Jurjen & Stefanie in Uganda

We are back..but still processing our time in Uganda. It all feels strange now, to get used to everyday life here. We know that the coming time will be equally important as our time in Uganda in figuring out what we learned and how it impacted us, and what God has been teaching us. Although often hard to see when you are confronted with poverty and suffering, our prayer has been...

"Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked."  

 Psalm 82:3-4

And we know and profess that

"I know that the LORD secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy. Surely the righteous will praise your name and the upright will live before You."   

Psalm 140:12-13

When I was in Kisiizi I wrote a couple of worship songs... And to keep the story short, at a certain point I met this English lady who knew somebody in Kampala who owned a recordingstudio. So we called the guy, and it turned out he was available when we were in Kampala!! In holland I would never be able to afford such a thing, but here for only 100000 USH (40 euros) I could record a song. The result is quite nice! It is not completely professional off course, but it was already such an experience to be in a recording studio for a day. The day before i was supposed to show up for recording i ate a hamburger that i shouldn't have eaten... I got horroribly sick that night! so with fever and a heartbeat of 120 we went to the studio... that was kind of challenging. But you can listen to the song by clicking on them below!

In Kampala we met up with Jurjanne and Chris, a dutch couple and are good friends of Jurjen's brother and his wife. They've been working in an orphanage in Kampala for a couple of weeks. They are waiting to go to Mombasa, Kenya to live and run an orphanage there for the next three years. On the last day before we would leave the country, we visited the orphanage. 100 boys between 6-23 years are offered a new life and schooling here. Joseph, a formerly well paid journalist and an orphan too, had such a heart for these boys who come from the same background as he does, that he decided to take them in. But what started out as taking in a few boys became bigger and bigger! At the moment Joseph receives support from the Netherlands, also through Wingsupport (KLM).

We were warmly welcomed by these kids! They started hugging us and didn't want to let go anymore! So longing for affection and attention... When they had all arrived back from their schools they daily prayer&worship started. Led by one of the older boys God was exalted and worshipped so profoundly in this poor area of the city. With closed eyes these precious children sang and prayed their heart out to Him. After a while the drums continued and many found a place to pray in silence. I felt like praying on the heartbeat of Africa.  Blue sky above me, asking God to reign in this place, to show His love for these kids, to raise up new leaders for Uganda, to change their lives forever. The drums did not only represent the heartbeat of Africa, but the heartbeat of the Father Himself...   When we drove back on our boda-boda through the slums, waved goodye by 100 children, we couldn't think of a better ending of our stay in Uganda...

In the last week before we left I was asked to design a logo for Kisizii Electricity. This is the local electricity company that is about to provide the whole area with electricity. I have mentioned it before, but currently they are working on a new turbine that has the capacity to provide the whole region with power. So I designed a logo. the power is completely from the waterfall and thus completely sustainable. the logo represent that. the fall, the turbine and the power... besides that, the shapes can be interpreted as blades of a turbine..

 

On our way back to Kampala, we left the bus at Mpigi, a town some 40 km before Kampala. A little boy called Adam was waiting there for us. When we told in Crossroads that we were going to Uganda, one of our churchmembers asked us to find out if the child she was sponsoring really benefefited from the money. Her one question was if the schools which he attended in the past and is attending now really existed. In other words, is this project bonafide? Because there are no such things as streetnames and telephonebooks in Uganda to look the school up the easy way, we decided to try to visit Adam and his caretakers to find out. After some emailing and phonecalls (Ugandans are really hard to understand on the phone) we made the arrangement to meet Adam in Mpigi. He went home because of the Easter holidays. He lives with his aunt and his younger sister Christine. Christine and Adam are orphans. And last year their older sister who looked after them died in a busaccident. In the same year their grandmother died too... These children have almost nobody left. Their aunt is such a sweet lady, but so poor that she can't provide for them. A very friendly neigbour, mr Luboobi assists in looking after Adam and Christine. Due to the lack of money Christine stays at home at the moment, because there is no money for her schoolfees. We had a wonderful afternoon with Adam. He is such a bright and friendly boy.

