the best things in life are free

I am constantly reminded of what a difference the little things can make here. Of course we see daily the impact of a hug, spending a little time with a kid, using a word instead of hitting, explaining something to a child... All these things change the view of the world for one person. But since I'm here for medical stuff, I figure it makes sense to tell you some of those things :)

Burns. 2 weeks ago, we had two separate burns on the school kids who come in from the villages. One little girl was badly burned on her shoulder and arm from boiling water, and a little boy was burned on his forearm from a flat iron. Little thing #1: We cleaned the wounds. Nothing fancy. Cleaned with normal saline (basically salt water), applied simple burn cream you could find at any Wal-Greens and covered with a clean dressing. And now they are both healed. Amazing!

Infections. Yesterday another little boy from the village came to the clinic with his sister who goes to school at GSF. This little guy was so quiet and it took quite a bit of coaxing to get him to tell us what was bothering him-a small wound (looks like Staff infection, but who really knows) that had grass seeds in it and was obviously infected. Simple thing #2: we took the seeds out and wrapped the leg. Easy. Just some pliers and that good old normal saline again and we've got a clean wound! He came back today and the swelling in the leg is greatly decreased and the wound is opening, releasing all this pent up pus. Smelled terrible, but now his leg has a chance to heal!

Knowledge. Today my partner and I conducted a women's health class for the teenagers here. We went through all the traditional embarrassing stuff, made the girls all giggle. Simple thing #3: we took questions. The girls asked about getting pregnant, hygiene during their periods, abortion... Hopefully we are building bridges making ourselves more available to the teens. Maybe today there was a pregnancy prevented, an abortion averted, or an urinary tract infection avoided.

Play. Both yesterday and today were the first times I've had to really play with the kids. I broke out the frisbee only to discover they are good! Simple thing #4: we had fun. I hope this time invested leads to deeper relationships beyond the games.

Although I am TIRED, God has been GOOD TO ME. I cannot deny it-believe me, I have tried! I have worked so hard to make this on my own. But this place is too tiring. I just can't pour energy into it all the time without Jesus working through me. It is too exhausting! So onward we go, going to bed late, waking up early. And realizing that often the best things in life are free.

Lord of the Flies

If there were a book that represents the social structure here in the orphanage-it would be Lord of the Flies.

The layout of the homes is (what I think) an excellent outline: there is an Ugandan House Mom for each home (there are 5 children's homes) who lives with the kids all the time except for her 5 days of leave every month. There is also an Ugandan Auntie who assists the House Mom. Each house has 2 rooms for children-about 4-8 to a room. Usually the big kids are in one room, and the small kids in the other. The houses are divided by gender, except the toddler and baby house which is mixed.

This structure works well-some of the time. A few of the House Moms' run their houses so well-truly like a little family. But some of them... Not so much. As I've mentioned previously, some of the older kids will beat the younger to get them to do what they want. Thus far, that is something I have seen with the girls, not so much the boys.

One morning while on our morning rounds, we heard some screaming coming from one of the houses. My teammate Meredith went to investigate and found one of the younger (about 10 years old) girls crying. The others in the house told Mere that the girl had refused to do her chores. Seems simple enough-a little girl cries because she doesn't want to do her chores. OK-so we finished our rounds. Later that day, we found out that one of the older girls had taken the one who refused to do her chores into a room and had beaten her with a stick. Yup-Lord of the Flies.

The kids have their own social structure-the older ones have authority over the younger. Depending on the house, the older ones exert authority using respect, and others use force. Most of the houses reflect the attitude of the authority-either the house feels tense or the house feels secure and safe. Very interesting.

It is hard to be here and stay an observer. Most of the time I just want to jump up and shout "this is wrong!" But what will that accomplish besides alienating myself and putting on this fake facade of superiority? I think Jesus knew the people well before he said-"wrong!" to them. Obviously: He is God (so that makes the whole knowing thing easier) but He spent 30 years of His life just living beside the people before He jumped into ministry. I need to remember this is for the long haul-and not just the 9 months, but for eternity. Am I expressing the love of Jesus to people as I interact? As I teach? As I learn?

Pray that I know when to stand up and say "wrong!" And when to watch and learn. Jesus was a Master at both, so I want to follow His lead

There is not enough room at our Inn

Greetings to you!

By the way, the church here on our campus of GSF sends their greetings to you :)

In my adventures thus far, I have not allowed myself to engage in the tragedy of the lives of the children here. But today a chink in my armor was found.

Late last week there was a call to our social worker about a baby who was at a nearby hospital called Bwikwe who needed a home. Today we needed to bring a baby to the hospital to be admitted for a small surgical procedure in the morning, so we also went to investigate (not all babies who are brought as orphans are true orphans so we have to check every single child's story). As I have seen in the past, the hospital was overcrowded with approx 15 children in a room that is the same size as an American hospital single room. The children need a parent or guardian to stay with. The adult is responsible for bedside care and giving oral medications. The adult sleeps with the child in their hospital bed-a single sized bed.

The baby who we were "investigating" was so cute! He cooed and babbled and laughed at everyone! One of the most easy-going babies I have ever met. A Czech doctor was there saying "if you want to bad enough, you could take him." But the thing was-we couldn't! There is seriously not a single bed left in our orphanage. Every room, every bed, every staff member is filled to capacity. As we left the hospital, our social worker turned to me and said, "I hate saying no, it is terrible."

We took the baby to child welfare along with the member from the village who brought him malnourished, with malaria and anemic to the hospital, and made a plan. We are still hoping to be able to take him if a bed opens, but we are actually above capacity at the moment.

I know it is clique, but what would Jesus had done. Really-what on earth would Jesus have done??? On one hand-a child needs a home. On the other-we will NOT be able to provide care to the kids we have if we take in more than we have resources for. What to do? What to do? I hate turning away a sweet child named Jared.

Those of you who told me I may bring a baby home-it would be Jared ;)

Prayer requests:
1. that I find time to spend with Jesus! I have been so busy since coming here, I feel like I have no time to spend with Him.
2. pray for a child I am coming to love who is HIV positive and is in some of the final stages of AIDS. Pray for him by name. His name is Phillip.

Someone wise said prayer is not a part of the work-prayer IS the work. Love to you from Uganda :)