Making Memories?

Why is it that we seem to make life long memories when something negative, frightening, or life threatening happens to us?  I can quickly recall several scenarios from my childhood, although they are not things I necessarily want to remember.  Things like almost being eaten by a German Shepherd dog in the laundry mat in Ft Worth, Tx in 1975.  Or something like flying through the eye of a hurricane on Mexicana Air in 1981.  Even potentially being killed in an auto accident that totaled the sky blue buick on the way to church one Sunday night in 1982.

Over the years, Jill and I have purposefully done some things that we did not think were “safe” or great ideas, to make memories for our children.  They quickly remember being on a gun boat in Key West when a big storm blew in.  We had to rescue some passengers from another boat and got drenched before we were safely back to shore.  They remember thinking that they would freeze to death before we reached the top of Hermit’s Pass in Colorado.  Going through the “high ropes” course at Kanakuk Kamps is another.  Jared thinks that the bungee jumping that we did on this trip should be mentioned as well.

This past Saturday, we planned to cross from Uganda into Rwanda, in our van, and go to the capitol city of Kigali.  While in Kigali, we would have a couple of days off before finishing this 9 day swing into SW Uganda.  When we arrived at the border, we went through the usual progression of getting our exit stamp from Uganda, then walking across the border into Rwanda and getting our entry stamp for Rwanda.  David waited with the van.  He had to get it searched and approved to drive across the border.  After we had waited for a while, Faith received a call from David.   She then returned to the Uganda side to help him.  Another while later, Faith called me to tell me that we “had a problem”.  We had accidentally picked up the registration card for the ambulance at Wentz Medical Center, rather than the registration card for our mission van.  So our options were to stay in Uganda, or find another way to get to Kigali, while David waited on someone from Kampala to take a bus to the border (7 hour bus ride) and deliver the registration card.  We figured the easy thing would be to stay in Uganda and take it easy a couple of days, then finish our clinics and return to Kampala.  We decided to go with the adventure.   We crossed back to Uganda, showing the police on the Rwanda, then Uganda side our passports again.  We grabbed our suitcases and back packs, and walked back to the Rwanda side. 

Jill looking like Juan Valdez crossing the border!

This time, the police just waived us through.  We were easy to remember, we were the only white people that we saw, the whole time we were there.  We thought that the border crossing would take an hour or so.  It turned out to take us about 4. 

Once over in Rwanda with our luggage, we had to figure out what means of transportation we would employ to take the 90 minute drive to Kigali.  It turned out, that our only available option was to take a 30 passenger bus.  We paid our fare and waited for the bus to “fill up”.  About 45 minutes, and another stop to exit the bus and show passports later, the 8 of us and about 26 “friends”, took off in a bus to bump our way to Kigali.  Yes I can do math.  This 30 passenger bus had 34 people on it, and ¾ of the back seat, was taken by a disassembled satellite dish that a muslim guy had brought on.  Before we left the bus station, I did feel a little uncomfortable when he jumped off the bus and ran back to the Uganda side, leaving his bag and satellite dish 3 rows behind me!  He had gone back to get his money, so he could pay his bus fare.  We winded through the mountains and got to the bus stop in Kigali after dark. 

The pastor, from a local church, was supposed to meet us there and take us to our guest house.  He arrived about 10 minutes after us, but the bus did not come for about an hour.  It was surreal, as while we stood in the bus lot, multiple people just came up and stared at us.  I guess that Muzungus are an oddity here.  This day was not glamorous, but we made it and made a memory along the way.

Rural Rwanda looks a lot like rural SW Uganda. 

Pretty mountains and green plant life are everywhere.  The first big change is that we drove on the “right” side of the road.  When we got into Kigali, we noticed curbs on the streets and traffic lights.  Palm trees line the 4 lane roads, looking like a tropical resort city.  They have many big buildings and hotels.  Bill Gates is funding the construction of a big convention center here.  The improvement of infrastructure seen in Rwanda vs. Uganda, is reported to be related to “proper” management of tax dollars, and less corruption. 

On Sunday, we went to worship at New Life Bible Church, then went to 2 separate genocide museums in the Kigali area. 

 It is amazing that I was 23 years old when this 3 month event that killed 1 million people occurred, and I was clueless that it was going on.  Of course, this was pre-internet, and we Americans were distracted by OJ Simpson and a glove that would not fit!  If you have not seen it, you should watch the movie Hotel Rwanda.  It is a movie about the happenings here only 18 years ago.