Far too small for his age (he has asthma). We were welcomed in their tiny house, with so much gratitude and love. The aunt rushed to buy us sodas (only for Jurjen and me..) and insisted to cook us meat!! She works at the market to sell some avocados, bananas and tomatoes in order to buy parrafine (for light in the evenings), salt, oil and sugar for Christine and herself. The conditions they live in, are humbling. Two stools, some jerrycans, and three small matrasses on the floor made of earth. Adam showed us his pimary school and the place were his grandmother and sister were buried. We knew we had met people who were very honest and genuine. It was refreshing to see that the people involved in looking after these kids were really wanting to help them. After this visit we took the matatu to Kampala, escorted by Adam and mr Luboobi, to visit Adam's secondary school. He is a boarding student here. Again we had a meal with chicken, and met mr Nyenje, who has looked after Adam here. We had set out as detectives to find out if these unknown people were genuine, and we met love and concern for these orphans on the way... 

Goodbye is the saddest word... that's what Stella ( the manager of the guesthouse and a real friend) had written on the fridge... The last couple of days we've said goodbye to many people. The guesthouse staff, the others living there. Stella made us avery nice farewell cake. Goodbyes too midwives, nurses and doctors too. We drank tea in different houses, and enjoyed once again the Ugandan hospitality. We've alos been invited to Allan and Robinah's again. While Jurjen walked around their fields with Allan, I sat outside the kitchen ( a wooden shed filled with smoke by the woodfire) talking to Robinah, who was inside preparing our dinner. She even cooked us meat (they normally eat that around once a month!), their children sang and danced for us. We prayed together, and knew that we were one in Christ. It was a joyful and moving evening. What a love shown by this couple for us!  Sometimes saying goodbye was more difficult. People asking for money to support their kids at school or university. Asking if they could come with you, sometimes quite persistent. Once again I felt the gap between our lives and  theirs.                                       

 

The last two weeks of my medical elective have gone so fast... I've spent another week in children's ward. Done some surgery, psychiatry, OPD and maternity too. I conducted 5 more deliveries. One of those was a stillbirth. I felt horrible, having to help a mother deliver a dead, but fully developed babyboy.                                                                      On the Thursday before Palmsunday I went to children's ward in the afternoon to be part of the 'thursdayschool'... It was great! Instruments (made of tin cans with rice/beans inside) were distributed, and both children and mothers sang with so much passion and joy. Dancing in a big line we went all the way through children's ward to mobilize others to join in. Together we read the story about Jesus entering Jerusalem on a donkey. Afterward we sang some more songs, but with everyone waving palmbranches around! Unfortunately I didn't bring my camera, so I was only able to soak it in and make mental pictures : ). All the children got one pencil and a piece of paper, but I think I even heard more mothers laughing with enthusiasm than their offspring! One extremely shy girl didn't dare to stand near the others when we were singing.But when I took her hand and gave her a palmbranch she enjoyed it so much in her own silent way. She used my lap to draw a beautiful picture of the crowd welcoming Jesus. 

On march the 7^th we went to Queen Elizabeth National Park. QE is the biggest wild park of Uganda.With Lions, Elephants, Kobs, Waterbucks, Hippo’s, Crocodiles, Fisheagles, Hyena’s, Leopards, Mongooses, Warthogs, and many many other beautifully created animals. It was a great insight into God’s creativity. See the pictures for an impression of the wild life in QE.We went with a driver from the hospital called George and a hospital vehicle.

This was really nice off course since it was quite comfortable getting to the park (a 4 hour drive) and we had driver/guide who was almost 24/7 available to us. The downside though, was that we paid a fortune on this. I’m not sure if I want to know in what proportions our expenses are compared to our whole trip…But I guess we both don’t regret it. We really doubted if we should go and spend so much money on this (total trip turned out €500). But in the end we decided to do it. We stayed in a cheap hostel near a really fancy luxurious western lodge. We were already advised to go for dinner in the lodge because the food was supposed to be really good. So we did… for 30000 each (€11), we had an amazing five-course dinner with stunning red wine and cold beer… So it was great to enjoy some really nice food. The view of the lodge was also absolutely amazing. It is situated on a sort of big hill while the most of QE is a flat as a pancake. It is in the riftvalley, which still gets bigger each year. Surrounded by beautiful mountains (called Rwenzori Mountains, around 5000m in altitude).

