I've been noticing that a lot of trucks here have Chinese writing on the side of them and have been wondering what this is about. I asked Ali today and he said that there are quite a few Chinese businesses operating in Uganda. I have read a little about China's interest in Africa before. I don't know a lot about it but it makes me a little nervous...
On the way to get started for the day Ali showed us a doctor's report. They had taken Mussa (the paralysed boy from the slums) to the doctor for an assessment. He was recommended a 1 month stay in the rehabilitation centre and some specific equipment. This amounts to 1,031,000 Ugandan Shillings, which is around £300.
We did some assessment visits today for new families with Ali, Margaret and Agnes, who is a partner of the organisation in her local area. Her role is to identify at risk families and bring them to the ogranisation's attention.
The first family we visited was a single mother called Mariam and her 3 children who are 6, 4 and 3 years old. The eldest child is disabled and is unable to stand or speak. Mariam has never had the money to take her to the doctor for a diagnosis, but one volunteer suspects that it is cerebral palsy. Mariam blames it on a fever the child had when she was 3 months old. There is also another child in the father's family with the same condition.
When the child was 3 years old it became obvious that she was not developing normally. Despite having a history in his family of this disability, the father decided that he could not have fathered such a child, accused Mariam of cursing him and left her. The house she is living in is owned by her mother in law who is trying to ger her out.
We did a full assessment on the family. They had 1 jerry can which they use to collect water from the local well. The jerry can leaks though so fetching water is very difficult. The children appeared malnourished and were not clean as Mariam could not afford soap. Their clothing was dirty and torn and they had no shoes. We saw inside the house as well. There was a bard, old, dirty mattress that the children sleep on. They wet the bed but she is unable to clean it. She showed us the small square of foam on the floor that she sleeps on. She has no bed clothes or blanket. She has 1 mosquito net, but they don't all fit under it. As a result she is currently suffering from malaria.
To earn money, Mariam works digging in other people's fields. For 3 days digging she will earn 5000 Ugandan shillings. This is roughly £1.50.
Izzy later explained that what Mariam's husband did was not unusual. He said that when a baby is born abnormal it is seen as s curse and the woman is blamed. The man then moves on to marry another woman and starts over again.
As we left, Margaret gave Miriam the equivalent of about 50p for soap. Mariam feel to her knees in the dirt and thanked her profusely.
this is such a tough situations. Mariam will probably qualify for emergency assistance and will be provided with a mattress, jerry cans, cooking pots and other essentials. In terms of longer term sustainable options though I'm not sure what can be done. Mariam has no land so can't receive seeds or a pig. She also has to care for her disabled child so is unable to start a business even with capital as she would be unable to leave the house to sell her products. I'm really at a loss as to what could even be done to help Mariam and it's so difficult.
The second family we saw today had 4 children. Both mother and father are about and the mother is pregnant. They are caretakers of the land they live on and are allowed to keep 30% of what they produce. The mother and father also work digging for other landowners. they do not make a lot of money though and are only able to feed their family once a day. their eldest child attends school, but they cannot afford to send the others.
The house was clean, though they have no mattresses and the children seemed happy. While they get malaria from time to time and were slightly malnourished they seemed mostly healthy.
What I just can't get my head around is her pregnancy. When you are struggling to feed your children I just cannot understand why you would have another child.
The third family we visited had 3 orphaned grandchildren. The grandmother weaves hats and bags to sell for money for food. She has difficulty selling them though as she needs to walk around to find buyers. 2 years ago she dislocated her ankle and has never been to see a doctor. The grandfather Kizimula (or Sandy is his born again Christian name) has gone blind and so is unable to work to support the family.
When we met Kizimula, Lauren and I immediately noticed that he had cataracts. He has not been to a doctor as he could not afford transport. It was really difficult to see this man who was blind, but who doesn't have to be and the children of his deceased child going without food because of his condition. I have found out that there is a local eye clinic who will diagnose for free, have got someone from the organisation to agree to take him and given them some money for transport. Now I'll look for a cataract charity operating in Uganda and should hopefully be able to get his surgery done for free. I'm really looking forward to hearing more about his doctors visit. Unfortunately I will be unable to go as I'm back to the slums tomorrow.
After outreach we stopped by a shop to get some paint for the school. We bought white and flamingo, which turned out to be bright yellow...
The other volunteers went to the school to do some painting while I went with Martin to a town called Kamwokya to meet the web developers who handle the organisation's website. They were able to show me the source code and discuss how we could get the search engine optimisation done. While they can't give us access to update the meta data ourselves, they are able to add data I provide for very little money. Their standard fee for this is less than £30, but it's likely to be less because it's for a charity.
Kamwokya was a strange place. It seemed very rich in comparison to the area I'm in. There were huge houses with high walls and security. After seeing the developers, we headed back to get a taxi, but a different way this time. Martin explained to me that he does this in case people with bad intentions saw us go there and decided to wait for us to come back.
Today has been pretty intense. I feel really good about the fact that for the most part I have an action plan. I'm still thinking about Mariam though and how hopeless she seemed and wishing I could find a solution.