I have decided that I am going to try to make more “positive” memories.  These uncomfortable ones seem to be too………uncomfortable!  I hope that you look for times to step out on a limb, and make some memories with your kids as the summer draws near!

We will be back in Uganda on Monday and back to Kampala by Wednesday.  We thank you for your prayers and support.

Jay

Midweek/Mbarara Update

What a time to “channel” my inner Due…..4:30am in Mbarara, Uganda.  My Grampus would get up this early every morning, and my Granny Due still does.  They both have said that it is the best time of the day to get things done and to be alone with God.  Now I have seen 4:30 am many times, but not too many that were a voluntary roll out of the rack.  Most of the 4:30 ams that I have seen were down the stretch of a night shift in the ER.  In the case of the last 3 hours of an overnight ER shift, 4:30 am is not the most productive time of the day!  Today, I have awakened, and cannot go back to sleep, so I will do a little blogging to be “productive.”

We had an interesting Monday.  We got up early to go to Mulago to see Joseph prior to his biopsy.  He was very withdrawn and quiet.  I am not sure if this is how he deals with his pain, or if he associates us with pain, but he has not been in a good mood the last two times we have seen him.  He was first on the schedule, so we anticipated that he would have this biopsy done around 9:00 am.  But because there were no anesthetists available, it did not start until around noon.  I have to admit, it is a little awkward to try to hang out with a 5 year old and his father when the boy is clammed up and won’t even look at you, and the father can’t speak any English.  I was trying to communicate with Ellya (Joseph’s father), and looking for Joseph’s CT folder, when a guy showed up, out of nowhere, named Peter.  He was a nice gentleman, that spoke very good English and evidently the father of the patient in the bed next to Joseph.  He stayed there at the bedside and let me explain everything to Ellya.  These things, obviously, had not been adequately explained before, because Ellya acted like he had no idea.  I told him that the surgery on that day would be just a biopsy and not a big surgery.  I told him that Joseph would likely go home on Tuesday or Wednesday.  I informed him that Dr. Tumweheire Greg (TG) thought that this was a Burkitt’s Lymphoma, and if the biopsy proved that, Joseph would be scheduled for chemotherapy that would last about 4 months.  Ellya was concerned about how he would finance the back and forth trips to Mulago from Mytiana.  I reassured him that he would need to work through the local pastor, Robert, to get this done.   I am not convinced that Peter was not an angel, on call to help me translate this information to Ellya.

We also got a chance to visit and hang out with Jamil and his uncle Joseph.  Jamil does not speak much English, but is eager to interact non-verbally and play with the kids. 

 His uncle Joseph does speak some English, so we are able to navigate a shallow conversation with them.  We took them to the canteen for some breakfast, and hung out for a little while in their room.  I was hoping that his doctor would make rounds, while I was there, so that I could see his operated eye without the dressing on it.  We were needing to leave at 11:15, to get ready to leave for Mbarara, so we did not see Dr. Agaba.

Holly, our US friend that we met in Mytiana, came to stay at Mulago during the procedure for Joseph.  She and her husband took the pathology specimens to a private lab.  This was recommended by Dr. TG, as if we had left the specimen at Mulago, it could take 3 weeks for results.  As of this morning, Joseph is still in the hospital, and I am “supposed to” receive a pathology report via email.  I will then try to contact Dr. TG to pass along this information.  Holly’s team from the US that was staying in Mytiana, is leaving tonight, so our contact and work with Joseph will mainly be orchestrated through Pastor Robert, from this point forward.

So Monday turned into a really long day.  After leaving Mulago, we rushed home to get our things packed for a 9 day trip in SW Uganda, that starts in Mbarara, takes us to Rwanda, and then back to Kampala on May 9^th.  We were supposed to leave at 2:00 pm, so that we could travel in daylight and arrive in time for dinner.  David needed to get a few last minute things done on the van, including getting an insurance sticker on the van.  His last minute preparations ended up in a cascade of repairs, regulations and requirements, that once completed, it was 9:30 pm before we left Kampala.  We arrived in Mbarara at about 2:30 am.  We unloaded and scurried to our rooms for some “quick sleep”, before heading out for our clinic later that Tuesday morning.

The clinic on Tuesday was awesome.  The landscape in this area of Uganda is like a postcard.

