Medical Clinic in Namatala

Yesterday was our first medical clinic and there were so many people! I had to take Chede (new CORRECT spelling!) and her sisters into the clinic because their parents weren't around. Then Simon (the man helping us organize everyone inside) told Maria to go get her dad and she did. Her dad came in and told me I could handle it then left. Then Simon sent her after him again and when her dad came back in he told him he needed to stay. So we went inside and the doctor was asking questions and most of the time their dad looked at me and I had to answer. I knew more about their symptoms than he did. It sounded to me like he has HIV, (I was only catching pieces of what was going on with him. Translation hiccups) so after I told the doctor all of their symptoms she came over to me and said "He doesn't take care of these. All of them need to be tested and they are not being taken care of." That confused me a little but when she said it she was feeling Chede's stomach and I kind of assumed she meant they aren't eating. So I took the girls outside to get tested for HIV and the nurse said "these don't have HIV they are malnourished" but they did the test anyways. They were negative PRAISE GOD!!!!!! But now I don't know what to do for them. Chede seems happy but she doesn't like to stand and I don't know if it's because she is a brat or because it makes her tired because she is malnourished. Every time I hold her she falls asleep. And Ana sleeps all the time. Poor baby. Her tummy is just like Chede's but baby sized. Ana has to be around 6-9 months old. Their dad told me today that mom goes and looks for survival every day. (survival=food/money/work) It's just such an awful situation that is entirely too common in this place. I can't even explain to you how "normal" distended bellys have become to me. Please pray with me that it would be made clear what my purpose with this family is! I feel so completely helpless. Today was just as eventful. I sat in with the doctors most of the day and watched them see patients. That was really interesting. Not like a doctors appointment in America for sure! Later in the day I traded with someone so they could have a break from the sun and was faced with a very hard situation. A little girl told Haley that she was being abused at home. We had no clue what to do. This isn't uncommon here but that still doesn't make it ok! Glenn eventually talked to her and calmed her a little but for the most part in this situation our hands are tied. It's so sad. Breaks my heart. After the clinic we found out that 2 children were sent to the hospital for malnutrition. Tomorrow we will be checking on them and getting more information. One of them is a 4 year old the size of a 1 year old. The other was a baby that was a month old and the doctor said it was dying. Please pray with us for these children! This is such a serious problem in Namatala and these are just 2 severe cases. This breaks my heart so much. I just wish I could feed them all! I can't. God can. Pray. Please. I will have to post more later. My mind is entirely too crowded right now. Thanks for praying with me! Love and miss you all at home!