Kitgum Town

Kitgum Town
Kitgum Town

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Its been "busy"

Our apologies for not posting news for a while. We are still alive and well.
We enjoyed the weekend here at Kitgum but had trouble getting the blog to work:
We had made entries but they would not post so we will try again.
At the weekend we worked at a slower pace. We spent time catching up on the cleaning and washing, however this became an interesting time with many of the locals surrounding us and observing Andrew R helping with the laundry. This is not something the men do here and that is help the women with "Womans work" Many comments were passed and they were very surprised. Some of the men stated that Andrew R must be "bewitched" or "not right in the head"
We enjoyed a meal with the local Pator Alfred who welcomed us into his home. He was very excited to show us his "beach" that he had at his back door. Not sure if the surf is ever up here. We were very blessed with their hospitality. On Sunday we went to church. This was a very much a church of participation where Andrew W and Andrew R joined the conga line of worshipers for around 20minutes dancing throughout the church. Andrew W said he has never had so much fun in church before. They both were in their elements.
We continue to go daily up to the radio station and first record a health message that can be played over again once we leave and then do the talk back radio on health issues that are affecting the Ugandan people.
We spent much time over the weekend also going over the plans for the new hospital here and getting the  layout of labour wards, theatre and recovery organised on paper before the building begins!
Irene returned yesterday from her time in Australia so it was wonderful to see her  .
We can see the health work here has the potential to go to the next level with possible government accreditation and we are spending some time today waiting and listening to God about what our part in this could be. This morning AW did some motor bike riding through the dusty streets to the ministry of health and also enjoyed meeting again with the medical superintendent of st josephs catholic hospital who is very welcoming and keen to allow AW to be involved in the childrens ward and nutritional unit and to assist with teaching if the time here allows it. It has been very helpful to just sit and listen and learn about how everything works here and what the challenges are. People I think appreciate the opportunity to share . We were able to take Irene on a tour of the new  OPD today as the  painters start their work.  A 5 month old  baby was attended to with fever of 40C and convulsions and we transported the little one to st josephs.  Rowena and the visiting widwife Rebecca along with a pastor from australia, Cha Cha, have been helping the nurses clean the AIDs hospice ready for a possible inspection-- much improvement. We continue to value very much your  prayers. At times we feel a bit sleep deprived and tired but overall  we are very positive!!