  Everything is green with some small mountains, many cows, and tons of banana trees.  We saw 160 children, in a pretty busy clinic, then drug our sleep deprived-selves back to the hotel about 6:00 pm.  I am sad that we will only have 2 days here.  Mbarara is 4-5 hours from Kampala, so it is a fairly rural city.  We are driving out 40 minutes from Mbarara to this small school, so it is definitely Nat Geo country, and the health care need is great.  This would be a great place to do a 1-2 week short term trip in the future.  We are only going to be able to see the school kids and not the community, because we have to get to Rugungiri on Friday.  Pastor Joseph, whom I met working in Uganda last January, is from Mbarara.  He is coming to have dinner with us tonight, and our team is supposed to see his church and projects on Thursday morning before we are required to leave for our next destination.

So other than messed up sleep schedules, our 9 day tour to SW Uganda has started well.  We look forward to all that God has for us this week, but we also look forward to next week when Tendo has her surgery scheduled at Mulago, and Madison joins us.  Madison Donica is a student at OSU in pre-med.  She was a part of our team that went to Uganda last summer.  She will be staying with our family for the rest of the summer, and flying home with us in July.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  We have passed the half-way point of our 6 months here.  At times, it seems like we just got here.  At other times, it seems like longer than 3 months.  We love Uganda and the work that God has for us here.  We also love our family and friends back home.  We look forward to seeing you in July.

Jay

Mi Mulago es su Mulago

Mulago Hospital is the "National Referral Hospital" in Uganda.  It seems that we are getting to know our way around the place much better than we would ever want to.  Mulago is a large campus with multiple buildings and "wards".  This hospital has the best collection of medical specialists in Uganda, and in some of the countries that surround Uganda.  It is by no means fancy or state of the art, but it is where the sickest of the sick go for treatment. 

Jayne noticed this trash can at Mulago.

This is Jayne's hand with the camera looking into the trash can.

We have visited there twice with Tendo, and she will be returning on May 9th to check in for her surgery on May 11th.  We have visited 3 times with Nakiganda.  We are supposed to go check on her today and perhaps do some blood work through Wentz Medical Center.

Jamil, our friend with the eye tumor, is finishing his second week in Mulago ward 1A after having his eye surgery.  We have visited him several times.  He and his uncle Joseph love to go to the canteen and enjoy some soda or juice, and usually a big meal.  Jamil has come to know us better and lights up when the kids walk into his room.  He has been sitting in a room with nothing to do for almost 2 weeks.  Most of the eye ward is one big room with 40 or so beds lined up next to each other.  I guess, because he is a child, they gave him a room off to the side with 2 beds.  This has provided more privacy, but more boredom.  I HAVE A SERIOUS PRAISE REPORT WITH JAMIL!  While we were visiting (Friday), he told us that he had seen some light through his operated eye when they changed his dressing that morning!!  In case you don't know, we have been praying that Jamil would regain sight in the right eye.  He has not been able to see out of it for 3-4 years, because of the tumor.  To make sight more of a miracle, the doctor had to remove his optic nerve (the eye's connection to the brain) to get all of the tumor.  So there is NO anatomical reason for him to see light through that eye.  Just a supernatural reason!  I talked to Dr. Agaba yesterday, he has kept Jamil longer than anticipated because he has a blood collection behind the eye, where the tumor had been.  He is not worried about him, he just doesn't want to send him back out to Palissa until things are more healed.  He might be able to go to Pastor Fred's house in Kampala on Monday and stay there for several more days before going home.  Please keep him in your prayers.  We are still praying that sight restoration occur.  We think that this could cause a groundswell of faith in those that have cared for him in the hospital, in Jamil's family, in Jamil's village, and around the world because of you and I telling everyone we know.

