Day 13 Africa Mission Trip 2012-2013 (Dental Hygiene Siita Nest Orphanage)

Monday, January 7, 2013

Our first day at "Siita Nest Mother's Love Home".  I'm very happy that I stayed here in Jinja to meet Mama Alice in person and to see my daughter, Margaret and her sister Joy.

Siita Nest Orphanage children showing their personal toothbrushes

Handwashing

After our mission day at Siita Nest, Team A decided to hike up to Lake Victoria with our fearless adopted Team A member, Kathy Burt.

Mark asking the ladies if they want their picture taken

Uganda girls fetching water from the Lake

 There's Lake Victoria

Day 12 Africa Mission Trip 2012 (Kingfisher, River of Life Church)

Yes, it is Day 12 for us!  Good day everyone and Happy Sunday!

Team A is here at Kingfisher Lodge Kichwamba overseeing the Queen Elizabeth National Park.  It is located in western Uganda, 250 meters above the plains, having a spectacular view of the Park and the Rwenzories.  It is located 82 km from Kampala and 9 km from Jinja.  From Kampala branch right at Nile Breweries and follow the yellow signposts for about 5 km.

We had Sunday Service at the Rivers of Life Church in Jinja.  Team A (Medical Team) met the missionary couple, Julius and Margaret at their church.  They are friends of Donna Wisenbaugh.  We also met the missionary couple from Australia, Rozi and Alto Harris.  It was a blessed Sunday service in an old school classroom sandwiched between two different churches with service/worship going on at the same time.   The holy spirit was amongst us filling us with love and grace.  With our eyes closed you would think we are in a cathedral singing our hearts out for Jesus.

This is Joshua, very charming and talented son of Margaret and Julius.  He wants to be an astronaut.

Kathy Burt representing KCC and Pastor Perry during the service

Joel who will be Anthony's sponsor child and Joy (Rebekah Morimoto's sponsor child).  This was taken during the Pool Day at Kingfisher's Resor.

Sister and Brother reunion 

First time I met Mama Alice Kisolo.

Future Lawyer and Nurse Leader

First time I met Princess Grace. She's a neuro trauma nurse at the Mulago Hospital, the referral hospital in Kampala. 

This is Margaret, our sponsor child/daughter at SIITA NEST showing her bible with her name.

Having a grand time with the girls at the Pool Party!

Brush your teeth, brush your teeth until they're clean and bright, up and down, round and round until they're clean and white!

This is rascal Tendo, mini me of Doug!

SIITA NEST children brushing their teeth

Beautiful girls at SIITA Nest

Hand Hygiene:  this girl in brown and yellow dress is doing a great job with her hand washing techniques.

Light of Hope Medical Centre

Gospel of Light Church (Nateete Kampala)

Day 11 Africa Mission Trip 2012 (Kampala to Jinja)

It's very humbling to work with the people of Africa. They do so much with what little they have. And to see those happy smiling faces w/ pearly white teeth is amazing! We thought we're giving them gifts. Now I'm seeing they're sharing with us their gifts of contentment & gratitude!

God inspire us to share all our talents, gifts, time. money and love during this trip.  It's all about Jesus and our relationship with Him and others.  Our Medical Team we fondly call "The A Team" conquered the Light of Hope Medical Centre with the help of the holy spirit.  We are led by our fearless physician, Dawn Uithol who lovingly compromised with the current practices by Dr. Alfred  at this African medical centre. As she gladly shared with the rest of the team that Dr. Alfred and her decided to agree to disagree with several aspects of patient care and treatments.   Due to the very limited supplies and equipment at the centre the staff had to improvise in many areas of patient care.  I'm amazed at how much the staff can do with so little!

Alba my co-nurse tackled the organization of the pharmacy for easy access to medications and to identify the need to replenish certain items.  Mark installed a toilet seat and provided gel soap, toilet paper and paper towel for the staff rest room.  I was the first customer!  He also run errands for us and hand out trail mix to the kids at the centre and the church.

Elisa did a great job with keeping the children occupied with games, stickers, toys and allowing herself to be a bouncing ball most of the times.  Laura and myself became the triage staff along with Glad, the hospital staff.  By the end of the first day here last Wednesday, 1/2/13, we gradually found our place within the center.  There were some frustrations at the start because we don't know what the staff and if the staff wants us to implement changes with their patient flow and patient care. By around noon, I became Dr. Alfred's partner while Alba floated between Dawn and the pharmacy area.  By the end of the day, Dr. Alfred and myself had a great system going.  The following day, Laura became my partner with walking the patients to the pharmacy from the doctor's room after being seen and prescribed medications.  If the patient is on critical medications such as first time antihypertensives and antibiotics, I follow the patient to the labs and pharmacy to make sure they understand how to take the medications and when to return for check-up.  That's the case management and discharge planning in me!

Mark Rupp sharing trail mix with the children

Elisa playing with the kids in front of the hospital

Dr. Alfred Wakoba and Bonnie

Ellie from Gospel of Light Church

Ms. Prossy at Gospel of Light Church.  She makes us African foods

We saw young and old, male and female at this hospital.  We created a very special bond with the staff and I'm sad that yesterday was our last day at the hospital.  I'm also sad because we don't get to worship with the conference delegates at the Gospel of Light Church today.

We are heading to Jinja to join Team B at Siita Nest Orphanage.  Our A Team plans to provide medical services to the children.  I'm sure there will be adults at the medical center there.  We're having a pool party with the rest of the team and the children at Siita Nest Orphanage.

Day 10 Africa Mission Trip 2012 (Kampala)

It's hard to believe that we've been gone for 10 days!  I think for me it's because I get to see my family and talk to them via FB video chat.  Once in awhile I forget the time difference and will try to contact them then realize it's still 4 am there instead of 4 pm.

