Uganda adventure: Day 8a

Saturday has been slated for an immunization clinic and the local community is invited. Victoria and the volunteers from the USA have arranged a fun day on the front lawn of BKU big house. The wall has been partly whitewashed and the outlines of a mural sketched in by the very talented Kyle.

Tons of photos today and many of them way too cute to leave out. In the interests of making it easier for your page to load, I am splitting today’s entry into two editions.

breakfast is in the Banana Village roundhouse since a conference is underway at the dining hall. Mike, one of the magicians, eyes the bananas

Olivia poses in the clinic

Dr. Durga and I set up things with Rose in preparation for our clinic. Dennis is a doctor at the local MediLinks clinic and he arrives to volunteer his time, which is a tremendous help in terms of translation services particularly. Dr. Vasu offers intermittent consultations for ear nose & throat issues. The public health nurse arrives with the cold storage container and vaccines, and we get underway.

one little fellow has his weight checked

I am making an explanation to a worried mom

Jaclyn & Laura are very helpful packing vitamins into envelopes

happy mom & babe

The pace is reasonable at first, and I am able to enter many of our little victims into the Oscar database. Alas, we seem to be a victim of our own success because by 10:30 the area outside the clinic is jammed with clients awaiting medical consultations in addition to vaccinations.

The conference at Banana Village dining hall is directed at caregivers of children with special needs. It is a great success with almost 90 attendees. Most of those proceed to our little clinic for assessment. The problems are largely chronic and heartbreaking, and there is little we can do but offer encouragement, advice and usually reassurance that their existing treatment plan is reasonable.

Durga speaks with a mom

just how big is that needle?

Jackie takes a short break to show off her finger puppet

Hydrocephalus is a disturbance of circulation of the cerebrospinal fluid which bathes the brain and spinal cord, such that fluid builds up in the brain. The known causes include abnormal development of fluid channels before birth, certain infections in the mother during pregnancy, and premature or traumatic delivery causing bleeding within the infant brain. If it develops in the first year of life, before the skull starts to fully close and harden, the result is progressive enlargement of the skull which fills with excess fluid. We have heard anecdotal evidence from Rosemary and Dennis about a relatively large number of cases in this area, and probably a half dozen of the kids we see today suffer from hydrocephalus, including one poor girl who cannot even lift her head or roll over unaided.

sad little hydrocephalus victim cannot even raise her head unaided

clinic patients pose

Moses shows off his face painting and cool shades donated by Jeffrey

After entering only a dozen or so clients into the computer, I have to shut it down and join Durga in assessing the little flood of humanity which keeps us busy without lunch break until almost 5 pm. I thank my blessings for the assistance of Durga and Dennis today.

In the meantime, a veritable carnival is proceeding on Victoria’s front lawn. Kids are putting finishing touches on the mural sketched out by Kyle, there are balloon animals being produced, there is face painting going on and sales of crafts and refreshments. These pics will be offered in a separate post.

Madame butterfly Judith

Sarah eyes the activity

We are refreshed by a badly-needed swim then all the Canadians trail off to the big kids dorm to show Dan & family the construction project. The kids swarm us, of course. We interrupt their clothes washing and they begin a game akin to dodge ball, the ball consisting of rolled up scrap plastic. Others play a variation of marbles using stones and bottle caps. A couple of others roll bicycle tires up & downhill with remarkable skill.

After dinner my blogging is interrupted by invitations to join the Americans in tequila shots, and the group makes merry far too late into the night.