We took Joseph to Mulago on Thursday to meet Dr. Tumweheire Greg.  Dr. TG is an ENT specialist at Mulago.  We got a CT of Joseph's head and sinuses prior to going for this appointment.  It was cool that Dr. TG did not even ask for or look at the CT.  He asked the history, did an exam, and then told us that he thought it was a Burkitt's Lymphoma.  This is a malignancy that is known to be in Africa near the equator.  It is many times related to decreased immunity from chronic malaria or HIV, allowing the Epstein Bar virus (the same one that causes mono) to cause a cancer in the lymph system.  Joseph and his father, Ellya, went home to Mytiana on Thursday night, and then returned on Friday to meet us at Mulago again.  We got Joseph checked in and he will have a biopsy on Monday to confirm the diagnosis.  If it is Burkitt's Lymphoma, we are told that the treatment is chemotherapy.  With chemotherapy, the survival rate is 20%.  I have to admit, 20% is better odds than I was thinking after we got the CT on Wednesday night.  I told Dr. TG, that for Joseph, his odds are either 100% or 0%.  Since we are circling the prayer warrior wagons around him, I think Joseph is going to be a 100% cure!  This process of treatment will be complicated.  We are leaving for a 9 day trip to SW Uganda on Monday, hopefully after the biopsy.  The biopsy can be left for pathology at Mulago, but will take about 3 weeks to get back.  It can be taken to a private pathologist in Kampala and we can get results much quicker.  The medical team, from New York, that originally found Joseph, will try to have someone at Mulago on Monday, but they are flying home on Monday night.  If it is Burkitt's, I think that Joseph will be taken directly to the cancer treatment ward.  He will then have 4 months of chemotherapy.  This will require trips back and forth to Mytiana, and some further stays in Mulago.  Please pray for healing in Joseph and that logistics for his family, without resources, can be accomplished.  Even more so, please pray for Ellya (Joseph's father).  We don't think that he is a Christian.  Jill asked him where he got the strength to take care of 4 kids after his wife died, and he said from his children.  When we left Ellya and Joseph at the hospital yesterday, Joseph was crying because he did not want us to leave. 

I am sure that it is hard for Ellya and Joseph to be in Mulago, as this was the last place that they saw Joseph's mother.

We are going back to visit Jamil and Joseph on Sunday.  Thank you for remembering them in prayer.

Jay

Calling for prayers

We have just returned from a great week in Namatumba.  This is a small village west of Kampala and about 40 minutes out into the rural areas (Nat Geo Africa) around Mityana.

We did school children screening on Monday and Tuesday, seeing about 300 patients.  On Wednesday, we provided health education to the parents of the school children.

We stayed in a hotel in Mityana.  There were two other groups from the US staying there.  We got to know them a little and were introduced to the work that they were doing.  One team, that was from New York, was doing a medical clinic in Mityana.  One of their group approached me this morning and asked me if I was "the doctor".  I guess my grey hair and frown lines gave me away!  She said that their team had met a young boy, named Joseph, the day before in their clinic.  He was noted to have a mass or swelling in his face.  They did not know exactly how to proceed and had come to me for advice.  Since we had a short day today, I asked them to find Joseph and bring him back to their clinic.  Our team would then stop by their clinic on our way back to Kampala.

They were able to find Joseph and he was at the clinic when we arrived.  His father, a widower for almost a year, has 4 children, the youngest of which is Joseph.  Joseph had a "swelling" on his face noted about 9-10 months ago.  It was "treated" a couple of times by local health facilities.  Eventually, he was given a diagnosis of cancer and a biopsy was recommended.  His father could not afford the 100,000 shillings ($40) that was needed.  So the mass has continued to grow.  At first look, we felt like Joseph was one of our "starfish" that God had placed on our beach.

He had a palpable mass below the R eye, that caused some bulging of the eye (much less than Jamil, but noticeable).  The mass could be noticed on the L cheek as well.  Lymph nodes were swollen under the jaw on the left and right.  We had such a short day planned on Wednesday, that we were not sure why we spent an extra night in the hotel, but God quickly showed us why we were in Mityana on Wednesday!  We had one seat left in our van, so we offered to take Joseph and his father back with us to Kampala.  The team from New York made plans to care for the other 3 kids that would be left at home.

When we arrived back in Kampala, David dropped Jared and I, along with Joseph and his father, at the imaging center.  We should get frequent flyer miles there.  We got a CT of his head and sinuses.  We did not get good news.  The radiologist came out and told me that he had never seen anything like this before (never a good to be the first for a 50 year old radiologist).  He thinks that it is a malignant tumor arising from the sinuses, but he says it could be a fungal infection that is spreading and destroying bone.  He has seen fungal infections like this before, but only in adults.  I asked the radiologist for a referral of a good ENT surgeon.  He gave me several, but only one had a phone number in the doctor book that the imaging center had.  So I called Dr Tumweheire Greg, on his cell phone, at 8:00pm.  He answered and I proceeded to tell him the story.  He offered to see Joseph at his Mulago office at 9:30 am in the morning.

