It rained the mother of all storms on Sunday night and Monday morning. I lay in bed wondering about the people who we know whose homes are made of little more than mud and corregated iron, how do they cope with such an onslaught of water? For the majority of the time the sorching sun beats down with no relief. But then their homes and their lives dissolve each time it rains, their meagre shelters only provide minimal protection and yet they survive. Life here is often a matter of survival, the balance between life and death seems such a thin line, easily crossed and with no return.
By late Sunday night we were packed and ready to leave so Monday morning we headed of to Lungujja for last goodbyes. I also planned to take a few photographs of the schools new sportswear which The Kabanda Trust had paid for and which as yet is still in bags unused. A quick discussion with Pastor Steven about it and all of a sudden 200 children are crowding around him shouting, clapping and laughing with delight. He has told them about the sportswear (and the 150 pairs of pumps/plimsolls we brought with us) and that Friday will be sportsday. The children formed orderly lines and the bright new red, yellow, green and blus T-shirts were distributed. Each child held a t-shirt against himself and the excitment was tangible - their happy smiling faces thrilled by the new garments again brought tears to my eyes. It seems that something so simple can just lift their joy to another plain.
So hard to tear myself away. It feels as though this time I have made so many friends. From the lovely ladies, to Edward still smiling as he grasps my hand. Florence invites me to visit her home to say goodbye. There is bright sunlight outside and inside she proudly shows of the tiny, neat but dark home in which she brought up 10 children! Winter's small shed like dwelling is locked and empty - she has gone and Lovincer her neighbour, one of the teachers, hugs me like she will never let me go. Finally, after a tearful prayer and many goodbyes we head off up the muddy, bumpy (understatement!!) potholed track, back to life as we know it.
Wednesday 9 August 2006
Malaria is a terrible disease
Our last week at Nansana has been focused on Health. Each of the classes studied one of four themes - Water & Hygiene, Healthy Diet, Malaria and HIV/AIDs. Emily prepared some colouring /worksheets for each theme, she and Bex worked with 6 classes teaching songs and supporting the teachers with their work on the themes. I rewrote the popular childrens ditty about vegetables "Cauliflowers fluffy & cabbages green" to fit in with the fruit & veg available here and taught it to 2 classes. Jayne & Kate worked with the older classes on HIV/AIDs which brought a number of unexpected challenges and issues to light. Kate concernedly followed some of these up by contacting some NGO's and making introductions for the school with organisations such as Hope after Rape, (connected to Save the Children) who hopefully will come in and provide some teaching and counselling for the children.
So on Friday afternoon we sat in the shade of a large ugly fruit tree whilst the children all performed the songs, plays, morals and stories that they had learnt. It was really encouraging to see and hear what they had taken in and entertaining to listen to what they had written. "Malaria is a terrible disease, we should sleep under a treated moquito net to prevent malaria" was one of the catchy numbers, talk to me nicely and I'll hum it too you :)
As we sat a storm brewed and by two & half hours into the performance (they like to string it out with lots of singing and dancing) we rushed to the relative safety of what passes for the school hall. Wooden stake walls with a corregated iron roof give very little protection from tumultous rain and when the noise of the lashing rain on the tin became so loud that we couldnt hear ourselves think, we handed out bananas and water melon to the excitement of the children.
But that was only a rehersal for Sunday. At 2pm we dutifully arrived to lead a Health Seminar. Gordon was chilled whihc was just as well because although we had recieved frantic phone calls from Charles the headteacher to find out where we were, at 2.30 they were only just putting up the marquee (dont know how else to describe the structure) and by 3.00 some of the invited audiance of parents had arrived! Eventully we started and Gordon used the childrens wonderful performances and presentation as a basis for talking about the range of health issues. There's nothing like learning from your children. I did my Debbie McGee bit, a sort of walk on part providing entertainment and illustrations! whihc included teaching the parents to sing "The Wise Man built his house upon the rock..... and the rain came tumbling down" !! Our new friend Baker the Netman (from who we had purchased 100 mosquito nets) joined us and explained the use of the nets and helped to dispell some misapprenshions about them. It goes like this, on average a person will suffer from 5-6 bouts of malaria in a year. The treatment for this is expensive - 5000 shillings a bout meaning that they could pay out 30,000 shillings (£10) per person per year. Bearing in mind that a teacher at Nansana earns £40 a months that is a large expence. Sleeping under a treated mosquito net reduces the number of bouts they suffer to 1 or 2. A net cost 11,000 shillings (£3.70) - the maths was not lost on them!! After the show, we sold nets bought from Baker using a large donation from Woolstanton Rotary Club for 5000 shillings each (£1.60) and the schools health project will use the income this will generate for them to provide water for handwashing and medicines to treat malaria.
