Jinja Childrens Hospital

Hello Hello Hello!

So now it is Monday and I had a very eventful day to begin my week. Sunday we went to church and I brought along one of my favorite little girls... "M"... She is about 2 years old and probably the most goregous girl you have ever seen. I dressed her up in a little green polka-dot dress and carried her to Church with my purse filled of diapers, toys, kool-aide and cookies. She ended up falling asleep on me and was only awake in time to enjoy her treats while I held her. Everyone kept asking if she was mine and many people commented on how I am a "good mommy"... It made me feel good to hear the appreciation of other people for looking after a little girl for a couple hours... And lastnight, we had a volunteer appreciation dinner and a quick meeting about some changes taking place around Amani when it comes to the volunteer schedule. I am now in charge of recording all 59 kids weights. Every Monday - I have a list of kids that I am to go find, undress, weigh, redress and record their weights. This is excellent for me to remember their names and spend some 1 on 1 time with each child. Anyways... I was supposed to begin that this morning but when I went to Mama Lois she asked if I could come to the Childrens Hospital for their HIV Clinic for the morning instead. I eagerly agreed and she added "But have a large breakfast as we will be there for a few hours." I thought... Pfft... 2 maybe 3 hours... Taking 5 kids to the doctor... No problems.

So we pull up to the Hospital and it is literally undescribable. Maybe 3 or 4 buildings side by side that you could hardly call sterile and clean. People are lined up outside and are laying on mats in the grass... I would say about 15 families. We go inside and in maybe a 20 foot room, there are about 200 people sitting on a total of 6 benches. Little boys were peeing on the main wall as we walked in and pigeons are flying inside the open room from beam to beam. Men, Women, Children are all waiting to be called into a room no bigger than a small bedroom. Once we finally got inside and sat around for nearly an hour and a half, our group is called into the "office". Here, there are 3 women dressed in green skirts with the little white hats (the nurses) - routinely discussing patient histories, undressing the younger children, weighing them and then sitting them on a stool to have blood drawn - sharps being put in a cardboard box with "Sharps Container" written in Sharpie Marker on the outside... In this little room, including the 5 Adults from Amani and the 5 Children... We counted 22 people. Packed in like sardines, working and buzzing about effortlessly.

I was starting to get really hot and sweaty (more so than usual being in Africa...) so I took my little girl and sat outside on one of the straw mats we had bought to protect ourselves from the ground while waiting. I watched little chilren running around with open IV lines in their hands, one child being carried around with a tube inserted in his skull, babies with safeway-esque bags wrapped around their bottoms as diapers and women openly breastfeeding their children in the Jinja Childrens Hospital waiting room. We ended up being there from 1015 in the morning until 230 in the afternoon. I had to go with one of the other men we were with and buy the children some juice boxes to rehydrate them after such a long day. Mama Lois says this is nothing new and was laughing at my shock and awe. We even walked around and found syringes that had clearly been used for blood collection scattered around the ground outside the hospital. NOTHING like home. This afternoon was spent sitting in our big front yard having tricycle races and snuggle time. I managed to get some sun and enjoy the hot weather. It was a very eventful day and I was so lucky to experience the every day life of an African.

On a side note... Breastfeeding here is so common and not a private thing at all. It is very common for women to feed this way until their kids are 3 years of age. I heard it being called "The African Sippy Cup" today too. Hahahaha....

I will update again in a couple days with more stories and adventures. I miss everyone so much at home and I am enjoying all the "Hey whats up" emails.

Kwagala Nyo

xo*