So Joseph, Ellya (his father), and our friend David are having a sleep over with us tonight.  David was gracious to stay with us to allow us to communicate with our new friends.  They only speak Luganda.

Please hit your knees for Joseph.  Pray for a miracle for this beautiful 5 year old boy.

It appears that the second best prayer is that it be a fungal infection that could be cleaned out, then treated with anti-fungal medicines.  I am concerned that if it is a tumor, there will be no way to resect it.

I will update as I have more information.

Thank you for your prayers.  We are leaning on God.  This could be a tough one.

Jay

Kitgum highlights

We have just completed one of the most gratifying weeks since we have been in Uganda.  A few weeks back, while in Gulu, we met a new friend named Kent Forester.  We were introduced to him by Todd Vinson, our friend from Chandler, OK.  Through talking with Kent, and sharing a dinner with he and his family, we made a plan to take on this Kitgum project this week.  Kent is associated with Antioch Church in Waco, Tx and has been in Uganda for a couple of years now.  One of the priorities of Antioch, and Kent, is to disciple people in the faith.  This strikes close to home with us as we feel that discipleship is very much needed in Uganda, as well as the US.  Kent has been pouring into a man named Patrick, who is originally from Kitgum.  Patrick and some US young people have been spending one week each month in Kitgum, discipling other new believers.  The numbers of people in small groups in Kitgum have grown to the point that they have started to meet corporately on Sundays and they are launching a church.  The Due Unto Others role this week was to provide a medical clinic to draw the community into the compound where the church will meet.  We, along with the rest of the team, were trying to give the people of Kitgum an awareness of Who Christ is and the opportunity to become fully devoted followers of Christ, through this church plant.  Antioch wanted to use this introduction, to so many people in Kitgum, as the vehicle that could help them find leaders and new converts to get the church off the ground. 

There is a group of 8 college graduates from the US that are in Uganda for 8 months.  They have been working with Kent in Gulu, and in other small areas like Kitgum.  Because they have spent a lot of time in Kitgum, in the past 7 months, they know the place pretty well.   They helped us pull off the clinic this week.  It was a pleasure to get to know them and get a feel for their passion for Christ.  Each morning, they meet at 9:00 am for worship and a short devotional, trying to allow God to fill them before they go out to pour out themselves to others.

We saw about 480 patients over the 4 days of clinics.  The local people would show up early to get in line to be seen.  On our last day, people had even camped out over night to make sure that they had a place in line the next morning.  We exhausted many of the meds that we had brought and had to make a run to the local pharmacy to restock on some things.  Kent and his team staffed registration and the prayer room.  They encouraged many people and saw multiple salvations through the week.  Everyone was invited to join the new church for prayer and worship next week.  Kent’s team also prepared beans and rice for our patients each day.  This was a blessing and was well received.  Our family (including David) took care of the pharmacy, we did some dish washing and played with the children.  We also got to act as ambulance, as we took a lady with a back injury to get an x-ray in town.  I was joined by Julius, a local physician, on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

On Wednesday night, many of the team came over to our hotel to eat left over beans and rice from the day’s clinic.  As they were preparing to leave, we got the pleasure of witnessing something that most western visitors don’t get to see.  The ants that form the huge ant hills here came out to mate.  They fly with large white wings and swarm out to find a mate, then burrow into the ground and start a colony and live for 20 years (seems like a long time for an insect).  This happens for one day, twice per year.  The ants are like manna from heaven as the people love to eat them.  So we made this video while having “ant ball” fights, many others came with brooms to scoop them up by the bucketful. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-S0hbBSqbE

We asked kindly and the staff at the hotel made us some enswa. 

This is ground ants that they eat with posho.  I am told that the better way to eat them is fried, but we did not get the chance.  All of us but Jayne gave it a taste.  No one got sick, no one thought that they were good, and I would need to be a whole lot more hungry, than I am now, to eat them again.

