Last two Full days

May 24 – May 25

The past two days have been fairly low key. In the morning we had arranged with a driver from the University to take us to the Equator. When we asked him, he told us that he would take just the 5 of us in the van. In the morning that was not the case. I don’t know why we were shocked that he didn’t tell us the truth. It turns out he was going to bring some Wisconsin students about 10 kilometers past the Equator and we could ride along. The ride out was a full van with luggage in tow. I guess I don’t mind too much except that the driver was already paid and just by adding us he gained 60,000 shillings. Oh well, It’s only $30 split between 5 people. It’s a bit over an hour to get there just to take a picture and look at gift shops with the same stuff that’s in Kampala for at least twice the price. Instead of shopping, we went to one of the cafes to have a little snack. Pepsi and chips with guacamole really hit the spot. Our driver returned from dropping off the students before I was finished and since he was in a hurry to get back to Kampala so he could bring his kids back to boarding school, I just grabbed the rest of my chips and hopped in the van. The ride back was pleasant because we were no longer cramped all together. There is more room in this van than a mtatu and I was miserable after a little under two hours. It made me even more glad that we didn’t take one to go to Mubende.

Once returning to town, we decided we could just barely make it to the 2:00 service at KPC before walking across the street to the market. We were a few minutes late already but right outside of the church, a woman came out of nowhere and rear-ended the van. Poor James was already in a hurry and because of us he got in an accident and was even more late than he was before. I didn’t feel as bad paying him 60,000 and we even through in a little extra. We left the scene of the accident and I think that was for the better. Even the police officers were telling us we should go. I don’t know what happens where there is a traffic accident but I’m glad we didn’t have to stick around to find out. Honestly, I was surprised it was the first time we experienced and accident with the way that most people drive.

Since we were so late, we just stood at the back to watch the children sing because it was a special children’s day. It was not the Watoto children’s choir, which is the orphanage kids singing, but they were still precious. When they were finished, the pastor asked us to break up in groups of three to pray for the children as the returned back to school. I prayed with Angella and another stranger. I think it’s amazing that people pray like that all together but in groups. It doesn’t seem like something I’ve seen in many churches back home because it gets into people’s comfort zone. I guess if you do it enough, it feels natural and normal.

The craft market was okay, but most of the shops were not open because it was late on a Sunday. We decided to just get a few things and then come back when we were finished in the hospital on Monday. For dinner, we stopped at Javas for quesadillas. We got home much earlier than usual (about 7:00) and we spent the rest of the night trying to get all of our pictures burned on a CD for Angella. For some reason it takes a very long time. We tried with the videos, but it didn’t work at all, so we just gave up after four hours.

Monday was our last full day in Uganda, but it was jut another weekday for us. We went up to the ward and I brought a lot of stuffed animals with me. I’ve tried to avoid handing them out when the wards are full because people bombard you wanting one. I made the mistake of handing out a few at a time and soon everybody was asking for one. I don’t mind giving them, but I get really upset when the same mother gets a toy and then hides it and comes back to get another one. It seems like no matter what we give, people want more. I feel bad having to say no, but I feel even worse when there isn’t enough to go around. Plus, that day, my intentions were a little different.

I don’t know if I mentioned before, but there is a little girl in the ward who has been abandoned and the nurses have been taking care of her for about a month. One nurse told me her name is Teresa and so that’s what I call her, but most people just walk by and say “baby”. She is not much of a baby at two years old, but she is extremely small and malnourished for her age. I started interacting with her last week and then decided that I would just pick her up and hold her because that doesn’t happen very often. Now that’s what I do when I feel like I’m getting in the way on rounds. I just sit with her. Today her bed was in the hallway and I just picked her up and held her. The nurses always walk by and smile. One of the doctors came up and thanked me for loving that baby. When I see her sitting in the bed I think about the experiment we read about back in psychology freshman year. Some monkeys were not allowed to have any mother’s tough, except for mechanical monkeys that cleaned and fed them. They ended up with huge psychological problems as the grew older and their social interactions were abnormal. The only time Teresa is picked up is when some nice person has time or a nurse is changing or bathing her. I figured the least I could offer was some time to hold her. The problem is every time I try to put her down she cries, and then when I leave she starts wailing. I’m sure the nurses don’t like that she’s getting used to somebody actually picking her up, but I don’t care. She needs somebody to comfort her, even if it’s only for a few days.