But we both also faced a kind of awkwardness in the midst of all this rich western (slightly too fat) people… We both realized I think that we don’t want to be ‘one of them’ but we’re also not ‘one of the Ugandans’. We haven’t seen a single local or even black person staying in the lodge.

The only ‘staying’ local we saw was a young girl accompanying a fat white old man. George the driver told us that this happens quite often. Rich ‘muzungus’ pick up a girl at the airport to accompany them during their stay. It struck us. What us also really hit us was the fact that on the boat trip an Italian man was waving money at local fishermen in their dugout canoes, who then were paddling and swimming like mad to try to get close to our motorboat.

He made them perform like monkeys, so he could have fun and his wife could make pictures. After a while he threw the money in the water… We did this boat trip and two game-drives. (In the first one we nearly drowned due to heavy rain, but the 2^nd one, wow!!!) A game-drive means that you go out around 6.30 till around 10am to check out wild life. Because most animals, like lions, hunt at night, so you can catch them in the morning. And so we did...

check out the 'photos' section for even more photos.. ( i know sorry...)

On Tuesday I participated on a community outreach. Two times a week a hospital vehicle filled with staff, drugs, and other equipment goes out into the surrounding villages to offer antenatal care, immunizations, general care and HIV counseling and testing. A drive with beautiful mountain views.. Then.. Women waiting under a tree. First they received health education. This is of vital importance. A trained nurse talked about healthy and nutritious food. On how to prepare it and when to give it. These sessions are really life giving!!  After setting everything up, the women wait in line with their babies to be weighed and immunized. In another room the pregnant ladies are looked after. Numbers on these days vary between 50 and 250 patients. I helped with the immunizations. Good to practice drawing up injections!! ( Optrekken van injecties uit potje in spuitje). After the job was done, we had a meal together.

The staff bring their own food, which is prepared on the spot by one of the local women. These meals are renowned because there is meat, which is a real treat here! The way back took even longer than the way to the health centre. Every few minutes we stopped to off load something (beans, matoke, groundnuts), or to squeeze another person in. I am holding a drip high up in the air (infuusfles) for a baby who needs admission in the hospital. Strangely I am not even the one sitting close to the drip, but apparently I am ‘tested’ by the others. I once again find that we move here in between being looked up to, and being carefully watched. How does she like our food? How does she interact? Sometimes hard, and it can make you feel lonely sometimes. At such moments I shut down. So all in all, a day with mixed feelings.

This week I have been doing different things. Because I have done all the major wards, there was a bit more space to choose what I wanted to do. Also because another medical student arrived this week. Camilla is from Jersey, UK. It is nice not to be the only medical student here! Normally there are about four students, but due to the ebola outbreak in Uganda in December and January a few students decided not to come, or were not allowed by their universities.

Cerebral Calsy Pamp (CP)
Wednesday I’ve spent the day with Louise, the physiotherapist. There was a special two weeks camp for little children with cerebral palsy. These children are paralyzed in varying degrees, due to brain damage at birth or because of infections like malaria. It was special to see how they work (and play!) with these children. Because if they get enough stimulation and they are handled well, some are actually able to stand and walk. Lack of this is often the problem. In their home situation they don’t get the attention they need. Because of a lack of knowledge, but also because disabled children are often less cared for. ( Consequently, they are not brought to the hospital when sick, and often die because of that). Bush (yes, named after the president!) was a very bright 2 year old. Left by his parents, who did not want to look after him, to live with his grandmother. He can’t walk. With much practice he could, but the grandmother did not show much interest. The idea that his life could look so different was sad…