The Adventure continues....

There is much to blog about and sometimes I have little idea where to start! However, I think the most important thing to share about is our work in Uganda, so I will start there. Our time in Uganda was amazing. We were accepted by the family we stayed with - Robert and Esther and their 13 children - as part of the family. Esther has only given birth to two children, Jemima and Karen, and they adopted Grace when she was a brand new infant after she was rescued from a well - where she had been dumped. The rest of their 'children' are all ages and they have taken them in and had them join their family due to their varying needs - just as they did us. Our time with them built a foundation of relationship, that is now cherished and will likely support the underpinnings of Impact Nations' future longterm medical work in Mityana, Uganda. It is not a stretch for me to imagine moving here one day to continue this work....

Enjoying the rain with the kids on the trampoline The kids teach us how to do the washing! Love your machine people - love your machine! Esther, Karen and Jemimah

Saul

Grace Karen Robert Sarah Jemimah

Fun in the Rain

There is much to blog about and sometimes I have little idea where to start! However, I think the most important thing to share about is our work in Uganda, so I will start there. Our time in Uganda was amazing. We were accepted by the family we stayed with - Robert and Esther and their 13 children - as part of the family. Esther has only given birth to two children, Jemima and Karen, and they adopted Grace when she was a brand new infant after she was rescued from a well - where she had been dumped. The rest of their 'children' are all ages and they have taken them in and had them join their family due to their varying needs - just as they did us. Our time with them built a foundation of relationship, that is now cherished and will likely support the underpinnings of Impact Nations' future longterm medical work in Mityana, Uganda. It is not a stretch for me to imagine moving here one day to continue this work....

Our hero - Juliette - RN

Listening to our health teaching

Juliette's son Benjamin - we LOVE him!

Shopping for props for our health teaching on nutrition

Kids Playing at the school Kate - always a kid magnet This is what they call rainy season! We had some significant 'professional' experiences while in Mityana, that really impacted us personally and our professional understanding. My initial blog talked of the working conditions and lack of healthcare resources. Well we experienced this in a way that none of us ever imagined. We were sitting down to have a meeting about a business plan/model to fund our medical plans and ideas, when we heard screaming from outside. In general, Uganda (like the rest of Africa) is not a quiet place. People commune in the streets (laneways) and houses are anything but soundproof. Africans by nature are fairly loud and expressive, so none of us really thought much of the screaming (especially because we understand very little of the language). Pastor Robert said to us as we were sitting down - it sounds like they have lost someone, I will go see what is happening. Again we didn't think much of this, as there are children roaming freely on a regular basis - and none of us got up. It wasn't until one of the children came in and said "a child has died" that any of us did anything. Robert quickly followed and said he was taking the mother and child to the hospital - we asked if we could do something - he said maybe one of you come - we quickly decided that Heather being the ICU nurse should go.... the rest of the story is found on her blog here.

Another significant professional experience that the three of us shared was our daily care for Florence. She is a beautiful vibrant woman, and the wife of Pastor Hannington. The community they pastor has been a village where Impact Nations has been starting different projects, such as farming, provision of electricity to the local school and food provision for the students, as they partner towards village transformation. Florence and Hannington came to see us early in our time in Uganda with an Xray and the report that she had just had surgery to drain an abscess. She had a very significant osteomyelitis (infection in the bone) in her hip. They were asking for our help, as she had a large wound, was unable to walk and was in significant pain. We put our resources and supplies together and were able to give her 5 days of IV antibiotics, changed her dressing and prayed for her twice a day. There were moments where we were quite concerned about the level of infection she had, and when we felt like she really needed more surgery. However, when we left her, she was healing well, walking again and abundantly grateful. We received a message from them both after we had left Uganda telling us that they had been to see the surgeon, who was amazed at her progress, and who told them in no uncertain terms - that if she had not had the strong antibiotics and care we gave her, she may have lost her ability to walk. We are thankful for the healing she has received, and ask that you would keep her in your prayers as we wait and believe for complete healing.

Florence before she was walking.... and now she walks!

Outside Florence and Hanngington's house

Caring for Florence The final report on what we will propose longterm medically in Mityana is in the final stages and will be posted soon. But a summary of it is - we would like to partner with the healthcare professionals in the town as they work to care for people in the outlying villages. Initially, our support will look like troubleshooting, sharing resources and lending an ear to those working in difficult circumstances. The details of the longterm plan will be coming - stay tuned! We have now completed a week of rest prior to starting our second leg of medical voluntary work in Burundi. We have learned the hard way how imperative it is to take time out to recharge while we are travelling in this nature. It is especially important as we will all resume our full-time jobs when we return to Canada. We have had an amazing rest - lots of laughs and moments where we were astounded and brought to tears by God's beauty and majesty. I have even read TWO 700 page novels (only some of you will know the significance of this!). It has been almost a year since we lost our Papa Bob. Kate and I met Bob and Sylvia in Kenya five and a half years ago. We had significant experiences together here and I find my thoughts pondering the pearls of wisdom that he imparted to us in our time together as we travel. We miss him. We went sailing this week and smiled as we remembered the fantastic captain he was and high standards he set on his boat (not quite the case here!). I was proud that we took time out to rest, as he was always impressing on us the importance of living a life of balance and taking time to rest and just be God's kids. We are blessed! We are excited about the time in Burundi and will post again soon.