After we left the ward we went down to check on a child that had gotten surgery for a perforated bowel. He probably would have died within a day or two of us seeing him if he didn’t get the surgery, but since Ross and Troy had caught it on the x-ray, he was given surgery for free. He was doing a little better the day after and then got worse on Thursday and Friday. Saturday Troy checked in on him and found that he was improving, which was amazing because Ross and Rachel thought for sure he would have passed away. When we got to the surgical floor, Ross looked around and saw that the bed he was in was gone. He asked a mother nearby and she shook her head, implying he was gone. Just to be sure, we asked a nurse who went in to look for little Derrick. While she was there, I flipped through the log book and found his name. The description said that he died at 11:30 and the morgue came to take the body away. It was very sad because we were hoping this boy would pull through. It’s hard to see things like this happen because without the surgery he would have died sooner and his mom would have missed one less day of work and caring for her family at home. With the surgery, we wonder if we improved his life or made it worse overall. I think we have to say that we tried and what we did at least gave him a chance to survive, even if the outcome wasn’t what we wished. I just hope that some of the other cases that we have been a part of have a better outcome that this boy’s.

We were all depressed after hearing the news about Derrick, so we stopped at the café for a Fanta and a donut. It didn’t really make us feel better, but at least it filled our stomachs. We left the hospital and came back to the house. Then we walked to the craft market to buy the rest of the gifts we needed for people back home. It’s so overwhelming in the markets sometimes because every shop sells basically the same thing but you have to sift through to find the best quality at the best price. It’s a challenge that I have to be in the mood for I think that I should take my mom there sometime to see how she would fair. I’m guessing she would be great at it once she gets the hang of bartering for price.

At night, we stopped by Little Angel to drop off some clothes and take down some more information from the moms. It turns out they are only 16 and 20. They both had dropped out of school at one point and now they do an amazing job watching over all of those kids. They looked a lot different this time because they had all either gotten their hair cut or their heads shaved to start school. Angella says that I lot of schools make kids shave or cut their hair so that they can focus on their studies. We saw all kinds of kids in different colored uniforms walking back and forth to school during the day. The city changes a little bit with so many of them filling the sidewalks.

We had our “last supper” at a nice restaurant at a hotel downtown. Troy was very kind and treated us to dinner, which I very much appreciated. However, the food was not as good I as was expecting. We had amazing Chinese food at Fang Fang hotel last week and I thought the sweet and sour vegetables would be even better here. It turns out they were very bland and the sauce tasted almost like it was tomato paste rather than anything sweet. Oh well, you really never know what you’re going to get when you order food here, but as long as it tastes decent and doesn’t make you sick, you have to appreciate the goodness of it.

We came home and gave Angella some of the remaining supplies we had and exchanged our pictures. We also gave her a bunch of stuffed animals to hand out at her clinic. She really thinks the kids will love them. Angella is a very kind and caring person and she really has a heart for the orphaned children of her country. I know that the Need for All Woolies are like her own little brothers and sisters and she’s done everything in her power to help provide them a good home and a happy life. I know that the move to Watoto was hard on all of us, but especially her. She had been lied to a lot by Ruth and sometimes Jovenes and they really took advantage of her kindness. Watoto is bittersweet. The kids are going to have a great future and no worries about food or school or rent, but Angella will not be able to see them as often so I think it’s really hard for her to think about. I really feel blessed to know Angella. Both trips here she has been our friend and personal guide to the city. I don’t know where we would be without her. I hope that she can make it to Minnesota soon so that we can show her the same generosity that she has shown to us.