I don’t know how often I can post, or what detail I can post in, because this takes time, and I need to e-mail my family and Austin when we get to internet cafés.
Today. Wow. It was a long day. I went with Mike and Walter with three workers from the Hospice Jinja, Christina, Mase, and James, and we did outreach and home visits. Outreach is where we meet patients halfway between the Hospice and their home, and see if some people qualify to be Hospice patients. This usually takes place, from what I observed today, at a clinic. People only qualify if they can be diagnosed by the nurses as terminally ill, or if they were diagnosed as such by a hospital. For instance, the first patient we saw on a home visit was a potential patient that they accepted into the Hospice program because she has HIV. She has lost a substantial amount of weight, and suffers from chronic pain. She was given medicine to help her pain and her nerves, as well as NyQuil for her cough. The nurses here can give out medicines.
The second potential patient we saw was at a clinic on the first outreach. It was a very little girl in a cute green dress, like one you would see on a girl her age in America. Her illness may have made her look younger, but I think she was about 18 months old. She was beautiful. I can’t even tell you how beautiful this girl is. The hospice could not take her yet, because she hasn’t been diagnosed with a terminal illness. I didn’t find this out until I sat and prayed silently that God would not take her life, and that she would live. She hardly kept her eyes open she was so lethargic, and she was thin, with a seemingly large head (which is why I thought she may be older and underdeveloped). I eventually got her attention and wave to her. She looked at me with those beautiful eyes, struggling to keep them open to look at me. Christina and Mase told the child’s grandmother that she had to take the child back to the hospital and get x-rays and other checkups in order to properly diagnose her, and that she may not be terminally ill. She is adorable... It’s heart-breaking to think that there are sick kids in other countries (other than America) that could be helped easily in the U.S, but aren’t in other places. We learned today that only 60% of Ugandans ever get heathcare, and most can’t afford healthcare insurance.
It’s still sinking in that I will be here for a month, mostly because I have never been this far for that long, and because I am missing y’all so much!
Please pray that God would be my patience, because I am not a patient person. To be honest, this culture is very different in that they interact in a way that is relationally-based, no hurry, and meeting times are generalized, while Americans act on a timeline of events, communication is clear, and meetings and events are pretty prompt. It’s a struggle, and something God has convicted me of before, but I haven’t acted in a struggle against. So, it is finally happening! Haha. He keeps reminding me that A) I have nowhere else to be but with these people wherever they send/put me, and B) being more concerned with my time and my schedule than people isn’t a life He wants for me anyway.
I’m not entirely sure I will make sense, I’m sorry. It’s 10:00 pm, my body is still adjusting, and I am exhausted after today. Pray that God would be our strength, love, and understanding! (Their accents are thick!!)
10 June 2010
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