It's been a while...

It's been a while since I last posted. I know normally I give a rundown of the events that have taken place but it's been so long it would take me forever to cover all of them. So I guess I'll just do my best since very thing is somewhat blurred together.

Somehow when we were still with the whole team and had a van and a driver to help us transport our medical box everyone with a wound was hiding. That's definitely not the case anymore. Jennifer, one of the sewing club ladies, had asked us to help her neighbors daughter one day and that began a never ending small wounds clinic. I think we have cleaned and dressed at least one wound a day almost every day since the team left. Of course we have had the usual little scrapes and booboos that are basically already healed but we have had some pretty intense wounds as well. Luckily we have more gloves, alcohol wipes, and bandaids than we will ever use. Among the intense wounds was the little girl that burned her foot, a boy with a small but deep and infected wound on his knee, and my favorite-the young man that got in a fight. This one is my favorite because the very first time he walked up he was walking very slowly and had a wrap/skirt on and all of us were thinking the same thing: circumcision. Hahaha when the young men get circumcised here they wear a wrap/skirt looking thing, so when he walked up in one Kristyn and I were concerned to say the least. Luckily we had Paul and found out he had been in a fight and had two wounds on his knee, one on his arm, and one on his head. All of his wounds were small but deep for their size. Between all these different wounds and having to redress them every day we have been busy with bandaids!
Aside from cleaning and dressing wounds Kristin and I have spent a lot of time with the ichooseyou kids. We have a homework club established and our little group loves it! We have some very bright kids in the program :-). We were able to talk to Sarah about which kids could use some help and then talk to the teachers of those kids and find out what they struggle with. It's so neat to get to help them and teach them. These kids love to learn! Our after school homework club has different kids in it each day (aside from the ones Sarah mentioned) and it has been a neat way to get to know some of the kids that usually fly under the radar! Sometimes we are outside the gate when the kids arrive and when that happens we really get to see a lot of the kids. They are so sweet and so much fun!
Kristyn and I have also had the privilege of getting to know some kids from Namatala that we didn't know before. These kids are hilarious! They can turn any object into a toy. It's so cute! It's funny, no matter how many times we are there an they see us we still have a chorus of "Mzungu" trailing behind us when we walk through Namatala. Kristyn and I wonder what they would do if we started chanting "African" back to them. Haha. Haven't tried it.
Chede, Ana, and Maria are adorable as ever! I was able to give Chede some deworming medicine (it's amazing how cheap it is!) and give all of them some medicine that's basically a multi vitamin for kids that helps fight disease/infection. What they really need is for someone to bathe and feed them every day but there is only so much I can do when I'm going home so soon. Oh how I wish I could take them with me! Chede's dad taught her to chant America around me. He has asked me to take her home with me multiple times so I wonder if he has told her she is going home with me. I hope not. It breaks my heart that I can't help them more but I know they are in God's hands and that is the best place for them to be. I know some of you saw my status on Facebook about Chede's mom beating her and I guess I should talk about it. That whole day was just rough. Early that morning we were in Namatala and I saw Chede so I stopped to say hi and hug her. While I was with her I heard a mother beating her child. After a while I saw the little girl running and crying and then she fell and I heard the mom yell something at her and she just sat there on the ground and cried. It broke my heart. I know that sometimes kids misbehave and of course as a parent you must discipline your children but there is a difference between discipline and abuse. A big difference. Later in the day we were back in Namatala and I had Chede's medicine with me so we stopped by to give it to her. When we got there Chede was sitting on the ground screaming and crying. As we walked up I was asking her what was wrong (even though she doesn't understand me) and a kid came up to me and quietly told me that her mother had beaten her. I didn't want to believe it so I decided to get Paul to ask what was wrong. He told me the same thing. A few minutes later Chede's neighbor Kristyn came and told me the same story. They use the term "beat" lightly so I was hoping they meant that she spanked her but upon inspection I could see scrapes all over her arms and legs. Nothing too bad but definitely scrapes that hadn't been there before. She was crying/upset for a long time and I just held her. My sweet baby. I feel so helpless in Namatala sometimes. This was one of those times. It's such a big problem and I feel like my hands are tied. Just have to keep praying that the situation would change.
The big thing that Kristyn and I have been dealing with lately is a little boy named Tom. Tom is an ichooseyou sibling. This particular family has 10 kids and the dad is basically a no show. We think he may send some money home but mostly he uses it for his alcohol addiction and only comes home to make another baby. So the family has a lot of needs simply because they are in an awful situation. The mom is so young and married to a dead beat. She could probably get out of the situation and change things a little of she really wanted to but I think she is probably scared. Tom is somewhere between 3-5 and has been sick for the past 2-3 weeks. His sister. Masse, got sick first with malaria and we took her to the doctor while the team was still around. Then the very next day Tom had a fever so we all assumed he has malaria as well. There was enough medication for him too so we told them to give it to him. They didn't. Basically a grandmother (very old) and a 12 year old are taking care of the family now and I think they either forgot or just didn't have the energy to force it. (he hates it.) so Tom wasn't getting medication. A couple days ago we went to check on Tom and it was bad. In fact bad isn't a strong enough word to describe the situation. He would barely even open his eyes when we were there. We were told he isn't eating but he is vomiting and has diarrhea. He definitely had a fever that was entirely too high. Kristyn and I knew we had to do something but just didn't know what. It was clear to us that if we didn't do something he most likely wasn't going to make it. After talking, praying, and asking a friend for advice we decided to take him in for a malaria test and see what the doctor said. When we got there they took his temperature, which was 40 degrees C, and immediately gave him fever medicine. When the doctor saw him he went ahead and did the malaria test but told us that he was pretty sure the boy had pneumonia. He said that if it were malaria, with that temperature, the boy would be seizing. Sure enough the malaria test was negative. The doctor told us that the boy really needed to be admitted and stay over night. When we asked about other options the doctor looked terrified and said that the boy wasn't going to get better without an IV and that they really needed him to stay the night. The price is dirt cheap, less than $10, so we decided to follow the doctors orders. As of now Tom's fever is a lot better! He still isn't breathing well but the fever being down is a huge improvement. I can't even explain to you how incredibly sick Tom was. I have never seen a child look so sick before. He didn't even look like he was with us really. He looked far away and miserable. I'm so glad we helped him. I honestly believe that Tom wouldn't have made it without that doctor visit. This family is going to need a serious change in order to make life better for them but I believe that with help the mama can do it. Hopefully she will.

Lately we have seen so much and started to see what everyday life is like for these people. In some ways I envy the simple life they lead. Then there are things that break my heart as well. God has me here for a reason. Still praying for guidance and to see what that reason is but it is getting clearer each day. Keep praying with me please!