Just turn on the tap

 

Mosquito Net Drive

Above: pictures from Wednesday’s clinic immunization, where babies were given shots and medication, and mosquito nets were handed out.

Our clinic has been breaking a lot of records recently. February saw 2,260 people come in for treatment, which is incredible given how we shut the clinic down for a few days, and that it was already a short month to begin with (to put that number in context, we averaged 1,126 patients per month for the entire of 2009.) So when trends like this start to pop up, we all ask ourselves, “why?” We don’t have to ponder that for more than a few seconds. The reason is Malaria. Malaria is devastating the area we live in… over 1,500 of the cases we attended to in February were for Malaria.

Another dispersal of nets was carried out this Wednesday during the weekly clinic immunization (we talked about immunizations a while ago), in the village of Kikakata. 50 nets were handed out to the needy families in the area. We’d love to do more.

We experience Malaria not only in the external community, but also with our own staff. For just a few dollars you can buy a treated mosquito net that will go a long way to keeping our staff, and their children, safe from the ravages of this disease. If you would like to contribute, check out the link below.

http://paoutreach.net/mosquito-nets

Sponsor a Child in Uganda! Yes you. . .

These kids deal with tough things early in age. Being abandoned by parents, living in difficult conditions, experiencing the death of loved ones and going to bed with an empty stomach. It’s amazing that they come to school with a smile on their face. There are literally hundreds of students that apply to get into our school and we only accept 50 of the neediest Nursery students, some new Secondary (Grade 8) students, and Vocational students (Catering, Carpentry & Tailoring).

Here of just a couple of the Nursery kids that caught my attention and are needing a sponsor. . .

Namugulura Sylivia(NA)- Sylivia is a little tank (in looks), but she is so sweet and shy. This 4 year old girl is living with her mother, 2 brothers and 1 sister. Her father abandoned the family, married another wife and has 10 children in total from all his wives! The house that Sylivia was living in collapsed and her mother took her and her siblings to live with the grandparents. Her mother is struggling to support herself and her children.

Luboobi Herbert(NB)- Cute cute cute. Herbert is 5 years old and lives with his mother, 2 brothers and 1 sister. The family’s financial situation is not looking so good. The husband abandoned the family 6 months ago, sold some of his property and took off with the money. The mother has no source of income to support her children and she needs sponsorship assistance.

Ssanyu Meroni(NA)- Meroni has a little mischievous side to her and she is always smiling. She is 6 years old and lives with her mother, 4 brothers and six sisters (it’s a huge family!). Her father is an alcoholic (or as everyone says here- a drunkard), and he comes and goes from home. Three months ago he sold a lot of house items and ran away with the money. The mother is left to care for all these kids.

Do you see how cute these kids are? Well, I guess that’s not the only reason to sponsor a child. The benefits of it are endless and here are just a few. . .

 

·         I’m here so I see you sponsor kid everyday- I can give them hugs, visit their families and give them a high five from you!

·         The money goes towards school fees, uniforms, medical assistance, a healthy meal at school, a good education and the list goes on. . . It has a HUGE impact on the student and family members!

 

Check out the website if you want to sponsor. . .  http://www.paoutreach.net/sponsor

Keeping perspective

Every now and then I need to take a step back, look through some photos or just take a day to look at everything around us, and get a fresh perspective on Kibaale. In fact it’s sadly easy to adjust and let yourself become okay with the way life is for everyone here. We shouldn’t ever let ourselves become adapted to the difficulties of daily life, never let ourselves say ‘ no big deal’ to anything we see, or use the justification of someone’s relative comforts in comparison to another as a reason to not help. We shouldn’t become so familiar with people and being in a strange place that we stop smiling or greeting people we don’t know just because we’re tired. We shouldn’t let the thought cross our minds that a lack of education could make someone’s opinion less valid. We shouldn’t become so full of ourselves to ever say that we have a difficult life.

When it comes down to it, we have a choice, and those we’ve come to help do not. I’m so glad to be here, but I still have days where I get caught in the “woe is me, this is hard” mental game. It’s times like this that I take the step back I’m talking about, give myself a good smack (maybe two), and am hopefully able to quickly move on and get back in gear.

Here’s a random sample of everyday photos I’ve been staring at for the past thirty minutes… hopefully they can give whoever’s reading this a bit of perspective too.