Our team expanded overnight tonight! Katie, a school teacher and Pastor Rachel joined us at around midnight last night. After very little time to catch up on sleep, stoically they joined us for today's follow up clinic. We returned to the idyllic location of Ssanga for our clinic. It was much more manageable today, with considerably less new patients amongst our follow ups. The above picture is a picture of Marvin who has rickets. We have organised 2 operations for him and now he zooms around proudly on his crutches!
There were many babies in the clinic today, including a 2 day old baby who's mother helped at the clinic last Thursday! Unfortunately, the baby had a high temperature but no obvious source of infection so we had to take the baby to Bombo Barracks Hospital for investigation and treatment. Peter and Juliet took her there with John Bunjo who described it as "the Pentagon of Uganda" due to very high levels of security.
Meanwhile, back in Ssanga, some continued the clinic while others led the teaching sessions. Both sessions were well attended and the questions asked were fascinating - especially in the women's group as this unearthed some Ugandan myths, which Kirsten and Meg quickly dispelled:
- If a man doesn't have sex, his sperm builds up and is toxic to him!
- All contraception causes cancer.
- The pill burns and damages your eggs.
The Mental health teaching went well, again translated by Joejoe, with very helpful input from Sarah and Tony, and led by me. I was able to teach about some of my discoveries at Butabika yesterday and did my best to destigmatise mental health. In addition to this, i taught briefly on behavioural activation, mindfulness and relaxation. The women (no men attended as they did not in Bombo either) asked what do you do when your husband leaves you for another woman and you see their relationship flourishing together? They also asked (as they did in Bombo) about what to do when the person you turn to for support tells others behind your back. This emphasised to us the importance of a mental health group facilitated by a trustworthy person. We are looking into how we can develop this therefore.
During the teaching, some of the team went to visit the young gentleman previously mentioned in the last Ssanga blog, who had been shot in the back with a pistol. He has severe pressure sores, is doubly incontinent and paralysed from the waist down. His social circumstances are very difficult also. Understandably, the team were very moved by this so we had a long discussion after dinner as to how to help him. During the visit, the nurses dressed the wounds and placed a uroderm catheter for him. We will refer him to Rising Above Disabilities (a charity which offers holistic inpatient and outpatient care for disabled people who we have worked with before to obtain wheelchairs for people) in order to try to help him as best we can.
While this occurred and after dropping the baby off at hospital, Peter, Juliet and John returned to Bombo school to mark the beginning of the building of the boarding school dormitories - the next phase of the school. Peter had raised the money for this with Nationwide (fantastic effort here guys!) and the team are excited for this next phase of Way of Salvation school!