Well, today was one of the toughest days of my life. We were going back into the slums, but even deeper this time, to perform assessments on families in need. The mood in the volunteer house this morning was very subdued and the car rife in was silent. We were all very nervous, steeling ourselves for what we may see and knowing that what we were doing was not entirely safe. They say that anything can happen in the slums.
First we went back to the home of Mussa (the boy with cerebral palsy and epilepsy). After our visit last time Mussa had been taken to the clinic and given medication. They are seeing improvements and he is eating by himself now. The doctors have recommended a 1 month stay in a local rehabilitation centre. While they are willing to fund some of this, there is still around £290 that would need to be paid. Aisha, his mother, was able to give us a clearer idea of what she would need to start up her own stall and begin to generate more income. She would need start up capital of around 500,000UGS. The organisation feel that she is a great candidate for a loan as she has previous experience. AS such they are likely to be willing to act as a guarantor for her on the loan. To qualify for the loan though Aisha must first have had a bank account open for a month though, so there will be a delay.
This puts us in a really tough position. Provided Aisha receives a loan and is able to sustain Mussa's medication and keep him fed on an ongoing basis I would like to, funds allowing, provide emergency assistance for his treatment.With Mussa's treatment lasting 1 month and Aisha's loan taking 1 month to come through, we would need to wait until the loan cleared to put Mussa into the centre. If not, we risk him being rehabilitated only to end up straight back in the same position.
As we moved on to the next family a man started following us. He was showing us his report cards and asking for sponsorship for schooling. It became very awkward as he lurked around corners and started at us. We had the slum chairman and 3 other Ugandan men with us though who got him to leave.
First we went back to the home of Mussa (the boy with cerebral palsy and epilepsy). After our visit last time Mussa had been taken to the clinic and given medication. They are seeing improvements and he is eating by himself now. The doctors have recommended a 1 month stay in a local rehabilitation centre. While they are willing to fund some of this, there is still around £290 that would need to be paid. Aisha, his mother, was able to give us a clearer idea of what she would need to start up her own stall and begin to generate more income. She would need start up capital of around 500,000UGS. The organisation feel that she is a great candidate for a loan as she has previous experience. AS such they are likely to be willing to act as a guarantor for her on the loan. To qualify for the loan though Aisha must first have had a bank account open for a month though, so there will be a delay.
This puts us in a really tough position. Provided Aisha receives a loan and is able to sustain Mussa's medication and keep him fed on an ongoing basis I would like to, funds allowing, provide emergency assistance for his treatment.With Mussa's treatment lasting 1 month and Aisha's loan taking 1 month to come through, we would need to wait until the loan cleared to put Mussa into the centre. If not, we risk him being rehabilitated only to end up straight back in the same position.
As we moved on to the next family a man started following us. He was showing us his report cards and asking for sponsorship for schooling. It became very awkward as he lurked around corners and started at us. We had the slum chairman and 3 other Ugandan men with us though who got him to leave.
The next household we visited was that of a grandmother and her 3 grandchildren. The grandmother is disable and can't carry out a lot of tasks on her own. Her daughter is alive, but has left the children with her. They carry water and work around the house for her. The youngest child appeared malnourished and had a large distended belly. We were surprised to discover that the woman owns land in a village and that the rent she is paying is equivalent to what she would pay for a reasonable house in a village.She says that she likes where she is as it's close to the city. Izzy was obviously quite upset that this woman had the means to take the children elsewhere, but has chosen to keep them in the slums where poor hygiene causes health problems. The slum chairman, Moses, will be speaking to the children's mother in the hopes that she can persuade their grandmother to move or failing that, extract them from the home.
As we were making our way through the slums to the third household we were navigating a network of mud/sewer channels and narrow gaps between huts and walls. At one point I slipped and fell into the mud, cutting my leg and hand on the way down. The open wounds (more scratches if I'm honest) went straight into the muddy water. I have had my shots but am obviously reasonably concerned as there could be anything in that water. I will be making an appointment with the doctor when I get back to England!
The next household we went to was an owned house. The couple that lived there have taken in 2 disabled children. The children are sent to the public school so are getting an education, but classes in Uganda's public schools are up to 200 pupils and any with a disability will be ignored. The eldest boy told how teachers would ignore him and refuse to mark his work. The general approach to disability in Uganda is so different to that that I am used to. I found this story so difficult to hear.
The slums in general are a devastating place. Children play in filthy, everyone appears malnourished and desperate and the housing is inadequate.There are channels of water with mosquito larvae and sewage running through them. There are make shift houses from rusted bits of corrugated iron dotted about the place and clusters of households that share bathing facilities - generally an area with a little cloth around it. Apparently peeping toms are quite a problem as well.
As we walked around children would shout, sing and follow us around. Occasionally a woman would come up to us and thank us profusely for coming. Mostly though the adults looked on with facial expressions that could only be described as contempt. Both reactions made me feel very uncomfortable. This is most likely due to while people having gone there before, making promises to help and never following through with them.
We tried to stop at the rehabilitation centre that had seen Mussa on the way home, but were stopped by a torrential downpour.
I've spent the rest of the evening numb, unable to really think about or process what's happened today.
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