Paint and Melago Hospital

Wednesday morning I changed my routine. I had arranged to help the man in charge of maintenance with some manual labor. At 8 o'clock, as the children headed off to class for the day, I lathered up in SPF 55 and headed to the work shop in the back of the compound. The jack-of-all-trades-handy-man Tobias, or Toby, mixed some paint and paint thinner for me, and I set off up a step ladder to paint the wooden fascia around the roof of the workshop. It was only 8 AM, but the grass was still soaked with the rain from the night before and I quickly found myself with wet feet, and a soon-to-be wet set of clothes from the sweat I would work up. After about an hour of painting, I moved on to painting the fascia of the first missionary house in the row of houses lying ahead of me. As I got sweatier and sweatier, it became nearly impossible to apply an extra coat of sunblock. The sun's rays got stronger and stronger as it rose in the morning sky, becoming incredibly oppressive. Moving the step ladder and extension ladder around, climbing up and down, and painting back and forth absolutely wore me out, and by 1 o'clock I was ready to retire. From life. Luckily I had been able to drink enough to keep from getting dehydrated.

I am continuing to get the opportunity to tutor several students in the lower and middle schools, many of whom are desperately behind in their studies. Some 7th grade students have the academic abilities of 3rd and 4th graders, especially in math. In Uganda, students need only pass 7 out of 8 of their subjects to move on to the next grade, and teachers need only be proficient in 7 out of the 8 disciplines. Naturally, this creates a pitfall that snares students in the toughest area for many: math.

Today we had a real treat. The three of us rode into Kampala with Doctor Tyler to take a little 5-year-old girl named Jane to Melago hospital. It is the only government hospital in Uganda. People come from all over the country to be seen, especially those who cannot afford to go to a private hospital. As always, driving through Kampala was an adventure in itself. We left at 7am, and traffic was beginning to get bad. The near complete absence of streetlights results in terrible traffic backups, as no one observes any road rules at crowded intersections. One or two ineffective policemen try to direct traffic. As we neared the hospital, we drove past a golf course that seemed very out of place. After a quick trip to the mall, we made it to the hospital. We wandered up and down the open air corridors, past a slightly ajar set of double doors labeled "Main Operating Theatre" opening into the outside courtyard. On the third floor we took a look inside a ward. Similar sight to the ward we saw at Mengo. Finally it was time to make our way to outpatient service, a crowded outdoor waiting room. After a wait of about 10 minutes, a young black doctor came running up excitedly and led all 5 of us down a wing and into the most crowded hallway of patients I have ever seen. I couldn't count them. I was relieved to step into a dimly lit exam/consultation room, where the doctor discussed Jane's case with Tyler. Jane has haemolytic anemia due to unknown causes, and our mission has been to try to identify the cause and discover the best way to try to treat her symptoms and determine if it will be possible to find a cure. After consulting with a Spanish-born, Venezuelan raised doctor who practices in Denver (who happened to be doing a 3 week stint teaching at Melago), the general consensus is that most likely has a genetic defect in how here blood levels are maintained. A splenectomy is a possibility several years from now, but for now the doctor just ordered more blood work. A splenectomy is the removal of the spleen. The spleen is responsible for breaking down and recycling old red blood cells. It is also a blood reservoir in emergencies. It is thought that Jane's spleen, which is swollen when she is feeling bad, is breaking down too many blood cells. Ok, I know, too much information.

Getting a chance to see the hospital and the true conditions that exist there was a wonderful experience. I wish I could have stayed to see more. But Tyler took us to a Dutch-owned deli and an Italian gelato shop afterwards. We were in heaven.

We're all feeling better now, by the way. Thanks for your prayers. God bless.