A new addition to the family

Grace

The dictionary describes Grace as; elegance or beauty of form, favour or goodwill, kindness, love and mercy.

.

We have a new baby here at GSF and what a perfect name she has. Baby Grace is 7 months old and came last week from the local village. Her mother has some mental health problems and has not been a reliable care giver often disappearing from the home. Grace was blessed with a wonderful grandmother who would return from the gardens and find her daughter gone and Grace on her own. Her grandmother has tried her best but is unable to sustain the care that Grace needs so she has come to us and joined our home.

Grace is adorable, she is everything that her name describes. She is beautiful, full of love and we can see that she has already had favour and mercy on her in her short life. Grace is now getting spoilt with hugs, kisses and love from all that meet her. She is the most content baby I have ever been with. Today we took her to the hospital and she didn't cry, groan or whimper once, not all day - and it was a long, hot, rough day (I moaned!).

Grace was seen by a specialist neurological team at a hospital in Mbale, about 3 hours away today. We have been concerned that Grace has an unusually shaped head and a very large 'soft spot' at the front of her head. Her skull does not seem to be fusing together like normal but is wide and an odd shape at the front. We had been told that it could be Hydrocephalus. At the hospital Grace saw a neurosurgeon and had a CT scan. The scan showed us that her brain isn't entirely normal. The ventricles are slightly enlarged (the areas of water shown in the scan which shows the spinal fluid collections in the brain) and at the front of her skull there were small areas of 'brain damage' (softening of the brain matter due to a bleed). The doctor was not able to tell us if this would have been caused to a bad birth where Grace could have been starved from oxygen or damage to her brain from abuse. The doctor did tell us that it is likely that she will be slightly developmentally delayed. We were pleased to have been able to see a specialist doctor so quickly and to find out that Grace will not need any surgery for her condition. It saddens me to think that there is a reason that Grace has sustained damage to her brain and it is heart breaking to even try and contemplate the possible reasons this could have happened. 

Please pray for Baby Grace.

What's in the box?

A couple of days ago there was a lot of screaming outside my house and children shouting "Nurse Kate, Nurse Kate, come quick". I jumped up and ran to the door, my adrenaline pumping thinking that there was a huge medical emergency going on. As I opened the door Henry was standing right in the doorway holding a massive snake out on a stick that I very unhappily came face to face with. The children laughed, were jumping about and pleased as punched with themselves for making me jump and scream.

In all serious though, this is another snake that has been found and killed at GSF recently. There have been many reported sightings of snakes around the compound over the last few months and there have even been some much smaller snakes being seen and killed but this is the biggest that has ever been found here.

It turned out that the headmaster of our school was in his office and went to move a box that was on the floor. The box was much heavier than he expected so he glanced inside it. He couldn't tell if there was some sort of rubber inside or something else more sinister so with a couple of others for courage they investigated to find a big snake inside! The box was moved outside very quickly! Fortunately the snake had just dined out on a bird so was more placid than he potentially could have been. Outside a group gathered to 'stone' the snake and kill it with one of the school's javelins! 

The snake was then paraded around the site and created much interest and excitement around the children. Outside Amy and Mark's house he was laid out on the gravel and measured. He was 8 feet long!! Reports from those living here say that he may have been a Black Mamba.  

I love these pictures (that I pinched from Amy!) of the missionaries and children taking all 8ft of it in!!!

About a month ago the matron here at GSF got up at church to thank God for His protection here as at that point 3 snakes had recently been found and she wanted to praise God for the protection on all of us. Again, today, we can praise the One who keeps us safe from harm. 

Psalm 46 v 1-3 "God is our safe place and our strength. He is always our help when we are in trouble.   

                          So we will not be afraid, even if the earth is shaken and the mountains fall into the  

                          centre of the sea, and even if its waters go wild with storm and the mountains shake 

                          with its action.

Wikipedia - The black mamba (Dendroaspis polylepis), also called the common black mamba or black-mouthed mamba,^[4] is the longest venomous snake in Africa, averaging around 2.5 to 3.2 m (8.2 to 10 ft) in length, and sometimes growing to lengths of 4.45 m (14.6 ft).^[5] It is named for the black colour of the inside of the mouth rather than the colour of its scales which varies from dull yellowish-green to a gun-metal grey. It is the fastest snake in the world, capable of moving at 4.32 to 5.4 metres per second (16–20 km/h, 10–12 mph).^[6] It has a reputation for being aggressive and highly venomous and is among the world's most venomous land snakes.^[7][8]

Ouch!

Last week we were paid a visit by the Local health team who are sent out by the government to immunise all children in their allocated village. The government, each time there is an outbreak of a preventable disease such as measles or polio, deploy teams nationally to administer immunisations on a mass scale. Recently, there have been reports of measles spreading through the community and sadly claiming too many lives especially of those under 5 years old. We have had some mild cases of measles here at GSF and in the school.

All of our children here at GSF are fully immunised and have had all of their routine vaccines however this does not make you exempt from getting another injection in your arm! The local heath team are sent to vaccinate all under 5's that they find despite previous immunisation history. Sadly, families in the villages are not so good at ensuring their children are fully immunised (despite it being a free service) which is why the teams are sent out to each home ensuring that the youngest children are given some protection against these deadly but very preventable diseases.

The National newspaper reported that there was a very good response to the week's 3 day booster immunisation programme and that there had been more than 90% uptake of the immunisations.

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