At the end we were presented with certificates from the schools management committee in appreciation of our work and then Gordon started again witha group of women who had many questions about Family Spacing (contraception to you and me!)
Finally we were ready to leave by about 8pm and then it rained again...... it is after all the rainy season. We caught a taxi back driven by Larry who it turns out had been an illegal immigrant in the UK and had worked in homebase! Still it meant that he was able to entertain us on the life threatening journey home through muddy swamps and lakes of dirty red water.... scarey trip, no-one seems to know the rules of the road, if indeed there are any! We counted our blessings when we returned in one piece to the guest house.
So on Friday afternoon we sat in the shade of a large ugly fruit tree whilst the children all performed the songs, plays, morals and stories that they had learnt. It was really encouraging to see and hear what they had taken in and entertaining to listen to what they had written. "Malaria is a terrible disease, we should sleep under a treated moquito net to prevent malaria" was one of the catchy numbers, talk to me nicely and I'll hum it too you :)
As we sat a storm brewed and by two & half hours into the performance (they like to string it out with lots of singing and dancing) we rushed to the relative safety of what passes for the school hall. Wooden stake walls with a corregated iron roof give very little protection from tumultous rain and when the noise of the lashing rain on the tin became so loud that we couldnt hear ourselves think, we handed out bananas and water melon to the excitement of the children.
But that was only a rehersal for Sunday. At 2pm we dutifully arrived to lead a Health Seminar. Gordon was chilled whihc was just as well because although we had recieved frantic phone calls from Charles the headteacher to find out where we were, at 2.30 they were only just putting up the marquee (dont know how else to describe the structure) and by 3.00 some of the invited audiance of parents had arrived! Eventully we started and Gordon used the childrens wonderful performances and presentation as a basis for talking about the range of health issues. There's nothing like learning from your children. I did my Debbie McGee bit, a sort of walk on part providing entertainment and illustrations! whihc included teaching the parents to sing "The Wise Man built his house upon the rock..... and the rain came tumbling down" !! Our new friend Baker the Netman (from who we had purchased 100 mosquito nets) joined us and explained the use of the nets and helped to dispell some misapprenshions about them. It goes like this, on average a person will suffer from 5-6 bouts of malaria in a year. The treatment for this is expensive - 5000 shillings a bout meaning that they could pay out 30,000 shillings (£10) per person per year. Bearing in mind that a teacher at Nansana earns £40 a months that is a large expence. Sleeping under a treated mosquito net reduces the number of bouts they suffer to 1 or 2. A net cost 11,000 shillings (£3.70) - the maths was not lost on them!! After the show, we sold nets bought from Baker using a large donation from Woolstanton Rotary Club for 5000 shillings each (£1.60) and the schools health project will use the income this will generate for them to provide water for handwashing and medicines to treat malaria.
At the end we were presented with certificates from the schools management committee in appreciation of our work and then Gordon started again witha group of women who had many questions about Family Spacing (contraception to you and me!)
Finally we were ready to leave by about 8pm and then it rained again...... it is after all the rainy season. We caught a taxi back driven by Larry who it turns out had been an illegal immigrant in the UK and had worked in homebase! Still it meant that he was able to entertain us on the life threatening journey home through muddy swamps and lakes of dirty red water.... scarey trip, no-one seems to know the rules of the road, if indeed there are any! We counted our blessings when we returned in one piece to the guest house.
Tuesday 8 August 2006
Gloria & Ronnies wedding
Gloria is Stella sister. She and Ronnie were married on Saturday at Kampala Pentecostal Church which seats 2000. We arrived on time at 11 with the bride. By 11:30 there were about 50 guests and so the service began. Amazing - not time to tell it here but if you get the opportunity to go to a wedding in Uganda take it. Two hours later by the end of the service there were over 500 people present. The 'smal'l reception for 400 on the shore of Lake Victoria was wonderful..... all the parents get to say something (interesteing idea) and it was a thrill to hear them speak and to share their delight at the marriage of thier offspring who both proudly told us all that they had "kept themselves pure" and that they wanted all their friends present to know how much Jesus loved them and cared for them..... get me to tell you about it sometime.