I’d like to tell you about a couple of new friends that I met this week and how Due Unto Others has helped or might help them in the days to come.  The first of these is Magret (this is the common spelling here).  She is a 34 year old lady that caught my eye with an impressive goiter (enlarged thyroid gland in the neck).  She told me that she has known of this problem for 9 years, since she was seen by a mission group before.  She has never had blood work or had any work up towards surgery, because of the cost.  Having an enlarged thyroid is not only a cosmetic or functional issue, it usually causes an over production of thyroid hormone, which in turn can cause multiple adverse effects in the body.  When I first saw her, I felt like God was telling me that this was one of our “starfish”.  I questioned this in my mind because she did not fit the mold of the other “starfish” that we have recognized on our beach so far.  She is an adult, lives 7 hours from Kampala, and we really have no prior connection to her or her family.  Nonetheless, I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me to make her “our business”.  I asked her for her phone number and told her that I would do some investigating into what resources were available in Kitgum to help her.  She had been told before that she would have to travel to Gulu to have a surgery and this was part of the problem for her.  As I mentioned before, I was joined this week by Dr. Julius on 3 afternoons.  Shortly after Magret left my station, I remembered that Julius was a “general practitioner”, but his interest is in surgery, and this is where he spends most of his time.  When he arrived that afternoon, I brought Magret’s situation up to him, to get his input.  I was excited to know that he does thyroidectomies at his hospital in Kitgum.  We are working with Patrick (the local person that is going to be the pastor of the new church) to have them contact Magret and pray and love her through this process.  If Magret is a suitable candidate, and Dr. Julius does the surgery, It looks like we can get her taken care of for under 200,000 shillings!!!!  That is $80 in the US.  Can you imagine that God had this lady in our clinic and then had a surgeon that can fix her problem sitting next to me this week?  I have left those shillings with Kent Forester to follow through this “care program” over the weeks to come.  If any of you feel the Holy Spirit telling you to make Magret “your business” also, this is another specific area of need that you could help with.  (Email me if you want more information DueUnto@gmail.com)

My second new friend is named Isaac.  He is a 10 year old boy with HIV since birth.  He was brought in by his grandmother (I am assuming his mother is dead from HIV).  He caught my eye because he was wearing a lime green, pin-striped suit coat with shorts and football (soccer) cleats.  This little guy brought me more joy than anything else this week.  I hate to do this to you, but I am going to save his story for another blog.  There is a video that goes with his story and I want to get it ready first……stay tuned.

I have written this blog on our 7-8 hour journey back from Kitgum to Kampala.  We stopped for about an hour in Gulu to empty and fill our tanks and to drop by and say hello to Sister Rosemary.  Then we traveled to Mulago Hospital in Kampala to visit Jamil. 

He seems to be doing well.  When we went in to his room he was asleep.  He woke up and greeted us.  I asked him if there is anything that he needed and he said something to drink.  So we got him up and walked down to the canteen.  We got him some juice and soda.  We sat in the canteen and visited for a while.  His family is hopeful that he will be able to go home from the hospital by Sunday. 

Thanks for your support.

Jay

Kitgum and Jamil updates

I have a quick update for you.

We are in Kitgum this week.  This is about 2 & 1/2 hours NE of Gulu in northern Uganda.  We have been the medical part of a community clinic on Monday and Tuesday.  We have seen 178 patients so far.  This has been well received, as we are trying to draw people in to a new church that is forming in this city.  We will be doing the same thing on Wednesday and Thursday too.

It is 9:30pm in Uganda, and we are celebrating Jamil's surgery today.  I talked to Dr. Agabe late this afternoon. 

Jamil the day before surgery.

Jamil after surgery.

Jamil came through the surgery well, and Dr. Agaba feels that the tumor is benign, but pathology will tell us for sure.  It (the tumor) was wrapped all around the optic nerve, so it had to be removed as well.  This necessitates that Jamil will not regain vision in the right eye.  His eye has been salvaged, so once all is healed, his eye could appear pretty normal.  Fred is supposed to be sending me some pictures, and I will post them to this blog when they arrive.  Thank you for your prayers for Jamil.  I am praying that his healing and this display of God's love to him by many of you, will allow for talks of Jesus with his family.

Thanks again for your support.

Jay

Update 4/18/12  I talked to Fred tonight.  He said that Jamil is doing well.  He is eating well and is sitting up.  He still has on a compressive dressing.  He will likely be able to go home on Saturday.

The boys have their turn

Today’s blog will be an update on one friend and an introduction to another.  I described Jamil and the eye problem that he has in this blog, about 10 days ago. 

