So what have I been up to, you ask? Well this week, I have visited a couple of projects; a goat project, a women's 'savings and loans' group (micro-finance) and one of the literacy programs. I am happy to tell you that with all these projects, it is the local Ugandan people who are leading them. I went to visit the goats with just one other local Jenga staff and it was actually really nice to be the only white person/foreigner there! There's a part of me that wants to come into this community and do something really useful that no one else could do, but really that's just me being selfish and wanting to feel good about myself. The best thing I can really do in this community, is to support the local staff who live, eat, breathe, sleep, pray and share amongst the people here, day in, day out. The truth is, long after I've left this place, they are the ones who will still be here. They are the ones who will still be impacting the local community and making a difference, not me! Not that I don't have a part to play here, of course, but it's a sobering but happy realisation that this place doesn't NEED me (yet it welcomes me).
On Thursdays, Jenga staff and volunteers go to the local hospital to visit people, offer prayer and see if there's any immediate physical or financial needs we may be able to meet. This week was my first visit and it hit me hard. Within about 30 seconds of entering the surgical ward, I was fighting back tears. Not only because of the people suffering in their cramped beds, but because of the general lack of vaccinations, proper health care, trained doctors and emergency services that could have kept a lot of these people from needing to be there in the first place. The surgical ward is basically a long room with a row of beds down each side. There are no partitions between beds, food is not provided and must be brought in by family and friends, and the medical treatment that they receive here that is supposed to be free, is not. I was visiting the ward with one of the local staff members, Grace, and we stopped by two ladies in the two beds closest to the door on the right hand side. The both looked to be in some level of pain and one of them had her husband sitting on the bed with her. Grace spoke to them in the local language, then translated to me that they had both had stomach problems and had been operated on and were now in the process of healing. One of the ladies had a big scar down her belly where she had been cut open, which hadn't been sown up because they needed to check that her insides were healing properly before they closed her up again. I don't have a background in medicine, but I had a feeling that would not be the normal course of action taken in a hospital back home. The other lady, Stella, had already had two other stomach operations and was now in for her third. She was covered by a blanket, but you could tell from her outline that she was quite thin. She spoke English, so I prayed for her while Grace prayed for the other lady. I sat on the edge of her rickety bed and as I placed my hand on her shoulder, I was quite taken aback at how tiny it was under my hand. All I could feel was bones. I have seen many pictures of underweight, malnourished people but touching that reality with your own hand is just something else.
We moved further down the line of beds and met two young children, Esther and Ivan, who had both broken their legs. It was horrible to see young children bed-ridden while their legs were in the process of healing, but the joy in these two particular kids was amazing. They both gave us huge smiles when we approached their beds and chatted a little with their parents. Esther had a book on her lap and her dad told us she'd asked him to bring her books and homework from school because she didn't want to miss out. Ivan had already been in the hospital for 2 weeks and had 2 more weeks to go but he just wouldn't stop smiling. These kids are stuck in bed for weeks on end with no toys, no tv's, with sick people all around them, and they're happy! They're just getting on with it, no complaints, no whinging, no feeling sorry for themselves. I can learn a lot from these kids. Grace and I moved through the ward and everyone we offered prayer to, accepted it. We even had people approach us and ask us to come and pray for them at their beds further down in the room. It was quite an overwhelming and humbling experience. I saw kids suffering from typhoid-induced surgeries, people with metal pins going through their legs and attaching them to their beds, a man with a missing finger and a young child and a baby with horrific burns on their heads and faces. Probably their bodies too.
I left the ward feeling emotionally heavy but also convinced more than ever that small acts of kindness can make such a huge difference to people who are in dire circumstances. I promised myself I would return before the next scheduled visit, to give some colouring-in books to the kids and some food for Stella. It's insane how far the Australian dollar can go here. I might not bat an eyelid at spending $1 on a bunch of bananas (in fact, I would call that a major bargain at the moment), but for some, that might be their entire day's earnings. Something as basic and neccessary as antibiotics is simply out of financial reach for many people. I have a feeling these hospital visits are going to kill me emotionally and they are entirely optional, but I know that I need to return. I have the means to be able to give to those who are less fortunate than myself and the people filling the beds at Mbale hospital are certainly in need of a helping hand.
On a brighter note, though, things here are going well and I'm starting to find my feet and get a feel for what Jenga does and what areas I might best be suited for. The other volunteers are great - I should probably introduce them to you! Besides all the regular long-term Jenga staff (who I will try and introduce as I go along), there is myself and three other volunteers: Duncan, 19 from Glasgow, Grant, 21 from London and Phil, 22 also from London. They're a fun bunch of guys and we hang out a fair bit at the office and our homes and at the pool of one of the hotels here where we have swimming races and lounge around on deck chairs when we can! I went for my first run here this morning with Grant and we're hopefully going to make it a weekly event to try and keep up our fitness levels...or lack thereof in my case. The hotel where we swim also offers aerobics classes in the evenings and apparently they do pilates too. I may need to look into that...
I really miss broccoli.
Thanks again for reading, and please feel free to comment, ask questions, throw in your 2 cents or whatever else! It would be nice to know that I'm not just throwing words out randomly into cyberspace...
Until next time,
Louise :)
Andrew, one of the Jenga staff, and a camera-shy goat from the goat project!
No comments:
Post a Comment