Winters tale
The Ubumama group was amazing - it was such a joy and a blessing to work with these wonderful women. We had a regular group of 30 who came for 5 days. Here time is very loose - for example 10am might mean sometime today. "Starting at 3pm" for the first session meant that by 5.30 everybody had arrived and so I was somewhat shocked to find for the last four days that if I was later than 3pm, such was the enthusiam of the group that many of them had already arrived, set out the tables and were ready complaining that the Muzungu (white person) was keeping Ugandan time!
Anyway, their stories were incredible - sad and moving tales of difficult births, of illness, of loss of their children, of unsupportive and abusive husbands, of terrible treatment at the hospitals (the nurses hit women in labour to stop them making a noise!! can you believe it?) and yet, through all the difficulties these were some of the warmest, most positive, delightful, encouraging and supportive group of women it has ever been my privilige to get to know. We had a fantastic fime sharing our stories and thinking about their issues, which ranged from malaria whilst pregnant, bad diet, poor transport to the clinics, lack of education - many didnt know how they had become pregnant the first time, fear of the delivery and others including lack of family planning. This is a major issue. Many of the women only wanted 2 or 3 children but most had 4 + with several having 8, 9 or 10 children!!! The men see it as a sign of their virility if they have large nos of kids and will not accept the use of contraceptives whilst the women fear refusing their husbands, loosing their lives in childbirth, the difficulty of delivery and having more mouths to feed on their meagre incomes.
From our story telling sessions everybody designed and embroidered a piece of fabric to symbolise their tale. The results were amazing and they were all so proud of what they achieved. Watch out for this project - I am hoping to repeat it when I come home with a group of willing women..... when Gordon had arrived this week he lead a Health Seminar which the group came to and where we tried to provide some health education to support them. Becaouse of the generosity of a local rotary club we were able to give all the lovely ladies a mosquito net - to their great delight.
Winter came to three sessions and to the health seminar. She had become pregnant last Feb aged 15 and baby Susan who came with her is now 8 months old. At the time she did not know she was pregnant and was surprised when she went into labour (!?) her parents threw her out and her 23 yr old "husband" Peter had taken her in. Now 5 months pregnant with her second child she was a lively, enthusiastic girl keen to learn how to sew, proud of her beautiful daughter and determined only to have 2 children. At the health seminar she bravely stood and asked questions about contraception and was excited to think she might be able to have some control over this. The next day she wasnt at the group! During the night Peter had beaten her up - he was angry that his "wife" had been coming to church, had been learning to sew and had been learning other things as well!! At the group we discussed at length how the women might support Winter and sadly shared their own issues that her dramatic story had brought to light. I visited Winter and she showed me her bruises, Gordon gave her some excercises to do stretch her bruised muscles and we gave her some painkillers to give her some relief. Boldly, she decided she would like to carry on sewing and I took her fabric and some threads to her house along with a mosquito net. I have never seen such thrill as hers when she recieved them. Yesterday they told me she had gone - there had been more abuse and she had left.
I cant describe how sad I have felt about this and other things they have shared with me and yet thier courage, strength and an unswerving faith in a Father God who loves them and cares about all their needs is a lesson in trust that I never expected to learn. I am thrilled that they have decided to continue to meet each week, they will start to think about what they would like a nurse to do for their children - the Kabanda Trust plans to employ a nurse in Lungujja - soon, they will continue to sew, share and support each other and who knows what they will develop.
Last night Pastor Steven and his wife Gladys came for supper at the guest house where we are staying. Gladys brought with her a beautiful woven basket a gift from the women and a letter "we cannot give you much, but we can give you to God and ask him to care for you" I was moved to tears as I am now as I write...... my sisters in Uganda are amazing, courageous women.
Anyway, their stories were incredible - sad and moving tales of difficult births, of illness, of loss of their children, of unsupportive and abusive husbands, of terrible treatment at the hospitals (the nurses hit women in labour to stop them making a noise!! can you believe it?) and yet, through all the difficulties these were some of the warmest, most positive, delightful, encouraging and supportive group of women it has ever been my privilige to get to know. We had a fantastic fime sharing our stories and thinking about their issues, which ranged from malaria whilst pregnant, bad diet, poor transport to the clinics, lack of education - many didnt know how they had become pregnant the first time, fear of the delivery and others including lack of family planning. This is a major issue. Many of the women only wanted 2 or 3 children but most had 4 + with several having 8, 9 or 10 children!!! The men see it as a sign of their virility if they have large nos of kids and will not accept the use of contraceptives whilst the women fear refusing their husbands, loosing their lives in childbirth, the difficulty of delivery and having more mouths to feed on their meagre incomes.
