|
In the past two weeks I have attended five burials. It is culture here to attend burials and share in the mourning. One of them was for the Grandmother of six of our sponsored youth. She raised around 15 orphans in her home after she buried all of her own children. Rhoada had acute asthma and died at the age of 86. To the six children she was like a mother, since all of them had no parents except her. Three of the six have finished university and one more will finish next year. The remaining two are in high school. We praise God that four of the six children have accepted Christ as their Lord and Savior. There were a lot of tears on this day as the youth sat around the coffin and cried, singing songs to the Lord.
I remember when I first went to this home. All of these youth were small children then. I felt overwhelmed by the situation that was before me. The children and their Grandmother all lived in a single crumbling mud hut. They had nothing, one old sauce pan and no utensils of any kind. They even ate their food off of leaves that they would wash and use as plates. These were big leaves from the banana plants. Their clothes were total rags. All of them had ringworm and swollen cheeks and bellies. When it rained the little mud hut became literally mud inside and out. The ministry was able to build a house with two bedrooms, kitchen and sitting room for the 4 boys and left the 2 girls with the grandmother. We did the best we could to fix up the house for the girls and make it better for them. It is now a three room mud hut. One girl is now grown up, finished university, loves the Lord and is married to a good Christian man. I looked around at the recent burial and thanked God for the six that were chosen for sponsorship.
These are the kind of situations we are continuously faced with. It is overwhelming and the needs are so many. We are so thankful for the faithful sponsors and donors that God has given us through so many of you. These children never would have gone to school without your help. The Grandmother would have died twenty years ago perhaps without the help.
I am very thankful for the Holmes Medical Clinic too. I visited someone who ended up in the hospital a few days ago and the conditions are unbelievable. One has to wait for a doctor to come, which can take a long time! If there is no bed available you lay on the floor. You have to bring your own sheets and food and someone to cook for you. There is no shower or bathing room - only outhouses. The hygiene is terrible and nothing is clean. I have been here so many times over the 20 years of being in Uganda, but it never ceases to disturb me so much.
Two Day Medical Camp for the Community
|
|
| Testing form Camp Patients in our Lab |
It is my prayer that Holmes Medical Clinic will have a standard that Uganda is not used to and be a living testimony for the Lord and to all who pass through the clinic. We had a medical camp with over 300 attending. Most of them tested for AIDS. Only six were positive and there were counselors available to counsel them and get them started on treatment. Nearly all the attendees had a complete blood testing and grouping. Of course, there were many who had malaria, something that seems to be a part of life in Africa. Others had typhoid, some had heart problems and others that were diabetic. It was wonderful to see this many people receiving attention and treated in a clean and wonderful environment. Michael, our managing medical officer for the clinic was all smiles for these days as he was happy to see so many familiar faces coming to the clinic. Benjamin, one of our own youth who has recently finished his class work and is now interning as a doctor/surgeon, was also volunteering to help out with one of his colleagues from a hospital in Kampala. Blessings, Katherine
|