Below are words to remind us why KCC Africa Mission Team are here in Uganda, Africa and that is to allow the holy spirit to help us reflect on why God allowed us to be here.

1. Encouragement
2. Think of Others
3. Service
4. It's All About Jesus
5. Empowered

Each day of the week we have a special word that we focus on as we experience our journey here in Uganda, Africa.  God's love surrounds the people of Africa.  In the midst of their poverty I'm amazed at how joyful and happy they are when they see the muzungus!  When we first passed by the road to the Gospel of Light Church, the people are so excited to see a van full of mzungus including the adults.  One lady said it like singing and the kids are running after the van shouting, "mzungus, mzungus, mzungus" over and over waving their hands with this big smile almost laughing faces.  

There were discussion about who are considered the mzungus.  Is it a term for "white" only or is it for everyone who is not from Africa.  Here's what Wikipedia says:

Mzungu (pronounced [m̩ˈzuŋɡu]) is the southern, central and eastern African term for a person of foreign descent. Literally translated it means "someone who roams around aimlessly" or "aimless wanderer" (from the Swahili words zungu, zunguzungu, zunguka, zungusha, mzungukaji, meaning to go round and round; from Ganda okuzunga which means to wander aimlessly). The term was first used by natives of East Africa to describe European explorersin the 18th century.^{[citation needed]} It is now commonly used in most Bantu languages of East, Central and Southern Africa, especially in Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia.

In Swahili, the plural form of mzungu is wazungu.^[1][2][3] The possessive kizungu (or chizungu) translated literally means "of the aimless wanderers". It has now come to mean "language of the aimless wanderers" and more commonly English, as it is the language most often used by Wazungu in East Africa. However it can be used generally for any European language. Wachizungu, Bachizungu, etc. – literally "things of the aimless wanderers" – have come to mean the Western culture, cuisine and lifestyle.

In Kinyarwanda and Kirundi, European people are also known as rutuku which means "red" (after their skin color). The word English has been loaned into Bantu languages as kiingereza in Swahili,chingeleshi in Bemba or lungereza in Ganda.

Regional variations

Language	singular	plural	possessive
Swahili in East Africa	Mzungu	Wazungu	Kizungu
Luganda in Uganda	Muzungu	Bazungu	Kizungu
Chichewa in Malawi	Muzungu	Azungu	Chizungu
Chinyanja in Zambia	Muzungu	Bazungu	Chizungu
Kinyarwanda in Rwanda / Kirundi in Burundi	Umuzungu	Abazungu	ikizungu
Bemba in Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo	Musungu	Basungu	Chisungu
Sena in Mozambique	Muzungu	Azungu
Shona in Zimbabwe	Murungu
isiZulu in South Africa	Umlungu	Abelungu

By the end of the day yesterday, I finally figured out the names of the staff at Living Hope Medical Centre.  

Director:  Pastor Chris Nkusi

Administrator:  Bonnie

Physician:  Dr. Alfred Wakoba

Nurse:  Glad

Pharmacy Tech:  Estella

Lab Tech:  Harriet

When we first arrived at the hospital our medical team did not have a clear understanding of our role.  The staff were very happy to see us.  As we handed the medical supplies their faces remind me of children who receive candy treats.  It took half of the day before we figured out what would be the best way to help them.  I said what would be the most efficient way but Dawn, our medical team leader does not believe the word efficient is appropriate in this setting.  We huddled and discussed about the process from triage, to initial assessment and who will follow who.  At first both doctors are together in one examination room.  Laura and myself stationed with Glad, the hospital nurse at the triage area.  Mark is our all around staff running errands to get more medications to playing with the kids and giving them trail mix treats.  Alba took the responsibility to arrange the pharmacy and labelled them by drug classifications.  

Day 9 Africa Mission Trip 2012 (Living Hope Medical Clinic in Nateete))

Language has been there from the beginning.  When God created the world the language of love was a part of the process.  As He said, "Let there be light" then there was light.  Language is important for all of us to have and understand in order to communicate with each other and with everything that God created for us including the animals and plants.

Luganda is the term they used for Uganda's language. Similar to the filipino language, Luganda has different word(s) for male and female.  Good morning to a gentleman is "Wasuzze otya ssebo" while when you say it to a lady it becomes "klazuzze otya nnyabo".  Another similarities with the filipino language, there are different ways of saying things due to the different family tribes.

Other Luganda words I learned so far, "Webale nnyo (thank you) and "Karem Yamba" (you're welcome).

Yesterday I met several staff of Living Hope Medical Clinic in Kampala, Nateete.  Bonnie is the administrator, Dr. Alfred is the physician seeing and treating the patients at the clinic.  Glad Gibbs is the nurse who speak good English and helped our team to organize on our first day.  Estela is the pharmacist who is apparently still in school.  There's also the lab technician but I didn't get her name.  I'll find out today.

We also met Pastor Chris and his wife, Sylvia at the church during the morning worship.  Prossy, the church staff and cook, she seems to be the most important person at the church because she's everywhere!

Today was different from the first day we were at the Light of Hope Medical Center.  We had down time to play with the neighborhood kids!

Glad, the nurse student

Estela (pharmacy tech) and Harriette (lab tech)

Laura with neighborhood kids

Alba playing Duck Goose with the kids

This is the famous Chapati.  Don't let Laura see it.

The road from the medical clinic

This is Grandma Veronica.  If you noticed her huge hands holding on to my left knee.  She didn't want me to leave her side.  She is getting some IV fluids with multivitamins and we're having her rest to help lower her blood pressure. Her BP readings were 210/100, 200/98, 200/95.  There's no IV push hydralazine to lower her BP just po metoprolol and that's what we gave her.  Panadol is the favorite po medications in this clinic. It is equivalent to our tylenol.