two beautiful new faces around here. Welcome to Gloria, 3 yrs and Leticia, 18mths who arrived whilst I was away last week. They are cousins to Daniel, David and Efluansi who also came to GSF last month and they are settling in really well. All five children were living in the same household and their family members were no longer able to care for them all anymore. We are very happy to have them here with us and to getting to know them all.

Leticia

Gloria

Goodbye is not forever

I was reading a friends blog this week which was about goodbyes and it got me thinking about this phrase, 'Goodbye is not forever'.

Having just been in the UK for my Nan's funeral it made me smile to think that the goodbye I have just said is only temporary and that one day soon I will see my beautiful Nanna again. On that day I will be able to hold her hands, sing, praise and dance together with my Nan celebrating for an eternity with Jesus. As I sang the song 'Happy Day' in our devotions last night I was encouraged by the words; "When we stand in that place, free at last meeting face to face, I am yours, Jesus you are mine.  Endless joy, perfect peace, earthly pain finally will cease, as we celebrate Jesus is alive".
Our goodbye not forever, for now, it is just temporary.


Whilst I was at the airport last week saying goodbye to my Mum, Dad and best friend I must admit I got a little choked up.The parting was sad especially after having such an emotional and hard two weeks together but this was eased with the thought that I will be with them again in 8 weeks. 
Saying goodbye is not forever, we will see each other again very soon.


As I arrived back to GSF it was with joy but also with a slightly saddened heart. I know that my last weeks will go by quickly and that time is short. As I am arriving I am preparing myself  to say my goodbyes to all of the children and friends I have made here. I am already thinking about the things I need to do in order to wind my nursing roles down and preparing to hand jobs over to others so that they can continue well when I am gone. I have however come back refreshed and ready to "finish well". This phrase is one that has been going through my head in the UK and now I am back here at GSF, I want to finish well.  I want to get to the end of this assignment having done my best and achieved to the best I can. In Philippians 3 Paul talks about pressing on towards the goal (our ultimate goal - being with Jesus forever) and running the race. Paul's eyes were fixed upon this goal and nothing was going to distract him from it. In my last few weeks I want to complete this part of my race well, to not loose focus and not be distracted by sadness, emotions, tiredness, or other obstacles that may come along to put me off course.


I want to finish well so I am going to make every effort to make the most of every interaction I have, every smile I see, each wound I bandage, every hand shake I give, every stomach ache I treat, each meal time I enjoy and every hug I share with those I am with here. I am going to strive to do my best in my workplace and in handing over a solid and efficient nursing service and in those times where I feel the sadness in my heart of moving on what I need to cherish are the simple but precious moments I have had over the months here. Those moments that sometimes just pass by as usual events of the day but are actually special memories. I have already been blessed with a plethora of these and can instantly come up with memory from a few months ago which makes me smile each time I think of it. I remember being at one of the children's houses for dinner one evening after eating together  Amanda and I were playing with the little girls. Somebody got tickled and then everyone was running around screaming "Tickle me, Auntie Amanda, tickle me Nurse Katie, tickle me!" It was a wonderful moment where Amanda and I were able to love on these kids and play with them just the way my mum played with me when I was little. It was such a tender moment. These darling children although having very special house mothers who love and care for them sometimes miss out on these unique and special moments as their house mum's have 10 or so children to care for and don't have enough hands to cook, clean and tickle at the same time! These moments that I had as a child and that I have now been able to share with some wonderful little girls here and will remain with me for a long time.


So, as I prepare for the next few weeks I am going to strive in God's strength to do my best and finish this part of my race well. When I was at my Nan's funeral last week, at the cemetery and during the burial our Minister read out some verses that my Nan had always had as her favourite and had requested to be read. Psalm 121 v 1-2  "I lift my eyes to the hills - where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth." I used to read these verses when I was sitting in the mountains in Zimbabwe during my first mission trip and again I am reminded of these verses as I sit here today preparing for what will be a fun, exciting and tough few weeks as I prepare to say goodbye to some very special people.

Check out Synergy's new website...

Synergy (Africa Inland Missions Short-term programme) have just relaunched their website after giving it a new look and I am featured on there. To take a look at my interview questions click on the link below and see what I have had to say about my experiences of serving in Africa this year.

http://www.synergyafrica.com/katie-mead-orphanage-nurse/