On the way to get started for the day Ali showed us a doctor's report. They had taken Mussa (the paralysed boy from the slums) to the doctor for an assessment. He was recommended a 1 month stay in the rehabilitation centre and some specific equipment. This amounts to 1,031,000 Ugandan Shillings, which is around £300.
We did some assessment visits today for new families with Ali, Margaret and Agnes, who is a partner of the organisation in her local area. Her role is to identify at risk families and bring them to the ogranisation's attention.
The first family we visited was a single mother called Mariam and her 3 children who are 6, 4 and 3 years old. The eldest child is disabled and is unable to stand or speak. Mariam has never had the money to take her to the doctor for a diagnosis, but one volunteer suspects that it is cerebral palsy. Mariam blames it on a fever the child had when she was 3 months old. There is also another child in the father's family with the same condition.
When the child was 3 years old it became obvious that she was not developing normally. Despite having a history in his family of this disability, the father decided that he could not have fathered such a child, accused Mariam of cursing him and left her. The house she is living in is owned by her mother in law who is trying to ger her out.
We did a full assessment on the family. They had 1 jerry can which they use to collect water from the local well. The jerry can leaks though so fetching water is very difficult. The children appeared malnourished and were not clean as Mariam could not afford soap. Their clothing was dirty and torn and they had no shoes. We saw inside the house as well. There was a bard, old, dirty mattress that the children sleep on. They wet the bed but she is unable to clean it. She showed us the small square of foam on the floor that she sleeps on. She has no bed clothes or blanket. She has 1 mosquito net, but they don't all fit under it. As a result she is currently suffering from malaria.
To earn money, Mariam works digging in other people's fields. For 3 days digging she will earn 5000 Ugandan shillings. This is roughly £1.50.
Izzy later explained that what Mariam's husband did was not unusual. He said that when a baby is born abnormal it is seen as s curse and the woman is blamed. The man then moves on to marry another woman and starts over again.
As we left, Margaret gave Miriam the equivalent of about 50p for soap. Mariam feel to her knees in the dirt and thanked her profusely.
this is such a tough situations. Mariam will probably qualify for emergency assistance and will be provided with a mattress, jerry cans, cooking pots and other essentials. In terms of longer term sustainable options though I'm not sure what can be done. Mariam has no land so can't receive seeds or a pig. She also has to care for her disabled child so is unable to start a business even with capital as she would be unable to leave the house to sell her products. I'm really at a loss as to what could even be done to help Mariam and it's so difficult.
The second family we saw today had 4 children. Both mother and father are about and the mother is pregnant. They are caretakers of the land they live on and are allowed to keep 30% of what they produce. The mother and father also work digging for other landowners. they do not make a lot of money though and are only able to feed their family once a day. their eldest child attends school, but they cannot afford to send the others.
The house was clean, though they have no mattresses and the children seemed happy. While they get malaria from time to time and were slightly malnourished they seemed mostly healthy.
What I just can't get my head around is her pregnancy. When you are struggling to feed your children I just cannot understand why you would have another child.
The third family we visited had 3 orphaned grandchildren. The grandmother weaves hats and bags to sell for money for food. She has difficulty selling them though as she needs to walk around to find buyers. 2 years ago she dislocated her ankle and has never been to see a doctor. The grandfather Kizimula (or Sandy is his born again Christian name) has gone blind and so is unable to work to support the family.
When we met Kizimula, Lauren and I immediately noticed that he had cataracts. He has not been to a doctor as he could not afford transport. It was really difficult to see this man who was blind, but who doesn't have to be and the children of his deceased child going without food because of his condition. I have found out that there is a local eye clinic who will diagnose for free, have got someone from the organisation to agree to take him and given them some money for transport. Now I'll look for a cataract charity operating in Uganda and should hopefully be able to get his surgery done for free. I'm really looking forward to hearing more about his doctors visit. Unfortunately I will be unable to go as I'm back to the slums tomorrow.
After outreach we stopped by a shop to get some paint for the school. We bought white and flamingo, which turned out to be bright yellow...
The other volunteers went to the school to do some painting while I went with Martin to a town called Kamwokya to meet the web developers who handle the organisation's website. They were able to show me the source code and discuss how we could get the search engine optimisation done. While they can't give us access to update the meta data ourselves, they are able to add data I provide for very little money. Their standard fee for this is less than £30, but it's likely to be less because it's for a charity.
Kamwokya was a strange place. It seemed very rich in comparison to the area I'm in. There were huge houses with high walls and security. After seeing the developers, we headed back to get a taxi, but a different way this time. Martin explained to me that he does this in case people with bad intentions saw us go there and decided to wait for us to come back.
Today has been pretty intense. I feel really good about the fact that for the most part I have an action plan. I'm still thinking about Mariam though and how hopeless she seemed and wishing I could find a solution.
Seeing this kind of poverty and not being able to fix it is incredibly difficult. Our inability to solve the problem is often the thing that takes the longest to come to terms with. It can feel like being there is insignificant and woefully insufficient at times - but it's a step. Little by little, person by person - that's how we can help, that's how relief will make the most progress, even if it's not the fastest. You've done an amazing thing here, especially with Kizimula and helping him with his vision. You are as inspirational as ever Laura! xxx Anna xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Anna. You are right of course. :)
ReplyDelete