From our story telling sessions everybody designed and embroidered a piece of fabric to symbolise their tale. The results were amazing and they were all so proud of what they achieved. Watch out for this project - I am hoping to repeat it when I come home with a group of willing women..... when Gordon had arrived this week he lead a Health Seminar which the group came to and where we tried to provide some health education to support them. Becaouse of the generosity of a local rotary club we were able to give all the lovely ladies a mosquito net - to their great delight.
Winter came to three sessions and to the health seminar. She had become pregnant last Feb aged 15 and baby Susan who came with her is now 8 months old. At the time she did not know she was pregnant and was surprised when she went into labour (!?) her parents threw her out and her 23 yr old "husband" Peter had taken her in. Now 5 months pregnant with her second child she was a lively, enthusiastic girl keen to learn how to sew, proud of her beautiful daughter and determined only to have 2 children. At the health seminar she bravely stood and asked questions about contraception and was excited to think she might be able to have some control over this. The next day she wasnt at the group! During the night Peter had beaten her up - he was angry that his "wife" had been coming to church, had been learning to sew and had been learning other things as well!! At the group we discussed at length how the women might support Winter and sadly shared their own issues that her dramatic story had brought to light. I visited Winter and she showed me her bruises, Gordon gave her some excercises to do stretch her bruised muscles and we gave her some painkillers to give her some relief. Boldly, she decided she would like to carry on sewing and I took her fabric and some threads to her house along with a mosquito net. I have never seen such thrill as hers when she recieved them. Yesterday they told me she had gone - there had been more abuse and she had left.
I cant describe how sad I have felt about this and other things they have shared with me and yet thier courage, strength and an unswerving faith in a Father God who loves them and cares about all their needs is a lesson in trust that I never expected to learn. I am thrilled that they have decided to continue to meet each week, they will start to think about what they would like a nurse to do for their children - the Kabanda Trust plans to employ a nurse in Lungujja - soon, they will continue to sew, share and support each other and who knows what they will develop.
Last night Pastor Steven and his wife Gladys came for supper at the guest house where we are staying. Gladys brought with her a beautiful woven basket a gift from the women and a letter "we cannot give you much, but we can give you to God and ask him to care for you" I was moved to tears as I am now as I write...... my sisters in Uganda are amazing, courageous women.
Wednesday 2 August 2006
Standing and smiling
When we arrived several weeks ago one of the most poignant and touching stories was of Edward. A child of about 7 years his deformed and narled body seemed more like that of a 70 year old. The story was that Edward has TB of the bones and probably HIV, that his father was dying of AIDs at home sleeping on the floor adn that his stepmother was not caring for him. I spoke to the Mildmay Clinic - specialising in working with people who are HIV +ve and who run a free hospice for children who are dying from AIDS. They agreed to take him and give hime end of life care if we got him tested and if his test was +ve and that was what it seemed he needed. So i arranged for him to be tested and we awaited the outcome.
Yesterday a small smiling, upright child greeted me by touching me on the arm and saying "Mama Liz" (thats my name here) I have been to the clinic I have TB." he was transformed - I told him I knew his test was negative and we hugged. His obvious joy and relief that he didnt have HIV was a delight - he was no longer stooping and dragging himself along, but more upright and so happy!! Pastor Steven was as amazed as I was at the transformation, we cannot do much to help his TB but we seem to have given him back his hope for a future and therefore his life! i have never seen such an amazing change - Praise God!! 10,000 shilllings was all it cost (3 pounds) for a test that brought such good news and gives a small child hope for the future.
Yesterday a small smiling, upright child greeted me by touching me on the arm and saying "Mama Liz" (thats my name here) I have been to the clinic I have TB." he was transformed - I told him I knew his test was negative and we hugged. His obvious joy and relief that he didnt have HIV was a delight - he was no longer stooping and dragging himself along, but more upright and so happy!! Pastor Steven was as amazed as I was at the transformation, we cannot do much to help his TB but we seem to have given him back his hope for a future and therefore his life! i have never seen such an amazing change - Praise God!! 10,000 shilllings was all it cost (3 pounds) for a test that brought such good news and gives a small child hope for the future.
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