Ten year old Jamil and an adult cousin took the bus from Palissa to Kampala on Thursday.  This is about a 4 hour journey from the bush to the capital city.  They stayed with Fred, a gentleman that is a friend of Jamil, and actually started a private school in Palissa.  Jamil is not presently attending school because of the problems with his eye, but is a good candidate to do well in school.  This private school offers a better education than the government schools in the Palissa area.  One note while we are here is that even though they are “government” schools, children still are required to pay tuition.  This is usually about $40 per year.  This sounds cheap enough, but if you make $1-2 per day and have 6 kids, it is not easy.  So there are many kids that don’t go to school or only go through a few years and then their tuition money is moved to a younger sibling. 

We met up with Fred, Jamil, and his cousin at an imaging center on Friday morning, to get a repeat CT of Jamil’s head/eye.  This took us 2 hours to complete, and then another 3 hours to get the reading and the films to take with us.  I had called Dr Agaba, Jamil’s ophthalmologist, and he advised me that he would be in the office until 6:00pm.  We were able to head to the office at 5:00pm, worried if we could make it with Friday afternoon Kampala traffic.  We considered putting Jamil and Fred on a Boda-Boda to allow them to make it there faster, but traffic started to move and we got to the office by about 5:40.  According to the CT scan and Dr. Agaba, the tumor behind Jamil’s eye appears benign, but has grown by 25% since September of last year.  He said that the tumor involves the optic nerve, so restoration of his vision in the eye does not seem promising, but the eye should be preserved.  We advised Dr. Agaba that we were praying for Jamil to have vision in the eye, after surgery, and that he should not be surprised when it happened!  We were shocked when Dr. Agaba said that he could do the surgery on Tuesday.  So rather than sending Jamil home, we signed him up for a life changing operation, he is staying with Fred, and will check into the hospital on Monday.  Please continue to pray for Jamil’s healing and for his vision in the affected eye to be restored!  As we left the doctor’s office, we headed back out into Kampala traffic.  I was driving, stuck at a traffic circle.  Jamil was sitting right behind me looking out the window.  We were stopped next to a “street preacher” who was getting all lathered up, screaming the gospel in Luganda.  He stopped right in the middle of a sentence and looked at Jamil, then looked at me and said “that boy is going to be healed”!  I told him that we were praying for that and working on that.  The street preacher then said, “Jesus is alive, you just have to believe that he will be healed”.  The traffic started to move and we drove to let Fred, Jamil and his cousin off at their stop. 

We are going to be in Kitgum this week, and I am selfishly disappointed that we won’t be at the hospital when Jamil comes out of surgery or starts seeing with his right eye again.  Fred is going to make sure that Jamil gets checked in on Monday, and then will take pictures and give us updates daily.  Jamil should be in the hospital for 3 days after surgery.  Due Unto Others supporters are making a huge difference for this young man.  Thank you.

The new friend that I would like to introduce to you is Benjamin. 

This young man is 10 years old now, but at the age of 5, he was dumped in the “bush” by his parents because he had started to develop a skin problem that caused sores and scars all over his body.  Many times, when a disease like this occurs, the family thinks that the child is cursed, and the hurry to get rid of them.  A lady in Kampala saw an article about Benjamin in the newspaper, and felt God calling her to make Benjamin “her business”.  He has been staying with her for 5 years, and continues to get recurrent lesions that are painful, and then they scar over.  He has about 50% of his body covered with scars.  He was seen once by a doctor in Kampala, but did not get a diagnosis, and was offered a medicine that was too expensive for her family to afford.  When I first heard about Benjamin, I just heard that he had skin sores, so I thought we should be able to treat him pretty simply.  But as I have mentioned above this is a complicated, chronic issue.  When I examined Benjamin, I took some pictures and started him on some medicines to prevent infection.  I have since, emailed a medical school classmate of mine, Creed Stewart, in Sherman Tx.  I got a long distance consult from him, and among other possibilities, the one that I think is most logical is leprosy.  Leprosy is a rare condition, but could very well be the cause of this boy’s problem.  I will be encouraging his mother to take him to a skin specialist at Mulago with the intent of getting a skin biopsy and culture.  This should tell us the exact diagnosis.  This may be another specific opportunity for Due Unto Others supporters to make a difference for a child.  Leprosy can be treated with 6-12 months of 3 antibiotics.  These can be expensive, but I will keep you updated as we move forward with him.  Please pray for Banjamin and his skin problem specifically.

We are going north of Gulu to Kitgum this week.  I will bring you updates on our clinics there and on Jamil this week, if I am able to get internet access.

Thank you for your prayers.

Jay